Effects of using a second-screen application on attention,learning, and user experience in an educational content

Using a secondary device while viewing a primary device (i.e. TV), or media multitasking, is now common. Numerous researchers and practitioners have attempted to introduce secondary devices into education as a new learning environment providing additional information to the user. However, the learning-related effects of using a second screen remain controversial. This study examined the effects of second-screen-application use on attention, learning performance, and user experience per content relevance for three primary contents (PC; i.e. videos) requiring different amounts of cognitive load: low, medium, and high. Second-screen use reduced learning performance and user satisfaction when the PC required high cognitive load. However, participants exhibited increased learning performance, concentration, and satisfaction with the PC requiring medium-cognitive-load when highly relevant information was presented on the secondary screen simultaneously. Based on these findings, guidelines were suggested for designing a second-screen application without degrading users’ learning and experience.     

Effects of multitasking on retention and topic interest

A recent and pervasive “urban legend” in education describes contemporary students as digital natives and effective multitaskers. The current study investigated the effects of sequential and concurrent multitasking scenarios on content retention and topic interest in a multimedia learning environment. Five hundred and seventy two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of the seven conditions in which either sequential or concurrent multitasking scenarios were simulated through a web-based system. While the sequential conditions either required switching between instructional and distractive videos or between two instructional videos, the concurrent multitasking scenarios involved online chatting while watching the videos. The relationships between digital device experience, daily media exposure, current multitasking habits, working memory components, and content retention were also investigated. Findings revealed that sequential multitasking did not interfere with retention whereas concurrent multitasking interfered with both retention and topic interest. Digital device experience and daily multitasking habits were not related with retention. Furthermore, daily media exposure was negatively associated with the retention, particularly in the longer sequential multitasking scenarios. Finally, different types of multitasking were related with different working memory constructs.     

The impact of media multitasking on learning

While multitasking is not a new concept, it has received increasing attention in recent years with the development of new media and technologies. Recent trends appear to suggest that multitasking is on the rise among the younger generation. The purpose of the study is to determine if students obtain more or less information in multitasking conditions. We examined the relationships of multitasking to attention, cognitive load and media with 130 college student participants. In this study, participants were given a timed (16 minutes) reading comprehension test in three conditions: Silence (only reading), Background multitasking (reading with a non-tested video shown simultaneously), and Test multitasking (reading with a tested video shown simultaneously) conditions. Our findings indicated that: (1) participants in the Background condition performed as well as those in the Silence condition, and (2) when participants were tested on their video comprehension, the group in the Test condition performed significantly better than the group in the Background condition. The results of this study suggest that cognitive load plays an important role in determining how much information is retained when students perform more than one task at a time.     

媒体多任务一定会消极影响在线学习吗?——基于不同干扰条件下八年级学生学习数学视频的实验分析

媒体多任务通常被认为是影响在线学习的主要负面因素之一,而这种消极影响可能取决于多任务处理的频率。文章通过即时信息干扰数学视频学习的实验,对54名八年级学生在不同干扰条件下的学习效果进行了比较,结果发现:多任务处理频率是影响在线学习效果的关键条件,媒体多任务经验是影响在线学习效果的重要条件;对于媒体多任务经验丰富者来说,一定范围内的即时消息干扰并不影响学习效果,但当多任务处理超过一定范围时,学习效果将显著降低。基于实验分析结果,文章指出学习者可适当进行媒体多任务训练,以适应在线学习环境;在线学习过程中,教育工作者需注意将多任务处理频率控制在一定的范围内。     

刍议教师的阳光心态对合作学习的影响

合作学习是指学习者在合作过程中进行知识构建,既包括认知的发展也包括社交技能的培养。成功的合作学习有五个基本原则。合作学习中教师的五个不同的指导任务归纳为认知任务、情感任务、共同认知任务、社交任务以及组织指导任务。教师的阳光心态对合作学习的效果起着重要的作用。     

Cognitive Diversity in Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults: The Role of Education

