COMPETITION IN INDIVIDUALIZED CAI

Designers of computer-based practice systems give primary attention to aspects of cognitive learning. However, observations of students prac ticing arithmetic, with two CAI systems widely used in Israel, reveale d factors in the computer learning environment that substantially affe cted students' social behavior, particularly with respect to competiti on and cooperation in the course of learning. A questionnaire was desi gned on the basis of the observations to examine the effects of these factors in CAI work. It was administered to 457 fourth graders in 16 c lasses (two CAI system x two SES categories x two schools x two classe s). While neither CAI system was intended to foster competition, the o bservations and questionnaire data suggested that one encourages socia l comparison and competition whereas the other discourages these featu res and encourages cooperation and peer help. Boys appear to be signif icantly more competitive than girls. One system, compared with the oth er, significantly increases competitive behavior of high achievers (bu t not of low achievers); results in teachers' greater encouragement of social comparison and competition among students; and, as used in the schools we studied, causes disadvantaged students rather than advanta ged students to develop negative feelings because of low CAI performan ce. The other system discourages competitive behavior and encourages c ooperation. All these findings bear important implications for the ins tructional design of computer-based learning environments.