Experimental Evidence on the Impacts of Computer-Assisted Instruction in the Job Corps Program

This article describes the results of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) demonstration project that was conducted in 10 Job Corps centers nationwide. The demonstration used classical experimental methods to determine the effectiveness of CAI, with students randomly assigned to a treatment group in which they spent about one fourth to one third of their class time on the computer as a supplement to the regular self-paced education program or to a control group in which CAI was not available in their education classes. The results indicate that the effects of CAI on learning gains after about 60 hours of classroom instruction are very small on average and not significantly different from zero at conventional levels. However, there is some evidence that centers that allowed their experimental students to have sufficient access to CAI and students that used CAI more intensively did experience additional learning gains relative to the control group. Qualitative information obtained from students, teachers, and education supervisors suggest that CAI may be useful in motivating students and supports the potential educational benefits of CAI.