This study examines cognitive diversity through performance of four attentional tasks and a vocabulary measure in relation to age and level of education. Tasks were performed by 168 participants (aged between 45 and 91 years) who were grouped according to age and level of education. Multivariate analyses of variance were applied to Z scores calculated from intersubject coefficients of variation. When the variance associated with education was discounted prior to analysis, a disproportionate increase in cognitive diversity was observed in participants over 75 years of age. When cognitive diversity was analyzed in relation to age and education in the three youngest age groups, participants with a low level of education displayed higher diversity in most attentional tasks from 66 years of age. In participants with a high level of education, diversity was lower for all attentional tasks considered from 56 years of age. Vocabulary knowledge was the most sensitive to education-related cognitive diversity. The diversifying effect of the relationship between education and diversity on fluid cognitive performance appeared to reverse and become a homogenizing effect with increasing age.     

Understanding and supporting the use of feedback from mobile applications in the learning of vocabulary among young adolescent learners

Understanding how young adolescent learners interact with mobile vocabulary learning applications can aid them in becoming more engaged with the information and feedback they are receiving. Inspired by the literature on learner-oriented feedback practice, this study asked two research questions: 1) what kind of feedback from the mobile apps can predict their learning experience, and 2) what features are useful in the support of self-assessment practice? Both survey data (n = 259) and interview data (n = 12) were collected from students at a junior school in southern China. Quantitative analysis suggests that high levels of satisfaction and perceived usefulness are associated with two factors: 1) visualizing the learning gaps with reference to external standardized tests and curricula, and 2) encouraging independent rather than social learning strategies. The qualitative data identified four main features or principles which may support young adolescent learners’ use of apps for self-assessment practice: 1) explicit links to curricula and tests; 2) immediate feedback on answers and learning strategies with more similar tasks; 3) maintaining relationships with teachers and peers, and 4) emotional support. Implications include the integration of quick automatic feedback to app users, clear alignment of self-assessment tasks with national curriculum and tests, and stronger emotional and cognitive support from both peers and instructors.     

Generalizing screen inferiority - does the medium,screen versus paper,affect performance even with brief tasks?

Screen inferiority in performance and metacognitive processes has been repeatedly found with text learning. Common explanations for screen inferiority relate to technological and physiological disadvantages associated with extensive reading on screen. However, recent studies point to lesser recruitment of mental effort on screen than on paper. Learning tasks involving a heavy reading burden confound technological and physiological media differences with potential media effects on recruitment of mental effort. The present study focused on media effects on effort recruitment. We examined whether screen inferiority remains even with a brief task that nevertheless requires effort recruitment. In two experiments, participants faced three short math problems that require systematic processing to solve correctly. We examined media effect on solving these problems, and the potential of disturbed perceptual fluency (i.e., disfluent versus fluent fonts) to induce effort investment. Overall, there were no performance differences between the media. However, when collecting confidence ratings, disfluency improved performance on screen and hindered it on paper. Only on paper confidence ratings were sensitive to performance differences associated with fluency, and resolution was better with the disfluent font than with the fluent font. Correspondingly, another sample reported on their preference of media for solving the problems. They expressed a clear reluctance to working on screen despite the task being brief. This preference is suggestive of reliable meta-metacognitive judgments reflecting the general lower quality of metacognitive processes on screen. The findings call for considering medium and presentation format effects on metacognitive processing when designing computerized environments, even for brief tasks.     

Facilitators or suppressors: Effects of experimentally induced emotions on multimedia learning

The present study investigated the influence of experimentally induced emotions (positive, neutral, negative) on learning with multimedia instruction with N = 75 university students. In order to provide sound explanations about how emotional state might impact learning, measures of motivation, cognitive load, and attentional processes (eye tracking) were integrated. Results showed that while emotions did not influence retention, emotions did influence outcomes of the comprehension and transfer test. Specifically, a facilitating effect of an induced negative emotional state on learning outcomes was observed, which could be attributed to a more focused and detailed information processing. In contrast, an induced positive emotional state had a suppressing effect on learning outcomes since learners were distracted from the learning materials by their emotions. Motivational measures were not influenced by learners' different emotional states, but overall, controlled motivation increased and autonomous motivation decreased during learning. In sum, the learners' emotional state should be considered in learning research as an important predictor for learning success.     

