Andrea Paniagua-Mejia

ED 520

Research Article Critique

Hove, M. C., & Corcoran, K. J. (2008). Educational Technologies: Impact on Learning and

Frustration. Teaching of Psychology, 35(2), 121-125. doi:10.1080/00986280802004578

Article Summary

Introduction

We are currently living in a field of accelerated technology adoption in the classroom.

Inverting traditional teaching methods by delivering online instruction is a growing teaching

method. Although technology integration is nothing new to education or the classroom, the

advancement, innovation, and digital wisdom is a contemporary implementation. M. Christina

Hove and Kevin J. Corcoran performed a research study that explored the effect of traditional

lecture, slideshow-supplemented lecture, and virtual learning environment on learning and

frustration among college students. The overall goal was to explore the different teaching

methods and determine which method produced the greatest amount learning among college

students.

Assumption

Due to previous research correlating college students and their educational preference, it

was interesting to read the various results of various research done on the same subject area. The
main assumption of the research article is that frustration would be low in the low-technology or

traditional lecture condition, moderate in the slideshow-supplemented lecture condition, and high

in the high technology or virtual learning environment condition.

Participants

The participants of the study consisted of 154 undergraduate students, 78 women and 78

men, at a large midwestern university. The majority of the students were between 18 and 24

years old. The students were all enrolled in the Psychology Department’s pool, which were

required to complete 2 hours of research participation associated with their educational

requirements.

Measures

An academic pretest and posttest was given to each participant. Each test was composed

of 15 questions about conformity and obedience that were obtained from an introductory

psychology textbook test item file. The assessments were constructed from 30 multiple choice

questions, but were separated into two groups of 15. The assessments were randomly assigned to

the experimental groups as either a pretest or posttest. The correct responses from each

assessment were recorded, either measure could range from 0 to 15.

The participants frustration levels were assessed using a subscale of the computerized

version of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index. This method

provided a rating procedure that provided an overall workload score by assessing the

contribution of six sources of workload, including frustration. The NASA-TLX asked

participants to rate their experiences by representing a High-Low, Good-Poor ranging from 1 to

100.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis of the article is that frustration would be low in the low-technology or

traditional lecture condition, moderate in the slideshow-supplemented lecture condition, and high

in the high technology or virtual learning environment condition.

Procedure

The researchers carefully controlled for instructor, classroom, academic content, and

lecture length among the experimental lectures. This assured that the only with respect to the

mode of presentation. The traditional lecture and slide-show supplemented lecture sessions were

randomly videotaped twice and were evaluated by a research assistant. This evaluation was

embedded to determine the differences between the two educational conditions in determining

the differences in teaching style (duration of lesson, use of humor, use of explanatory stories,

etc.)

Groups of participants ranging from 5 to 15, completed a consent form, an academic

pretest, and a demographic questionnaire before the instructor randomly assigned them to one of

the three experimental lecture conditions. Each participant experienced an academic 40 minute

lecture regarding concepts of psychological conformity and obedience, using an introductory

psychology textbook. Overall, the same concepts and information were presented in the various

sessions, but the format in which they were provided differed.

 Traditional Lecture: In the traditional lecture session the instructor presented the

information orally. The instructor used a some visuals on the board, such as definitions,

diagrams, numeric notations, etc. Students’ questions were also answered regarding the

instructional material being presented and conversations were encouraged. Participants were

provided paper and pencil to take notes.

Slideshow-supplemented lecture: In the slideshow supplemented lecture the instructor

presented the information orally and a slide show presentation. The slideshow contained visual

content, such as definitions, numeric notations, diagrams, etc. Students’ questions were also

answered regarding the instructional material being presented and conversations were

encouraged.

Virtual learning environment: In the virtual learning environment students had access

to blackboard. There was no face-to-face interaction and the information was not presented

verbally, instead it was presented as a written introduction on the website. The slideshow

presentation was accessible to the students, which contained the same information from the slide-

show lecture, but also included information that the instructor had verbally presented. Their only

contact with the instructor was through the discussion board, which was accessed through

blackboard.

