1. Article
Instructional Fading
and Student
Performance in
Principles of
Accounting Instruction
Mary Ann Kingry1
, Byron Havard1
,
Richard Robinson1
, and Mofidul Islam1
Abstract
The effect of instructional fading on student performance in online accounting
instruction using completion problems was investigated in this study. Instructional
fading, defined as the gradual decreasing of prompts or cues, was used as a strategy
to create germane cognitive load. The Instructional Fading Tool for Accounting
Practice, a web-based application developed by the researchers, provided the
instructional fading and sequencing of the information. The researchers created con-
trol and treatment groups based on low and high prior knowledge of accounting.
Results indicated that the treatment group had a higher percentage of an increase in
performance than the control group. In addition, students within the low-prior
knowledge treatment group outperformed students in the other treatment group
and two control groups. These findings suggest that using instructional fading along
with completion problems in accounting instruction had a positive effect on per-
formance especially for students with low levels of prior knowledge.
Keywords
cognitive load theory, expertise reversal effect, instructional fading, learner prior
knowledge, online accounting instruction
Journal of Educational Technology
Systems
2015, Vol. 44(1) 53–68
! The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0047239515598519
ets.sagepub.com
1
University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA
Corresponding Author:
Byron Havard, Department of Instructional and Performance Technology, University of West Florida,
11000 University Parkway, Building 70/107, Pensacola, FL 32514, USA.
Email: bhavard@uwf.edu

2. Current research indicates that accounting students are not adequately prepared
for entry-level public accounting jobs. One reason for this is that many students
lack the basic understanding of the “competencies [required] within the account-
ing curriculum” (Lawson et al., 2013). A remedy for this would be to enhance
the curriculum by incorporating information processing theories, thereby
increasing class time with faculty used to address the core competencies of
accounting (Blayney, Kalyuga, & Sweller, 2010). The use of the Internet to
deliver accounting curriculum related to concrete, technical, and basic account-
ing principles would leave extra class time. This time could be devoted for dis-
cussing abstract concepts that are better suited for a discussion-based traditional
lecture format. However, creating an online course is not as simple as just
posting a few lecture notes and handouts to a single web page. It is important
that changes are based on instructional design principles when the curriculum is
transferred to a web-based format (Smith & Ragan, 2005). The purpose of this
study was to investigate the effect of instructional fading using completion prob-
lems in basic accounting instruction with student achievement.
Literature Review
Background
Businesses and financial institutions find themselves in a highly competitive
global economic environment. This situation brings enormous pressures to
bear to an ever-increasing expectation on performance. As an added concern,
the accounting profession must maintain high ethical and professional standards
that require higher order critical thinking skills and superior interpersonal com-
munication abilities. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (2003), these
former skills have been identified as being almost nonexistent in current basic
accounting curriculum. Because of this, current curriculum must be examined to
determine how best to address identified deficiencies and other curricular
requirements.
Utilizing the Internet to deliver part of the basic accounting instruction
may be an effective way to combat knowledge deficiencies. Using this strategy
saves traditional class time that can be reserved for discussions that stimulate
critical thinking and interpersonal communication skills (Blayney et al.,
2010). Based on positive research results, cognitive load theory researchers
have recommended the use of instructional fading as a method for effectively
delivering instruction (Blayney et al., 2010; Kalyuga, 2009; Kester &
Kirschner, 2009; Mihalca, Salden, Corbalan, Paas, & Miclea, 2011).
Finally, the effect of instructional fading on student performance when com-
pletion problems were used was the focus of this study. The researchers also
examined the implications of different levels of prior knowledge as related to
the expertise reversal effect.
54 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

