A Comparison of Evaluation of Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) Instruction and Live Instruction in Third Grade Classrooms

• Published in: NACTA journal 2008-03, Vol.52 (1), p.2-5
• Main Authors: Platt, Jenise C., Rusk, Clinton P., Blomeke, Christine R., Talbert, B. Allen, Latout, Mickey A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: College instruction; Distance education; Food safety; Incubators; Meta Analysis; Nutrition; Nutrition instruction; Outcomes of Education; Pedagogy; Posttests; Pretests; Teachers; Teaching Methods
• ISSN: 0149-4910

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of third grade students receiving classroom instruction from a teacher, along with hands-on learning materials and live animals, versus the same instruction taught from a recorded lecture on a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) without live animals in the classroom. Six schools were randomly assigned to either DVD or live instruction teaching method. Eight of the classrooms within these schools utilized DVD instruction and six classrooms received live instruction. The students were evaluated using a 30 question pre- and post-evaluation instrument. Overall, the type of instruction did not affect the increase in student knowledge. DVD classrooms had a pre-test mean score of 61.9% and a post-test mean score of 80.5%, which represents an increase of 18.4%. Live instruction classrooms had a preevaluation mean score of 63% and a post-test score of 84.8%, which represents an increase of 21.8%. The results of this study indicate that DVD instruction is equally as effective as live instruction at increasing the knowledge of third grade students about general poultry information, food nutrition, food safety, eggs, and the function of incubators.