Analysis

Taking specific aspects to account, carefully analyzing instructor, classroom, academic

content, and lecture length would provide the researchers with an advantage and provide valid

data. Students were to experience similar environments, simple modifying the format of

presentation, but the content was to be the same. The differentiation only to be with respect to
the teaching method used to present the information. This allowed for the emphasise of the

content presentation, whether it was a traditional lecture experience, slide-show supplemented, or

complete virtual learning environment. Participants were randomly placed in one of the three

experimental lectures. This allows the participants to experience an environment in which they

may or may not prefer, overall the measured variables were the content understanding and

frustration level experienced by the participants.

Results

The demographics of the participants were were evaluated, and there was no significant

differences in the distribution of men and women, age, year in school, or mean performance on

the academic pretest, among the multiple instructional environments. The results revealed a

moderate difference between experimental lecture conditions and posttest scores when

acknowledging preexisting knowledge of conformity and obedience.

Significant differences between traditional learning environment and virtual learning

environment. Although, no significant differences between virtual learning environment and

slide-show supplemented lecture conditions. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that the

virtual learning environment and the slideshow supplemented lecture facilitated greater learning

than the traditional learning conditions.

Significant differences in frustration were found when comparing the virtual learning

environment and traditional learning environment. Participants reported experiencing greater

frustration in the virtual learning environment when compared to the other conditions.

Limitations
 There were only a few limitations discussed in the article. They found using only one

research assistant for the videotape coding process gave them a disadvantage which resulted in

reliable data. Since only one person assured the analyzation regarding the instructor’s teaching

style, it was difficult to assure that the teaching styles were in fact similar.

Conclusion

The results determined significant differences between traditional learning environment

and virtual learning environment. Although, no significant differences between virtual learning

environment and slide-show supplemented lecture conditions. In conclusion. The results

demonstrated that the virtual learning environment and the slideshow supplemented lecture

facilitated greater learning than the traditional learning conditions among college students. When

compared to previous findings, the results were contradicting. Their explanation to this

“phenomenon,” was that the slide-show and virtual learning environment formats created an

active learning environment, which was the result of a greater academic achievement. Another

possible explanation for the success was the participants preference for technologically enhanced

and visual educational methods. The age of the participants were considered and acknowledged

as an explanation of the resulted data. Since this specific generation was introduced to

technology at a much younger age, it may have influenced the data, as they may find a

preference in implementing technological tools in their educational environment.

The data obtained als concluded that the participants experienced a higher frustration

level with the virtual learning environment. The researchers explained the results to have been

the influence of absence of direction and guidance, which is commonly provided by an

instructor. The participants did not have a sense of guidance, which increased frustration levels.
 Overall, taking previous research into consideration and the results collected by the

research, it was determined that further exploration of the influence of educational technologies

in an educational setting would be necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of

the educational environments and the technology tools implemented.

Article Evaluation

Importance of Problem Investigated

The authors identify the problem of an increase in technology implementation in

education with the assumption that technology facilitates student learning. The problem being

that not enough research has been done to truly understand the effects of technology on learning.

Considering the growing implementation of technology in the educational setting it’s an

important concept to analyze. Specifically for the stated purpose of the increase of online college

degree programs that use a virtual learning environment.

Review of Literature

The review of literature is comprehensive as it covers the components implemented

during the study. It identifies a focus on identifying the participants comprehension of the

content and frustration level based on the learning environment. The authors considered previous

research, although due to the increase of technology in education, the data collected is irrelevant

to the research. It is interesting to see how data has changed in just a few years, but in truth the

data can’t be compared. Within a few years we have seen a major increase of technology

implementation beginning from transitional kinder, in some cases, to higher education. The era

and educational experience of these students that are trickling into the college setting enters with
a different mentality of technology. The references were implemented throughout the research,

but unfortunately it seemed to the references used were not used to strengthen their data or

reinforce their argument. On the contrary, when a reference was acknowledged, it deteriorated

their findings.

Hypotheses

A specific hypothesis was not identified within the study. Clearly, previous research was

identified, and data was acknowledged in the development of a hypothesis. The researcher

predicts that frustration would be low in the settings that requires less technology tools, moderate

frustration in the slideshow supplemented condition, and high frustration in the environment

which uses the most embedded technology. It is an overall appropriate hypotheses to infer

considering the range of technology acceptance.

