Design and Delivery of Integrated Learning Systems: Their Impact on Student Achievement and Attitudes

The purpose of this research was to determine if providing teachers with a wider variety of computer-based resources to integrate with the instructional activities for their students would have a positive effect on student achievement and attitudes. In this study, two variations of Integrated Learning System (ILS) software were available to teachers and students. One type of software (“foundations”) was designed to provide students with an individualized learning environment whereby students could complete computer-based reading activities at their own pace, receive feedback from the computer, and move on to the next set of activities. The other type of software (“explorations”) was designed as a more open-ended environment, where teachers selected specific activities for students (or groups of students) to complete. Results of the study indicate that the students of teachers who used either the explorations software or a combination of the foundations and explorations software in their instructional activities performed significantly better on standardized achievement measures than students of teachers who used the foundations software. In addition, students who used the explorations software had more positive attitudes toward reading than students who used the foundations software.

[1]  Gerald D. Bailey,et al.  Wanted: a road map for understanding integrated learning systems , 1992 .

[2]  Deborah S. Blickhan.  The teacher's role in integrated learning systems , 1992 .

[3]  Jerry Willis,et al.  Integrated learning systems and their alternatives: problems and cautions , 1992 .

[4]  H. Allen Shockley.  Turnkey or Turkey?: integrating an integrated learning system , 1992 .

[5]  M. Sherry.  Implementing an Integrated Instructional System: Critical Issues. , 1990 .

[6]  Jean Underwood,et al.  Are integrated learning systems effective learning support tools? , 1996, Comput. Educ..

[7]  Henry Jay Becker,et al.  Mindless or mindful use of integrated learning systems , 1994 .

[8]  Henry Jay Becker,et al.  Computer-Based Integrated Learning Systems in the Elementary and Middle Grades: A Critical Review and Synthesis of Evaluation Reports , 1992 .

[9]  Philip V. Bender.  The Effectiveness of Integrated Computer Learning Systems in the Elementary School. , 1991 .

[10]  Blaine R. Worthen,et al.  The impact of integrated learning system implementation on student outcomes: Implications for research and evaluation , 1994 .

[11]  Shari Robinson.  Integrated Learning Systems: From Teacher-Proof to Teacher Empowering. , 1991 .

[12]  Nira Hativa,et al.  History, theory and research concerning integrated learning systems , 1994 .

[13]  Karin Wiburg.  Integrated Learning Systems: What Does the Research Say?. , 1995 .

[14]  Aaron Doering,et al.  Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching , 1996 .

[15]  Steven C. Mills,et al.  An Implementation Model for Integrated Learning Systems. , 1998 .

[16]  Karin Wiburg,et al.  Research Windows: Gender Issues, Personal Characteristics, and Computing. , 1995 .

[17]  Roy B. Clariana,et al.  Differential achievement gains for mathematics computation, concepts, and applications with an integrated learning system , 1996 .

[18]  Thomas A. Brush,et al.  The effects on student achievement and attitudes when using integrated learning systems with cooperative pairs , 1997 .

[19]  Blaine R. Worthen,et al.  A comparative study of the impact of integrated learning systems on students' time-on-task , 1994 .

[20]  Nira Hativa,et al.  What you design is not what you get (WYDINWYG): Cognitive, affective, and social impacts of learning with ils — An integration of findings from six-years of qualitative and quantitative studies , 1994 .

[21]  Steven C. Mills,et al.  Integrated learning systems , 1994 .

[22]  Mary-Alice White,et al.  Are ILSs good education , 1992 .

[23]  J. H. McMillan.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research , 2001 .

[24]  Thomas A. Brush,et al.  Embedding cooperative learning into the design of integrated learning systems: Rationale and guidelines , 1998 .