3. Instructional Fading
Instructional fading is defined as having the control over the gradual diminish-
ment of some form of instructional guidance. The focus of instructional fading
research includes three types of guidance control, which are (a) fixed rate, (b)
learner-controlled, and (c) adaptive or real-time control (Mihalca et al., 2011;
Reisslein, Atkinson, Seeling, & Reisslein, 2006; Salden, Aleven, Schwonke, &
Renkl, 2010). First, fixed-rate fading is a predetermined rate of instructional
guidance withdrawal that is not adaptable as learners navigate through the
instruction. In other words, each learner receives the same amount of instruc-
tional guidance at the same intervals. Second, the learner-controlled method is
one that allows the student to control the number, type, and rate of the examples
that are provided. The learner also has the ability to request additional assist-
ance if needed, or they can reject any assistance provided. Last, adaptive or
real-time fading is designed to determine the learner’s prior knowledge through
task performance and providing instructional assistance based on the assessed
performance level.
Mihalca et al. (2011), Reisslein et al. (2006), and Salden et al. (2010) exam-
ined fading strategies and its effect on student performance. The researchers in
these studies concluded that learners exposed to the adaptive method of fading
outperformed the other two. In addition, Blayney et al. (2010), Halabi,
Tuovinen, and Farley (2005), and Rose and Wolfe (2000) all examined the role
of prior student learning on instructional fading. In one result, Blayney et al.
(2010) recommended that the fading of instructional guidance should decrease
significantly as students gain mastery and expertise. The authors also stated that
instructional fading should be a gradual reduction of assistance as is evident in the
transition from fully completed examples to conventional problems.
In another finding, Johnson, Phillips, and Chase (2009) reported that students
who completed an artificial intelligence accounting tutorial improved perform-
ance on a subsequent posttest by nearly 27%. Conversely, students in a traditional
face-to-face accounting class improved performance by only 8%. The authors
mentioned that the former results hold valuable implications for the design and
development of future accounting instruction. The use of alternative educational
methods, such as the artificial intelligence tutor, can “allow faculty to accommo-
date a growing number of topics relevant to the accounting curriculum” (Johnson
et al., 2009, p. 38). Finally, the preceding results, findings, recommendations, and
implications are what formed the foundation of this research study.
Cognitive Load
As defined by Sweller, van Merrienboer, and Paas (1998), cognitive load is the
mental weight that performing a task places on the human memory system.
This is important for instructional designers to understand because the
Kingry et al. 55

4. amount of working memory occupied during instruction is one of the main
determinants of an effective instructional design. According to the theory, infor-
mation must be processed in working memory first before schemas can be
formed and then stored in long-term memory (van Merrienboer & Sweller,
2010). In addition, instruction should maximize the use of working memory
by exploiting the various aspects of cognition such as the use of schema auto-
mation and stored schemas.
There are three types of cognitive load, which are intrinsic, extraneous,
and germane. Intrinsic cognitive load is determined by the number of infor-
mational elements that a learner can simultaneously process in working
memory (Blayney et al., 2010; Paas, Renkl, & Sweller, 2003; van
Merrienboer & Sweller, 2010). Further, intrinsic load is the amount of infor-
mation that is built into the design and cannot be changed, and can be either
at a low or high interactivity level (Sweller et al., 1998). A low interactivity
level is a simple cognitive activity and a high level or more
complex. Extraneous cognitive load are elements in the instructional design
or environment that are considered unnecessary and can be distracting to
students (van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2005). For example, if a lecture video
has a considerable amount of ambient background noise, then this will
interrupt the learning process. In other words, the extraneous noise tempor-
arily blocks the flow of information that travels from working memory to
long-term memory. And because of this obstacle, a schema will not be
properly created or updated (existing schema). Lastly, germane cognitive
load represents the load that is intentionally imposed on the learner for the
purposes of schema construction and automation (Sweller, 1988; Sweller
et al., 1998).
Expertise Reversal Effect
The expertise reversal effect is described as the influence that prior knowledge
has on the effectiveness of recommended instructional designs (Blayney et al.,
2010; Kalyuga, Ayres, Chandler, & Sweller, 2003). In other words, a basic
accounting course may be advantageous for novices (low prior knowledge)
but can work in reverse for experts (high prior knowledge) and actually be an
impediment to learning. This occurs because experts become disinterested
in the material, due to overexposure, and disengage because they already
possess the knowledge being presented. In an effort to manage the implica-
tions that the expertise reversal effect can have on instructional designs, much
of the recent research on cognitive load theory has focused on the use of
instructional fading (Blayney et al., 2010; Kalyuga, 2009; Kester & Kirschner,
2009; Mihalca et al., 2011; Schwonke et al., 2009; van Merrienboer &
Sluijsmans, 2009).
56 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

