2.2. The Instructional Process of the Groups
The study was carried out for three weeks corresponding to three topics of the course (Cognitive Development, Moral Development, and Personality Development). In the control group, lecturing and questioning were the basic teaching methods. Moreover, a follow-up test was given at the end of each topic.
In the experimental group, the course was designed according to WBI approach by using ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) instructional design model. The students followed lessons on the web in the computer lab at session time but they could also have an access to the lessons whenever and wherever they had an access to the internet. In addition to lesson contents, case studies were also presented on the web. They did case analysis on the web and send to the instructor through the designed web page. The instructor checked them and gave feedback to them on the web. When they had questions they sent message to the instructor. Follow-up tests were given in the experimental group, as well. They received, responded, and sent back these tests via the web page. Besides these, from time to time, the instructor gave verbal explanations for summarization and when a question was asked.
2.3. Participants
All second year students (N=69), who enrolled in the course were the participants of the study. The number of students in the experimental group was 35 and in the control group, it was 34. An achievement test was developed and administered to all students (N=69) as post-test. In addition, an attitude scale was given to the students in the experimental group (n=35) at the end of the study.
2.4. Data Collection Instruments
Achievement test developed by the researchers included 15 multiple-choice questions. It covered cognitive, moral, and personality development topics. Reliability of the test, Kuder Richardson (KR)-20, was .62, which is an acceptable interval according to Linn & Gronlund (2005).
Additionally, an attitude scale regarding students’ attitudes toward this web-based course that was developed by Acar (2009b) based on Keller & Subhiyah’s (1987) Course Interest Survey was used in the study. The scale comprised 30 statements in relation to students’ attitudes toward the web environment (6), the course (6), the instructor (6), and the assessment method of the course (6) and their self-reflections toward being successful in the course (6). This was a five-point Likert scale (1=Certainly Disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Neutral; 4=Agree; 5= Certainly Agree) and its reliability (Cronbach α) was .79.
2.5. Data Analysis
Data obtained through the achievement test and attitude scale in the framework of study purpose were analyzed by means of SPSS 10.0, a statistical computer package program. In order to compare the achievement test scores between experimental and control groups, independent samples t-test was utilized. Regarding the determination of students’ attitudes toward WBI, descriptive statistics including percentage distribution, mean, median, mode, and standard deviations were calculated.