Individualizing through treatment matching: A necessary but not sufficient approach

The effects of various alternative treatments (modules), designed to compensate for student differences in precourse memory abilities (processing and retrieval skills) and motivation (anxiety, curiosity), were investigated for lessons differing in content and task requirements. Performance on each module was compared to performance on the original (mainline) instructional module for 63 to 171 students in the Air Force Advanced Instructional System’s inventory management course. Interaction analyses on lesson times-to-criterion and criterion test scores indicated that the compensating treatments were partially effective in improving the performance of low-memory or low-reading ability students, low-curious students, or high-anxious students. Additional benefits that may be expected from an individualization approach that attempts to modify students’ cognitive and affective learning strategies are discussed.

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