5. Research Methodology
Research Design
The research design was the pretest–posttest control group strategy described in
Campbell and Stanley (1963). The dependent variable is the student’s perform-
ance that is measured by the score on the posttest. The independent variable is
dichotomous and represents membership in either the treatment or the control
group. Furthermore, the study includes a covariate variable of pretest perform-
ance as measured by the pretest score. The study also includes four moderator
variables, which are the age, class, gender, and level of prior knowledge of the
student. Guiding the research process was one central question and five asso-
ciated null hypotheses. The central question stated is as follows: How do prior
knowledge and instructional fading using completion problems influence student
performance in accounting principles courses?
Data Collection Instruments
To encourage involvement in the study, participants were offered extra credit by
the instructor and entry into a random drawing for three gift cards if all study
requirements were completed. Each group of participants had 3 weeks to com-
plete the four required instruments. The four instruments presented to the par-
ticipants in an online format were a demographic survey, pretest, instruction,
and posttest.
Participants
Undergraduate students in three accounting for nonmajors course sections at a
medium-sized regional 4-year public university in the southeastern United States
were chosen to participate in the study. At the beginning of the term, 103 stu-
dents were registered in these sections. All three sections were taught by the same
instructor. Two of the course sections were delivered in an online format, and
one section was presented face-to-face. Participation consent forms were col-
lected from 73 participants who were then randomly assigned to either a control
or an experimental (treatment) group. Fifty-two participants had completed or
partially completed the required instruments and were considered acceptable for
the remaining aspects of the study.
During the grading process, 10 of the participants were excluded because no
answers were recorded for their pretest responses. In addition, another four
participants were excluded because only half of the transaction responses were
recorded on the pretest. As a result, 38 participants remained for inclusion in the
statistical analysis. In the study, there were almost twice as many female (n ¼ 25)
participants as male (n ¼ 13). The average age of the participants was
Kingry et al. 57

6. 24.05 years. The average ages of males and females, respectively, were 24.85 and
23.64 years. The college class representation for the group was as (a) sophomore
(n ¼ 6), (b) junior (n ¼ 18), and (c) seniors (n ¼ 14). Further, there were 5 males
and 16 females in the control group (n ¼ 21) and 8 males and 9 females in the
treatment group (n ¼ 17). The following is a list of the four participant
subgroupings:
. High-prior knowledge control group (n ¼ 12, 3 males, 9 females)
. High-prior knowledge treatment group (n ¼ 7, 3 males, 4 females)
. Low-prior knowledge control group (n ¼ 9, 2 males, 7 females)
. Low-prior knowledge treatment group (n ¼ 10, 5 males, 5 females)
Treatment
The Instructional Fading Tool for Accounting Practice (IFTAP) was the
web-based product used to collect responses and store them in a database.
The program was written using the following programming languages:
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
(AJAX), ColdFusion, and the jQuery JavaScript Library. In addition, the pre-
test, posttest, and instruction problems within the IFTAP used drag-and-drop
capabilities as well as text boxes for entering data for recording the accounting
transactions. The surveys created used standard web-based radio buttons and
checkboxes where appropriate.
Procedure
First, when the participants accessed the IFTAP, they were presented with a wel-
come page that contained instructions of how to interact with the site. The contact
information of the facilitators was provided to the participant just in case they had
any questions or experienced problems. The IFTAP was available for 3 weeks so the
participants had ample time to complete the study requirements. The pretest,
instruction, posttest, and demographic survey were estimated to take a participant
approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete. The website was made available
after the study was completed so that the late students could complete the material.
This was done so these students could have an opportunity to qualify for extra
credit. These results were not included in the study.
All of the participants began the treatment by completing a nine-question
demographic survey. This was used to gather personal information including
age, major, class, and gender. The pretest consisted of three questions that
required the participants to prepare journal entries for 40 accounting transac-
tions. At the outset, the students were presented with a problem and a transac-
tion and were directed to journalize the transaction. The journal entry was
58 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

