Comparison of computer based tutorial and traditional method of teaching brick wall bonding

Abstract

The study compared computer-based tutorial (CBT) and a ‘traditional’ method of teaching brick wall bonding. The quasi-experimental pretest–posttest non equivalent groups design was used for the study and the experiment was conducted with form two students studying Building Construction at the Armed Force Senior High Technical School and Kumasi Senior High Technical School. In all, 30 students (15 from each school selected by simple random sampling) participated in the study. Computer-Based Tutorial programme for the experiment was developed by me, using interactive tutorial mode of presentation, covering brick wall bonding in Senior High School form two (SHS 2) syllabus. Tutorial was followed by multiple choice and essay test questions with immediate feedback. Hyperlinks were also added to the programme for explanation of the text. The traditional method of teaching consisted of exposition and question and answer. The pre-test was used as the post-test and this was an achievement test comprising ten multiple-choice and four essay test items. The results revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the achievement test in all aspect of the test. Students liked the CBT programme and benefited from it by way of higher achievement. It was recommended that CBT should be incorporated into the teaching of technical subjects at the senior high school level.