Need of the Study Student characteristics are of central Importance In education. They play a crucial role In learning theory and teaching strategies. Since the beginning of this century, many articles and books have been published on this topic. Recently, due to the development of computers and computer assisted teaching methods, educators give increasing at tention to research on the relationships between student characteristics and teaching strategies. A number of studies related to the relationships between stu dent characteristics and teaching strategies have been published. Born and Davis (1984); Kulik, Kullk, and Carmichael (1974) indicated that the general personalized system of Instruction (PSI) model pro duces significantly more positive student attitudes toward a course and/or significantly higher achievement when compared with conventional lecture approaches. Reiser (1977) indicated that the effect of various pacing procedures on achievement in PSI courses vary according to student perception reinforcement. Cronbach and Snow (1969) and Skames, Sullivan, Rowe, and Shannon (1974) had shown that IQ interacted significantly with treatment. Salomon (1974) pointed out that aptitudes Interacted with teaching methods. Dahl (1984) pointed out that "the interaction between treatment (CAI strategy) and cognitive learning styles was not significant." Wig gins (1984) indicated that a significant difference was not found in achievement scores when the students were grouped by their pretest at-Limitations of the Study This study was conducted under the following limitations: 1. Samples were limited to students at Iowa State University enrolled in Freshman Engineering 170 during the Fall semester 1986. 2. The student characteristics for this study were limited to general abilities (ACT scores), former performances (college CPA, numbers of course taken in the drafting and computer areas), sex, educational level, major, and attitudes toward computers and drafting. 3. The drafting concepts selected in this study were limited to those related specifically to orthographic projection. 4. The measurements of attitudes were limited to a selfreported method. Procedure of the Study 1. Review of literature. A review of literature was under taken to identify current theories and research related to the interaction between student characteristics and teaching methods. 2. Determination of population of the study. The popula tion of this study consisted of individuals who were en rolled in the department of Freshman Engineering. 3. Samples selection from the population. The sample for this study consisted of individuals who enrolled in Freshman Engineering 170. Two sections were randomly selected as control groups using traditional lecture, the other two sections were experimental groups using computer-assisted instruction. 4. Select drafting concepts for experiment based on the out line of Freshman Engineering 170 course. 5. Develop the computer-assisted instructional program based on selected drafting concepts. 6. Identify a theo...
