Interactive relationship between inquisitiveness and student control of instruction.

To determine the effect of student characteristics and student control on learning, three experimental variables (college aptitude, inquisitiveness, and student control) were combined in a 2 X 2 X 4 factorial arrangement. Videotape recording facilities were used to simulate a learner-computer environment, in which 192 college students were given degrees of control over the programming of their own learning. As expected, high-aptitude-high-inquiry subjects learned significantly more under a high degree of student control, and high-aptitude-lowinquiry subjects learned significantly more under a low degree of student control. Results for low-aptitude subjects were inconclusive. Overall, subjects learning under a high degree of student control learned the least. However, they formed the most favorable attitude toward the method of instruction.