Ecologically Valid Assessments of Attention and Learning Engagement in Media Multitaskers

This paper provides a synthesis of core literature of media multitasking, attention, and learning engagement. The focus, however, is on the ecologically valid assessments examining the depth-biased or breadth-biased attention and learning engagement in the media multitasking environments. We propose novel approaches to assess media multitasking including electroencephalography and virtual reality. We conclude with suggestions for some technology-enhanced and cross-disciplinary research methods for improving studies in this area.     

Digital Learning Playground: supporting authentic learning experiences in the classroom

This study proposes a platform to provide a near-authentic environment, context, and situation for task-based learning. The platform includes two projection screens (a vertical and a horizontal screen) combined for situated or authentic learning. The horizontal screen extends the vertical screen scene to form a space for learning activities and performance. The platform creates learning situations using robots as surrogates of students to accomplish real-life tasks. Kolb's four-stage experiential learning cyclical model was adopted in the learning design. A simple practice was developed to examine the effect on teaching children English as a foreign language. The results reveal that children could engage deeply and feel more enjoyment using the system. Moreover, as surrogates for students to imagine that they are accomplishing real-life missions, robots could be a vital element of authentic learning in future classrooms.     

The Effect of CRT Screen Design on Learning and Time

Two CAI programs tested the effects of plain and enhanced screen designs, with or without information about the designs, and task-type on learning time and achievement. The enhanced versions used headings, directive cues, running heads, and graphic devices to organize and structure the content, Information about the screens described the purposes of the enhanced features and instructed the students to use those features while studying. One program required learners to perform a memorization task; the second program required concept acquisition and application. Plain-screen versions were equal to the enhanced versions in the effects on learning. Information about text enhancements reduced lesson time when the enhancements provided the learner with program control options.     

The Multitasking Reality of the Parenting Brain

SYNOPSIS

Ecologically valid experimental paradigms are critical if we are to identify meaningful behavioral and neural substrates of parental responsiveness to infant cues. In this commentary, we discuss how Rigo et al. (2019) in their fMRI study of responses to infant cues make advances toward developing a paradigm that better mimics real-world parenting demands. In contrast to the standard infant cue paradigm, Rigo and colleagues exposed participants to infant sounds while engaged in competing goal-directed demands – multitasking. Although several central hypotheses were not confirmed, we hold that the use of ecologically improved paradigms is a necessary step toward understanding the multitasking reality of the parenting brain.     

Orthographic consistency and individual learner differences in second language literacy acquisition

This study investigated whether orthographic consistency and individual learner differences including working memory (WM), first language (L1) background, and second language (L2) proficiency affect Chinese L2 learners’ literacy acquisition. Seventy American college students in beginning or intermediate Chinese classes participated in a character learning-and-reading experiment, and completed WM tasks and an L2 proficiency test. In the learning phase of the experiment, participants were asked to master 18 unfamiliar Chinese characters of three levels of consistency—consistent, semi-consistent, and inconsistent. Then in the transfer test of the experiment, participants read 60 novel, artificial characters analogous to the learned characters. Significant consistency effects for learning and reading new characters were found, with no effects of WM and L1. In particular, an interaction effect between consistency and L2 proficiency found in the learning phase indicated that participants with higher L2 proficiency learned the fully consistent characters better and faster than those with lower proficiency. These results suggest that L2 proficiency facilitates awareness of consistency, enabling learners to learn novel characters faster and more accurately. The findings of this study are compared with the character acquisition of beginning L1 Chinese readers and with L2 learners’ acquisition of other types of characters.     

