CAI versus paper and pencil-discrepancies in students' performance

Differences were identified in students' performance of similar arithmetic tasks in two media: paper-and-pencil (P&P) and computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Performance of elementary school students on P&P was compared with their performance in CAI work in two widely used CAI systems-an Israeli and an American; in two types of practice-either mixed from a variety of types of exercises or of fixed-type exercises; with two types of task arrangement-either strictly or loosely hierarchical; and with two criteria-either level of performance as defined in the CAI curriculum or the percent of correct answers. Results show that for both CAI systems, for both criteria, for both types of task arrangement, and for either type of practice, the majority of students performed with P&P better than in their simultaneously current CAI work. However, there were students who achieved the opposite results for tasks arranged in loose hierarchy. These two contradictory trends are discussed and explained on the basis of prolonged observations of several students working with the two CAI systems involved.