7. completed by the student clicking and dragging an account from a list to the
journal form. When the students dropped the account in the correct location,
they were then presented with a dialog box. The students were then required to
select whether they were either debiting or crediting the account and the amount
of money. After completing the journaling process, the students saved their
answers and were presented with more transactions. This was repeated for the
three pretest problems until all 40 transactions were journalized.
After completing the pretest, the participants then proceeded to the instruc-
tional stage. In this phase, the control group was given two problems that
required them to prepare 28 journal entries for the accounting transactions.
Participants in the control group received no assistance from the facilitators
other than the directions contained in the problem, the textbook, and other
resources. The experimental group received the same two problems, and instruc-
tional fading was implemented in a problem completion format.
In the first problem, there were 16 transactions that were divided into groups
of five transactions. The first five transactions were already worked out for the
student. The second group of transactions provided half of the solution to each
transaction and required only minimal input from the participant to complete
the journal entry. Further, the final six transactions required the entire journal
entry to be completed by the participant.
For the second problem, there were 12 transactions divided into three groups
of four transactions. The transactions were presented in the same fading com-
pletion problem format as the first problem. Participants followed up the
instruction by completing the posttest assessment. The posttest consisted of
three questions that required the students to prepare journal entries for 43
accounting transactions. The posttest was completed in the same manner as
the pretest. At the conclusion of the study, the survey, pretest, and posttest
responses for each student were extracted from the database, and the pretests
and posttests were graded.
Pretest and Posttest Scoring
The pretest and posttest followed the same scoring procedure. Transaction
answers were awarded a percentage of correctness score. Twenty-five percent
was awarded for each of the following three requirements:
1. The correct accounts are assigned as debit entries.
2. The correct accounts are assigned as credit entries.
3. The proper dollar amounts have been assigned to each account.
If none of the criteria were met, then the answer was assigned a 0%.
Conversely, if all criteria were met, then a 100% correctness score was assigned.
The percent correctness scores were then converted to the following Likert-type
Kingry et al. 59

8. scale scoring for purposes of data entry: 0% ¼ 1, 25% ¼ 2, 50% ¼ 3, 75% ¼ 4,
and 100% ¼ 5.
Results
The research question is as follows: How do prior knowledge and instructional
fading using completion problems influence student performance in introductory
accounting courses? Five hypotheses were examined relating to this research
question. The following is a discussion of each of these hypotheses and its
associated set of data analyses:
H01: Difference Between Instructional Fading and Conventional
Instruction
There is no significant difference in student performance between students
experiencing instructional fading using completion problems in principles of
accounting instruction and students who experience conventional problems in
accounting instruction. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to evaluate the
differences between the two instructional methods (instructional fading using
completion problems and traditional accounting instruction) on median
change in performance test scores. The test results proved to be significant 2
(1, n ¼ 38) ¼ 8.72, p ¼ .003. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. The pro-
portion of variability (POV) in the ranked difference score accounted for by the
instructional method was .24, indicating a relationship between instructional
fading using completion problems and student performance. An investigation
into the remaining four hypotheses initially began by using a Kruskal–Wallis test
to evaluate differences among the four groups (low-prior knowledge control,
low-prior knowledge treatment, high-prior knowledge control, and high-prior
knowledge treatment) on median change in performance test scores. The test was
significant 2
(1, n ¼ 38) ¼ 13.53, p ¼ .004.
The Mann–Whitney U tests were conducted as a follow-up to evaluate the
pairwise differences among the four groups. The results indicated that there was
a significant difference between the low-prior knowledge treatment group and all
of the other groups (p ¼ .004). Further, there were no other significant inter-
actions between any of the remaining groups. In addition, another Kruskal–
Wallis test was conducted to evaluate the differences between the two levels of
prior knowledge (high and low) and students experiencing instructional fading
using completion problems on median change in performance test scores. The
test result was significant 2
(1, n ¼ 17) ¼ 5.73, p ¼ .017, and the null hypothesis
was rejected. The POV in the ranked difference score accounted for by the level
of prior knowledge was .36, indicating a fairly strong relationship between low-
prior knowledge students experiencing instructional fading using completion
problems and student performance.
60 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