Expertise reversal effect and sequencing of learning tasks in online English as a second language learning environment

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of sequencing instructional materials and learners' prior knowledge on learning ESL (English as a second language) through an online learning course. 121 fifth-grade students from an elementary school in Korea participated in the study. Each participant was allocated to one cell of a 2?×?2 between-subjects factorial design, with an instructional format (i.e. sequential or concurrent) as a first factor, and prior knowledge (i.e. high or low) as a second factor. Instructions of the words and grammar rules were allocated to each page for the sequential group, whereas integrated on a single page for the concurrent group. The result indicates that the sequential instruction of words followed by grammar explanations was more effective for the students with higher levels of prior knowledge than the concurrent presentation. The reverse was also found for the students with lower levels of prior knowledge in English. There are four possible explanations for the results. First, split-attention effect, temporal-contiguity effect, or transient information effect might occur. Second, worked-example effect might occur and over-ride the effect of sequencing. Third, intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load might intertwine each other. Last, the levels of element interactivity in two instructional formats might be different from each other. The implications for instructional designers and future research are discussed.     

“I learn for a job promotion!”: the role of outcome-focused career goals in motivating distance learners to learn

Outcome-focused career goals are concerned about studying for tangible career benefits. To what extent do these goals motivate distance learners to learn? Using a mixed-method design, Study 1 found that career-focused learners, when compared with noncareer-focused counterparts, had a propensity to endorse outcome-focused career goals, use surface strategies, value their learning, and achieve better course results. Interview findings showed that career-focused learners used a strategic approach to ensure the timely completion of tasks and examination preparation. Study 2 located two groups of career-focused learners (autonomous and controlled) who endorsed outcome-focused career goals, alongside a noncareer-focused group. MANOVA analyses found that autonomous and noncareer-focused learners had engaged learning patterns. Although controlled learners were less engaged in learning, they achieved better results. It was concluded that outcome-focused career goals are significant sources of motivation for distance learners, despite being extrinsic to learning.     

The role of online communities and the impact of educational social media on Saudi female college students in the United States

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of online communities and the impact of educational social media on 14 Saudi female college students who were studying in the United States. The findings revealed that social media was important to the participants for maintaining relationships and seeking out information from others. Social media was also an important way for participants to remain close to their communities and keep in contact with Saudi friends and family; however, the use of social media to interact with their communities was often shaped by Saudi cultural expectations. Most of the participants enjoyed online education and interacting with others in an online educational setting because it promotes collaborative learning and cultural interaction. Overall, social media used for educational purposes was mostly seen by the participants as a positive and beneficial part of their educational experiences.     

Sixth-grade students’ engagement in academic tasks

Student engagement is important for teachers and researchers because it is associated with student achievement. Guided by self-determination theory, this year-long case study used observations and interviews to examine six students’ behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement in integrated literacy and social studies tasks. Task differences were rated according to the degree to which tasks were authentic, collaborative, challenging, student directed, and sustained. Results demonstrated that, overall, students were more engaged in tasks that include a higher degree of these elements. In particular, students reported that they were engaged in tasks that included collaboration, new learning, and teacher support.     

The effect of redundant text in multimedia instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the redundancy effects obtained when spoken information was duplicated in writing during the learning of a multimedia document. Documents consisting of diagrams and spoken information on the development of memory models were presented to three groups of students. In the first group, no written text was presented. In the second, written sentences redundant with the spoken information were progressively presented on the screen while in the third group, these written sentences were presented together. The results show that whatever the type of text presentation (sequential or static), the duplication of information in the written mode led to a substantial impairment in subsequent retention and transfer tests as well as in a task in which the memorization of diagrams was evaluated. This last result supports the hypothesis that the visual channel is overloaded as the cognitive theory of multimedia learning suggests.     

Why Media Matter

Whether media affect learning has been debated for decades. The discussion of media's effectiveness has raised questions about the usefulness of comparison studies, not only in assessing applications of technology but in other areas as well. Arguments that media do not affect learning are re‐examined and issues concerning media effects on expert performance are examined. Studies of mediated expert performance in telemedicine are used to show media affect performance and suggest media contribute to learning. Media present information crucial to performing certain tasks and the use of identical or similar media in learning these tasks should have positive effects on transfer. The usefulness of media comparison studies in telemedicine is discussed and it is argued that such studies are valuable for practical decision making regarding the deployment and application of technology in training and the workplace.