The interactive effects of field dependence-independence and internet document manipulation style on student achievement from computer-based instruction

This study examined the relationships between two Internet document manipulation styles, scrolling and paging, and field dependence-independence in terms of achievement from an Internet-based tutorial. Participants from an urban university (n = 125) were administered the Group Embedded Figures Test to determine their level of field dependence-independence. The sample was then stratified into three levels (field dependent, field neutral, and field independent) and randomly assigned to two treatments. Each treatment was an Internet-delivered tutorial about the human heart. One was presented as a single web page that needed to be scrolled. The other was presented as a series of short web pages that were linked in a linear progression. Immediately after interacting with their assigned tutorial, participants (n = 98) completed four achievement tests and a computer experience questionnaire. The four tests evaluated their ability to reconstruct the heart, to discriminate and identify parts by name, to know facts, terms and definitions, and to understand the content and use it to explain the functioning of the human heart. Scores were compiled into a total test score for each participant. These achievement scores were analyzed using a 3 x 2 ANOVA. For this experiment, the results suggest that there was no interaction between document manipulation style and level of field dependence-independence in terms of achievement (F = .922, p = .401) nor was there a main effect for treatments (F = .002, p = .968). There was, however, a significant main effect for level of field dependence-independence (F = 5.813, p = .004). Post hoc analyses using the Tukey test for equality of means revealed that on average, field dependents scored lower than field neutrals or field independents. Based on the questionnaire responses, as a group, field dependents may have scored lower than the other two groups due to being mismatched on their preferred manipulation style. Furthermore, the scores of participants for whom English was a second language (n = 18) were analyzed separately. The mean achievement scores for the ESL scrolling groups were lower than the paging groups.