9. H02: Instructional Fading and Difference Between High and Low
Prior Knowledge
There is no significant difference in student performance between students with
high prior knowledge of accounting and students with low prior knowledge
when experiencing instructional fading using completion problems in accounting
instruction. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to evaluate differences
between the two levels of prior knowledge (high and low) and students experi-
encing instructional fading using completion problems on median change in
performance test scores. The test result was significant 2
(1, n ¼ 17) ¼ 5.73,
p ¼ .017, and the null hypothesis was rejected. POV in the ranked difference
score accounted for by the level of prior knowledge was .36. This indicated a
fairly strong relationship between low-prior knowledge students experiencing
instructional fading using completion problems and student performance.
H03: Conventional Instruction and Difference Between High and Low
Prior Knowledge
There is no significant difference in student performance between students with
high prior knowledge of accounting and students with low prior knowledge of
accounting when experiencing conventional problems in accounting instruction.
A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to evaluate the differences between the two
levels of prior knowledge (high and low) and students experiencing conventional
problems on median change in performance test scores. The test result was not
significant and because of that the null hypothesis was accepted.
H04: High Prior Knowledge and Difference Between Instructional
Fading and Conventional Instruction
There is no significant difference in student performance between students with
high prior knowledge of accounting experiencing instructional fading using com-
pletion problems and students with high prior knowledge when experiencing
conventional problems. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to evaluate the
differences between the two methods of instruction. The result was not signifi-
cant, and therefore the null hypothesis was accepted.
H05: Low Prior Knowledge and Difference Between Instructional
Fading and Conventional Instruction
There is no significant difference in student performance between students with
low prior knowledge of accounting experiencing instructional fading using com-
pletion problems and students with low prior knowledge of accounting when
experiencing conventional problems. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted to
Kingry et al. 61

10. evaluate the differences between the two methods of instruction (instructional
fading using completion problems and traditional instruction) with each
having low-prior knowledge students on median change in performance test
scores. The test result was deemed to be significant 2
(1, n ¼ 19) ¼ 6.20,
p ¼ .013, and the null hypothesis was rejected. The POV in the ranked dif-
ference score accounted for by the method of instruction was .35. This score
indicated a fairly strong relationship between low-prior knowledge students
experiencing instructional fading using completion problems and overall stu-
dent performance.
Implications
There are several stakeholders directly impacted by the findings of this study.
These are instructional designers, instructors, students, and administrators. The
following are some of the implications for each of these stakeholders.
Instructional Designers
The instructional treatment used in this study was based on a design recom-
mended by a few prominent cognitive load theory researchers (Kirschner, 2002;
Paas, 1992; Paas et al., 2003; Sweller et. al., 1998; van Merrienboer Sweller,
2005). The design used in the treatment was instructional fading using comple-
tion problems that is based on the theoretical foundation of the limitations of
working memory. Within this study, instructional fading using completion prob-
lems was shown to be effective at increasing student performance by fostering
germane cognitive load in basic accounting instruction. The results pointed to
the importance of cognitive architecture, specifically the limitations of working
memory, when developing the instructional design. Another important element
for designers to consider is the amount of the learner’s prior knowledge that can
also have a dramatic effect on the learning outcome.
Instructors
Instructors could use the instructional treatment in future classes as an add-
itional resource. This tool could be used to assist students in learning the
basic principles of accounting. These basic principles include account identifica-
tion and classification, identification of a normal balance, and the recording of
transactions. Because the instructional treatment is web based, it can be accessed
at any time by the students. This frees up student class time that can be used for
class discussions of other topics. Moreover, the instructional treatment can
be adapted to a paper-based format for students who do not have access to
the Internet. The results of this study showed that the instructional treatment is
most effective for low-prior knowledge students of accounting. Finally, this
62 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

