Experimental research on the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the instructive-educational process

This research aims to highlight the efficacy of the use of Information and Communication Technology as a didactic teaching, learning and evaluation method for improving the instructionaleducational process within the tourism high school. Our research, which took place in 12 high schools with classes in Tourism and Nutrition in the County of Constanta between 2013 and 2016, was based on two variables: the independent variable - represented by the continuous, systematic use of ICT methods in teaching and learning content at the disciplines included in the curriculum Tourism and Nutrition at different levels of study and the dependent variable - which depends and changes according to the independent variable: the specific skills, the degree of understanding and assimilation of the specialized contents. In this article we will present the experimental phase in which the actual research was carried out on two parallel groups of subjects: an experimental group (where ICT methods were used - the coordinating teachers created virtual classes on the educational platform www.easyclass.com) and a control group (in which classical didactic methods were used) and the postexperimental phase in which tests of knowledge assessment were applied to both the experimental classes and the control classes. The post-experimental step allowed the measurement of the dependent variable in the two samples of subjects, experimental and control, and the comparison of the initial data with the final ones. For this purpose, tests for assessing the knowledge acquired by the pupils in the experimental and control classes as a result of each unit of learning included in the content sample were applied. These tests were created depending on the specific and derived competences of each unit of learning, following the extent of their development at the pupils in the two samples.