The effect of supplemental lecture, evaluation method and instructional type on student performance in a preclinical technique project.

This study examined two types of instruction, two methods of evaluation, and the effects of a supplemental lecture in teaching a laboratory technique exercise. Students were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) self-instruction, self-evaluation; (2) self-instruction, teacher-evaluation; (3) teacher-aided instruction, self evaluation; and (4) teacher-aided instruction, teacher-evaluation. In addition, half of the students in each of the four groups received a supplemental lecture. Ratings of technical performance, a didactic posttest, and project completion time, were used as outcome measures. Of 27 main treatment effects tested, 25 demonstrated no significant differences. This study fails to demonstrate any major advantage of using self versus traditional forms of instruction and evaluation when student performance is the primary consideration.