The effect of instructor‐prepared handout materials on learning from lecture instruction

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of organization and accuracy of detail in instructional aids on the achievement of students in a freshman college chemistry lecture course. Treatments consisted of (1) no aid, which was assumed to be low in detail and low in instructor organization; (2) a script given prior to lectures, which was assumed to be moderate in instructor organization and high in detail; and (3) outline provided prior to lectures, which was assumed to be high in instructor organization and moderate in detail. The treatments were randomly assigned to three intact classes of 54 students in freshman chemistry. All students were instructed on three different topics by means of videotaped lectures. Students were given a pretest, and following instruction on each of the three topics, they were given posttests. Results seem to indicate that the more aid in organization provided by the instructor prior to the lecture, the lower the student achievement. That is, students provided no aids achieved higher than those given a script, and those given a script achieved higher than those given an outline. The effect of amount of detail provided followed no clear pattern.