Participants

The participants of the study consisted of 154 undergraduate students, 78 women and 78

men, at a large midwestern university. The majority of the students were between 18 and 24

years old. The age group selected was not large enough to truly provide valid data to represent

“all” college students. The age range selected was interesting because overall this population was

introduced to technology in previous years. Technology was not necessarily “new” to them. The

students were all enrolled in the Psychology Department’s pool, which were required to

complete 2 hours of research participation associated with their educational requirements. This

was a great incentive for the participants to conclude a requirement, which embedded a positive

perspective of the research project. Although, the data stated that age did not reveal significant

differences among the experimental lectures, having the data representing where the students

were placed based on age.

 Providing the participants’ level of technology preference would have also been valuable

simply to determine the range of comfort level amongst the participants. The study does not do

an accurate job of describing the sample’s size, characteristics, and selection process. It gives

minimal information, which gives the reader a few unanswered questions or a sense of

incomplete perspective of the participants.

Instruments

The academic pretest and posttest was acquired from an introductory psychology

textbook. The researchers selected 30 multiple-choice questions based on content and difficulty.

The questions were then divided into two assessments containing 15 questions each, which were

randomly assigned to the experimental groups as either a pretest or posttest. Although the

researchers took precaution when selecting the questions based on the content and difficulty,

having a specified pretest and posttest would have been a stronger approach. This would

eliminate any differentiation for the data collection, as every participant would of recieved the

specific assessment at the same time of the research study. There is no rationale for the non-

selection of the assessments which make it impossible to know why the researcher chose this

specific method. A copy of the academic pretest and posttest was not provided or an evaluation

of the questions and the categories they were organized.

The study assessed the participants frustration level using a subscale of the computerized

version of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index, which is a

multidimensional rating procedure that assesses the contribution of six sources of workload,

including frustration. The instrument used assessed 5 other continuations of workload. It does

not specify on obtaining data specifically for frustration, which is an important aspect of the

study. The NASA-TLX asked participants to rate their experiences ranging from 1 to 100. This
range is extremely broad and allows for many inaccurate results. A NASA-TLX assessment was

not provided, which limits the understanding of the process as well as the determination for the

validity of the assessment.

Procedure and Design

The researchers did a great job describing the procedure by including details to clearly

understand the implementation. Future researchers would be able to replicate the study for

further research. The researchers carefully controlled for instructor, classroom, academic content,

and lecture length among the experimental lectures. This assured that the only with respect to the

mode of presentation. This was a great approach considering that the technology implementation

within the educational setting was being monitored to determine the effect towards the

participants.

The traditional lecture and slide-show supplemented lecture sessions were randomly

videotaped twice and were evaluated by a research assistant. This evaluation was embedded to

determine the differences between the two educational conditions in determining the differences

in teaching style (duration of lesson, use of humor, use of explanatory stories, etc.) This was a

great approach, although the researchers themselves identified a limitation, as they had only one

perspective from one research assistant evaluating the video tapes. Everyone has a different

preference in teaching method, and would analyze a humorous professor, for example

differently.

Groups of participants ranging from 5 to 15, completed a consent form, an academic pretest, and

a demographic questionnaire before the instructor randomly assigned them to one of the three

experimental lecture conditions.

Results
 The demographics of the participants were evaluated, and there was no significant

differences in the distribution of men and women, age, year in school, or mean performance on

the academic pretest, among the multiple instructional environments. Although one would

question whether this data presented a significant different in frustration. I found that data charts

were missing sharing the statistics of the results. Demonstrating the process that was used to

determine this specific evaluation would of made the study’s data stronger and provide the reader

a better understanding. The results concluded and demonstrated that the virtual learning

environment and the slideshow supplemented lecture facilitated greater learning than the

traditional learning conditions. The results were provided in an overall easy manner to read and

understand.

Significant differences in frustration were found when comparing the virtual learning

environment and traditional learning environment. Participants reported experiencing greater

frustration in the virtual learning environment when compared to the other conditions. Although

the study did not specify how this data was determined and how far apart were the frustration

levels. Providing this information would of given the reader a better understanding of the results

and process.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Although technology integration is nothing new to education or the classroom, the

advancement, innovation, and digital wisdom is a fairly new implementation considering the

amount of technology implementation. Overall, the major findings of the study were interesting,

but were not consistent with prior research findings, which in this case is understandable as the

era and technology integration changes. The more technology an era uses, the more technology
confident they will be. The study specifies this aspect very briefly, while continues to overthrow

the study’s collected data because of previous research.

The study did recommend future studies, which will continue to differentiate as new

technology tools are embedded within the academic learning environment. Although, they do not

emphasize this aspect.