11. treatment could be specifically targeted at low-prior knowledge students who are
generally the ones who struggle with these concepts in accounting courses.
Students
The students who generally struggle in basic accounting courses would benefit
the most from this type of instructional treatment. In the study, the students who
were identified as having low prior knowledge, and were members of the treat-
ment group, outperformed the three other groups that were examined.
These groups included the low-prior knowledge control group, the high-prior
knowledge control group, and the high-prior knowledge treatment group. The
following is a short list of research findings and recommendations pertaining to
the students.
1. Students in the low-prior knowledge treatment group had an average percent
score increase of 13.9% versus 1.9% for the low-prior knowledge control group.
2. Students who were identified as having high prior knowledge scored an aver-
age of 95% on the pretest and an average score increase of 2.4%.
3. Assistance provided to the low-prior knowledge learners would help them gain
a greater understanding of the fundamental principles of accounting and pro-
vide a stronger foundation to succeed in other advanced accounting courses.
4. The online format of the instruction allows students to access the instruc-
tional content at times that is most convenient for them.
5. The drag-and-drop capabilities, and the immediate feedback provided, served
to engage students in the instruction in a more in-depth manner than the same
elements presented in a paper-based format.
Administrators
A central goal of educational administrators, whether in higher education, a
corporate setting, or training facilities, is to create programs of study that
ensure students have the best opportunity for success. One component of that
goal is to make sure that the curriculum is based on theoretical foundations
rooted in scientific study. Research in this area provides administrators with the
information needed to make decisions related to the development of effective
curricula. The instructional treatment used in this study was effective at increas-
ing performance for low-prior knowledge students who are the students who gen-
erally struggle in accounting courses. Targeting this specific group with
additional resources to help them better grasp the foundational concepts of
accounting has the following multiple benefits:
1. Students are more successful.
Kingry et al. 63

12. 2. Students have a better foundation for other advanced accounting courses.
3. Instructors can utilize extra class time for addressing deficiencies in
knowledge.
Limitations
One of the major limitations of the study was its size. At the outset, consent
forms were collected from 73 participants, and of those, 52 actually completed
the study. In addition, 14 of the remaining 52 participants were eliminated from
the study because of technical issues relating to the website. Therefore, because
of the small sample size, it is difficult to generalize the results of this study to the
entire population. A second limitation was the timing of the pretest. The reason
for this is due to the pretest being administered approximately one week after the
conclusion of the class lectures. This short time span may explain the average
pretest score of 89.75% that was used to determine the low- and high-knowledge
participant groups. The third limitation of the study was the method used
for defining the high- and low-prior knowledge groups. Former research in
cognitive load theory had used the median pretest score to divide the treatment
and control group into two levels of prior knowledge. However, in this study,
the treatment division imposed limitations on the scores that the high-prior
knowledge group could actually obtain.
Recommendations for Future Research
The first recommendation for future research would be to replicate the
study with a much larger group of participants and for a longer period of
time. This would increase the levels of research reliability and validity of the
study.
The second recommendation is to eliminate the maximum score limitation on
the pretest and posttest. This would allow the participants to complete as many
transactions as possible in a given amount of time. To accomplish this, the way
in which the grades are calculated would need to change to consider the number
of transactions completed and the accuracy of the answers. This adjustment in
methodology would ensure that the high-prior knowledge group would not be
limited in its ability to increase their score.
A third recommendation is to redesign the instructional treatment to be more
intuitive. There are several methods of instructional fading that have been pro-
posed by cognitive load researchers. One of these is the ability to control the rate
of fading based on the level of accuracy of the student. In this method,
transactions would be grouped into transaction types, and then students
would be required to score a certain level of accuracy on a minimum number
of transactions of a given type. This web-based application would calculate
64 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)

