| Abstract: | The purpose of this research was to study the relationship among different cognitive style dimensions and their implications for instructional design. The effects of cognitive style differences and different computer-based presentations on concept learning were studied. There were two main objectives. First, to investigate the relationship of two dimensions of cognitive style, Field Independence-Field Dependence (FI-FD) and preferred perceptual mode (Verbal-Visual). Second, to study the main and interactive effects of the two cognitive style dimensions on the performance of individuals on a concept learning task in the context of two presentation formats within a CBI lesson: Text-Only and Text-plus-Animated-Graphics. A secondary objective of this study was to investigate the time spent by individuals on the two lesson formats. A total of 192 undergraduate volunteer subjects participated in an introductory computer-delivered presentation of velocity and acceleration concepts. Independent variables consisted of the two dimensions of cognitive style and the presentation format. The Group Embedded Figures Test and the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire were used to identify the cognitive style of the individuals. The dependent variable used in the study was a 21-item, multiple choice posttest. The data analysis was conducted in two stages. First, the relationship of the two cognitive style dimensions was established using a correlational study. Further, a multiple regression analysis with the posttest as the criterion and the three independent variables and two-way interactions between them as predictors was conducted. Results of the main objectives indicated that the FI-FD and Verbal-Visual cognitive style dimensions are independent. Also, individuals presented with a lesson format that matched their Verbal/Visual preference did not seem to improve their performance. Finally, there was no main effect of the FI-FD cognitive style on the performance measure indicating that the more FI individuals did not differ significantly in achievement from their less FI peers. A regression analysis conducted with the time spent in lesson as the criterion showed that individuals receiving the Text-plus-Animated-Graphics presentation spent significantly less time in the lesson compared to the Text-Only group. |
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