Library instruction in a community college: a study to determine the comparative effectiveness of classroom teaching and a video self-instruction unit for developmental and degree-program students

The study attempted to determine if library skills in a community college could be taught more effectively within a one-class-period time frame by a video self-instruction unit or by classroom teaching. The experiment also considered the comparative effectiveness of both modes of instruction when used in groups of developmental and degree-program students. The study was conducted at a multi-campus community college in the fall of 1976. Fourteen English classes (seven developmental, and seven degree-program) participated, yielding 120 subjects after attrition. Each class was separately randomized into two groups. The first group reported to the classroom as usual for instruction in library skills; the second group completed a video self-instructional unit on their own during a designated time period. Instructors of the classroom groups administered post-tests to their students immediately after the lesson. For students in the video self-instructional groups, members of the Learning Resources Center staff administered the post-tests individually. Delayed post-tests were administered to students in both types of groups, by the instructor, 12 days after the "classroom teaching" session. The analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed no significant differences between those taught by the classroom method, and those taught by a video self-instruction unit, for both times of testing.