13. which transactions to present to the student based on the accuracy of previous
answers. This enhancement would allow the instructional treatment to target the
weaker areas of student performance. In essence, this change would provide two
controls of the expertise reversal effect (a) fading the amount of assistance
provided to the user and (b) specifically targeting the weaker areas of student
performance until the specified level of competence is obtained.
Finally, a fourth recommendation would be to modify the instructional
treatment to determine the number of times a student viewed the available
answer explanation for each question. These data would help determine the
motivation level of students as they engage in the instruction. This would be
accomplished by adding an additional data variable within the treatment group
to determine whether the number of views of the answer explanations was
positively correlated with student performance. Further, counting the number
of answer explanation views would provide additional data that could serve as
the basis for just-in-time learning support as outlined in the third
recommendation.
Conclusion
An examination of the central research question revealed that the instructional
treatment of completion problems in basic accounting courses was more effect-
ive at increasing student performance than the use of conventional accounting
problems. However, it was also revealed that there was an interaction between
the levels of learner prior knowledge and the instructional method. Therefore,
the positive change in student scores that were recorded may be attributable to
both the instructional method and learner’s prior knowledge when considered
together rather than separately.
The differences in the median percent increase of the scores for the low-prior
knowledge treatment group, and all other groups, were found to be statistically
significant. However, there was no other significant difference found between
any of the other groups. This result was surprising because cognitive load theory
implies that the high-prior knowledge groups are expected to outperform the
low-prior knowledge groups and that the instructional treatment group should
outperform the control group. In this study, the instructional treatment group
outperformed the control group as expected. But the high-prior knowledge
groups did not better the scores of the low-prior knowledge groups. This con-
flicting result may be due to two factors, which are (a) the expertise reversal
effect or (b) the nature of the pretest median score used to determine the levels of
prior knowledge.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Kingry et al. 65

14. Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.
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Author Biographies
Mary Ann Kingry, EdD, is a Senior Programmer/Developer at Navy Federal
Credit Union. She earned her EdD in Curriculum and Instruction with an
emphasis in Instructional Technology from the University of West Florida
where she also earned her MBA and BA in Accounting. Mary Ann has over
20 years of experience in programming, database administration, and systems/
server administration in both corporate and academic environments. Her
research interests include accounting and technology integration, adaptive
online learning, and instructional strategies
Byron Havard, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at
the University of West Florida. He earned a BS in Industrial Design at Auburn
University, a MS in Instructional Design and Development from the University
of South Alabama, and a PhD in Instructional Technology from Georgia State
University. Byron has roughly nine years of corporate experience in instruc-
tional design, needs assessment, and evaluation with ATT, IBM, and
Mitsubishi Electric prior to his current role as a faculty member. His research
Kingry et al. 67

16. interests include social and cultural dimensions in instructional technology,
online collaborative learning and assessment, and instructional strategies for
emerging technologies. At the time of this writing he has over 20 peer reviewed
publications and over 30 peer reviewed presentations.
Richard Robinson is doctoral student at the University of West Florida. He
earned his BA in Psychology at Florida International University, a Master of
Hospitality Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a
professional certificate in Online Teaching from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Richard is currently completing his Doctor of Education degree at
UWF, specializing in Instructional Technology/Distance Learning, and is a
Graduate Assistant working under the tutelage of Dr. Byron Havard. His
research interests include distance learning, multimedia learning theory, learning
environments, and motivational strategies.
Mofidul Islam is a full time online instructor at Columbia Southern University
(CSU). Prior to that, he served in the Chair position of Undergraduate Business
Programs at CSU from 2008 to 2010. He served in the position of Instructional
Designer in CSU from 2003 to 2008. He has written and revised over 300 courses
in the CSU College of Business. Prior to joining CSU, he worked at Regions
Bank as an Instructional Designer. He received his MS in Instructional Design
and Development and BS in Business Administration from the University
of South Alabama. Mofidul is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in
Instructional Technology with an emphasis in Distance Learning at University
of West Florida. His research interests include diffusion of innovation, technol-
ogy acceptance and use, synchronous learning tools, and self-efficacy.
68 Journal of Educational Technology Systems 44(1)