NCJ Number
99023
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1985) Pages: 230-235
Date Published
1985
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the methodology and findings of an evaluation of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program on the exclusionary rule administered to 40 randomly selected officers from the Port of Seattle Police Department (Washington State).
Abstract
The evaluation design involved a prestest and posttest, with random assignments to control (no CAI) and experimental groups (20 officers in each group). Between December 17 and 22, 1984, the experimental-group officers were given the prestest, which tested officers' knowledge of the exclusionary rule. Between December 23, 1984, and January 2, 1985, the CAI group was given the CAI program. The officers were given the posttest immediately after completing the training. With the posttest, the officers were also given a questionnaire that asked about their expectation of improvement, ease of use of the program, willingness to use other CAI programs, degree of experience with computers, and degree of experience with CAI training. The control group received the same pretest before being instructed in the same course content without CAI. The control officers were also posttested. The pretest scores of both groups were not statistically different, but the posttest scores of the experimental officers rose almost 20 percent while the posttest scores of the control group dropped slightly. The experimental officers reported a willingness to participate in additional CAI training. The appendix contains some of the experimental officers' comments on the CAI training. Tabular data and nine references are provided.