Comparison of Direct Instruction and Problem Centered Instruction for Army Institutional Training

Abstract

A direct instruction (DI)-based and a problem-centered instruction (PCI)-based version of an Army training module (NCO Evaluation Report Preparation) were constructed and administered to different Infantry Advanced Leader Course classes. A common post-test addressing both the well-defined and the ill-defined elements of the module was administered to all students. The hypothesis was that DI students would out-perform PCI students on tests of well-defined elements, while PCI students would out-perform DI students on tests of ill-defined elements. The results showed no statistically significant differences between DI or PCI students on either well-defined or ill-defined elements. Discussion of the results addresses methodological issues in comparing DI with PCI methods, and issues in trading training cost vs. training effectiveness in making choices among instructional models.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA578566

Entities

People

  • Brian Perdomo
  • Michael D. Dlubac
  • Paul N. Blankenbeckler
  • Richard L. Wampler
  • Robert J. Pleban

Organizations

  • U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Army Training
  • Cognitive Science
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Electronic Mail
  • Instructional Materials
  • Instructions
  • Instructors
  • Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • Training Devices
  • Training Management
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.
  • STEM Education
  • Systems Analysis and Design