Relationship Between Individual Variables and Students' Selection and Performance in Competency‐ Based Education

Abstract

This study determined if students with varying grade point averages and self‐concept, internal‐ external locus of control, and self‐directedness scores selected and performed differentially under two approaches to competency‐based teacher education. Two hundred and eighty students enrolled in various home economics education classes at Texas Tech University participated in the study. The students elected to study particular competency areas by either a teacher‐directed approach or a student‐directed modular approach. Cognitive criterion tests and Likert‐type attitude scales were used for pre‐ and post‐assessments. Students who selected the student‐directed modular approach scored significantly higher in self‐directedness than did those choosing the teacher‐directed ap proach. The two groups did not vary significantly on the other variables. Comparison of students selecting teacher‐directed instruction and student‐directed instruction revealed no significant difference with regard to attitudinal gains but there was a significant difference in cognitive gains. Students in the teacher‐directed group gained significantly more in the cognitive area than did those in the student‐directed group.