The Effects of Cognitive Apprenticeship and Co-Regulated Learning on Improving Student Computer Problem-Solving Skills and Learning Motivation: A Quasi-Experiment in an "Applied Information Technology: Office Software" Course

Abstract

This study makes use of online teaching in this environment and adopts it for use in a required computer skills course with cognitive apprenticeship (CA) and co-regulated learning (CRL) teaching methods to improve students’ computer skills, learning motivation, and experience of online learning. The subjects of this study are first-year students of a non-information-related department at a private university in Northern Taiwan. A total of four classes comprising 111 students participated in the research. The CRL and CA group (C1, n=24) concurrently received CRL and CA treatments, the non-CRL and CA group (C2, n=25) received only the CA teaching method, and the CRL and non-CA group (C3, n=40) received only the teaching method of CRL. The non-CRL and non-CA group (C4, n=22) served as the control group. The results show that the use of CA can significantly improve students’ computer skills; however, the expected effects of CRL were not found in this study.