Comparative Evaluation of Three Teaching Methods of Quantitative Techniques

The methods of analysis of most personalized systems of instruction (PSI) have left several questions unanswered: How much of the difference is reflected in (a) content learned vs. methods of grading and (b) in examination practices? One of the purposes of the present paper was to more rigorously examine these two questions. A second purpose was to compare a third alternate class structure, the Socratic dialogue method, to the traditional lecture and PSI formats on the grounds that much educational theory assumes that techniques that actively involve the student in learning are superior to those that do not. In this study, PSI was viewed more positively by students on subjective ratings and performance outcomes were higher with this method. Further, the treatments offering the multiple testing option produced more positive subjective and performance ratings than the treatments without this option.