Comparing teacher-directed and computer-assisted instruction of elementary geographic place vocabulary

The purpose of this study was to compare computer-assisted instruction to teacher-directed instruction for teaching elementary geographic place name vocabulary. During instruction, students were taught to use drill and practice strategies via the two methodologies to identify and label geographic place names on a world map. The importance of fundamental geographic knowledge to student academic achievement success stems from geographic education research in the 20th Century (Fuson, 1999; Saveland, 1980; Smith, 1986).; The quasi-experimental research design (Campbell & Stanley, 1963) of pretest, treatment, and posttest was employed in this study since the students were in pre-assigned classrooms. Two classrooms received instruction for learning to identify and label 50 world places, and a third class was the control group. Overall data analysis revealed significant difference between the two methods of instruction when compared to each other, and to the control group. Gains in pretest to posttest scores were greater from computer-assisted instruction. Both methods used highly organized procedures, extensive content coverage, and consistent monitoring of student progress which appeared to influence the increase in pretest to posttest scores. These characteristics of teacher-directed instruction have been found to contribute to improved student academic achievement (Chall, 2000; Izumi & Coburn, 2001).; The most fundamental knowledge is the recall of facts, naming vocabulary, and repeating specific pieces of information. When using geographic skills to gain a spatial perspective on human and physical characteristics of the world, maps, computers, and multimedia equipment are only a few of the tools used by students to gather information (Audet & Ludwig, 2000; May, 2001).; Place knowledge is a vital part of students learning of social studies content, particularly geographic concepts and perceptions, that can help them to become more conscious of the world around them, prepare to enter a global workplace, and become responsible citizens. This study has reported the highly significant academic success of fourth grade students learning geographic place name vocabulary through drill, whether a teacher or a computer provides the instruction. The success of computer-assisted instruction in this study directly relates to the computer program used, Click and Learn Software (c) (Reynolds, 2002).