a clear superiority in both posttest and application performance with respect to those students who experienced the high density of active and meaningful participation. Performance of the passive group was the poorest. The present systematic replication was developed, in part, to substantiate the reliability and generality of the Kritch and Bostow (1998) findings. Contributing to mounting empirical data, this study extends the line of research in the field of “constructed-response interaction” in computer-based programmed instruction.
This study, however, identified some potential deficiencies in Kritch and Bostow (1998) that helped to direct its development as a systematic replication. This study seeks to address the following questions:
To address the issue of generalization of the results, this study changed the subject matter content and type of the lesson material. Kritch and Bostow (1998) presented a lesson in computer programming. The level of abstraction of the material presented was analyzed by applying Bloom, Mesia, and Krathwohl (1964) taxonomy. While the outcome measures used by Kritch and Bostow (1998) tested the actual utility of the program produced by the participant students, the logical, sequential, and analytical skills needed for computer language programming are identified in the “analysis” category of Bloom et al. (1964) Cognitive Domain. At this level, the learner is able to assess lesson material in its component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. This skill may