Effects of prior knowledge and concept-map structure on disorientation, cognitive load, and learning

This study explored the effects of prior knowledge (high vs. low; HPK and LPK) and concept-map structure (hierarchical vs. network; HS and NS) on disorientation, cognitive load, and learning from non-linear documents on “the infection process of a retrograde virus (HIV)”. Participants in the study were 24 adults. Overall subjective ratings of disorientation and cognitive load, as well as detailed analysis of eye movement and navigation data were used. The results showed that LPK learners gained equal factual knowledge from the HS and NS concept maps, gained more conceptual knowledge from the HS concept map, and had to invest less mental effort in the posttest after learning with the HS concept map. On the other hand, HPK learners gained more factual knowledge from the HS concept map than from the NS concept map, and gained equal conceptual knowledge from both concept-map structures. Also, LPK learners experienced higher disorientation during learning with the NS concept map than the HS map, whereas no differential effect of concept-map structure was found for HPK learners. Both LPK and HPK learners invested less mental effort in processing the HS concept map. The eye tracking and navigation data provided more detailed insight into these findings.     

Two instructional aids to optimise processing and learning from instructional explanations

Although instructional explanations are commonly used to introduce learners to new learning content, previous studies have often shown that their effects on learning outcomes are minimal. This failure might partly be due to mental passivity of the learners while processing introductory explanations and to a lack of opportunity to revise potential misunderstandings after working on introductory explanations. Against this background, we provided learners with two instructional support measures to optimise the introduction of new principles and concepts by providing instructional explanations in the domain of management theory: (a) prompts designed to induce inferences that are focused on the central content of the explanations, and (b) remedial explanations that are adapted to the learners’ knowledge gaps. We tested their effects in a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design with the following factors: (a) prompts designed to induce focused processing (with vs. without), and (b) remedial explanations (adapted vs. random). The participants consisted of 80 psychology students. We found that the prompts fostered both the share of deep-oriented processing and the acquisition of conceptual knowledge. The beneficial effect of prompts on conceptual knowledge was mediated by the number of inferences that learners generated in response to the prompts. In addition, we found that prompts also fostered the instructional efficiency of providing instructional explanations. The provision of adapted remedial explanations, however, fostered neither deep-oriented processing nor the acquisition of conceptual knowledge. We conclude that prompts designed to induce focused processing can foster deep-oriented processing as well as both the effectiveness and efficiency of learning from instructional explanations.     

Mental effort and video-based learning: The relationship of preconceptions and the effects of interactive and covert practice

Recommendations for the design of interactive video materials are often based on the premise that interactive video may overcome learners' preconceptions of television as “easy.” This study investigated learner preconceptions of the difficulty of interactive video, instructional television, and television, and examined the effects of actively or covertly responding to practice questions on perceived mental effort, recall, and inferences. Seventy-one undergraduate students completed a questionnaire assessing their preconceptions of the difficulty of the three media, received their treatment, completed a questionnaire assessing perceived mental effort, then completed a recall and inference posttest. Before the lesson, the learners perceived it to be significantly easier to learn from interactive video than from instructional television and television, and significantly easier to learn from instructional television than from television. There were no significant differences in the mental effort ratings or inference scores among the three groups. The interactive video group recalled significantly more information than the television group. Possible reasons for findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

The interaction between textual structures and prior knowledge: Hypotheses, data and simulations

Our purpose was to compare the effect of two types of textual semantic coherence — causal and teleological — on the organization of the mental representation elaborated after reading by learners with different levels of prior knowledge. Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced in computer domain read either the causal or the teleological version of a text describing three functions of a text editor, then performed a cued recall and a recognition task. We assumed that Advanced learners build a mental representation of the domain organized in a hierarchical goal/sub-goals structure, whereas Beginners and Intermediates have a mental representation organized in a causal path. If this is so, the results should indicate a significant interaction between prior knowledge and the semantic coherence of the texts: for the Advanced learners, recall and recognition of the teleological text should be better, whereas for the Beginners and Intermediates, the reverse was expected. As we assumed, results indicated that a teleological organization of textual information facilitated the comprehension of Advanced participants while a temporal-causal organization facilitated the comprehension of Beginner and Intermediate participants. The Construction-Integration model of Kintsch (1988, 1998) was used to, simulate the recall results and to reproduce the effect of prior knowledge on the retrieval of textual information.     

Humanizing Instructional Videos in Physics: When Less Is More

Many instructors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields are striving to create active learning environments in their classrooms and in doing so are frequently moving the lecture portion of their course into online video format. In this classroom-based study, we used a two group randomized experimental design to examine the efficacy of an instructional video that incorporates a human hand demonstrating and modeling how to solve frictional inclined plane problems compared to an identical video that did not include the human hand. The results show that the learners who viewed the video without the human hand present performed significantly better on a learning test and experienced a significantly better training efficiency than the learners who viewed the video with the human hand present. Meanwhile, those who learned with the human hand present in the instructional video rated the instructor as being more humanlike and engaging. The results have implications for both theory and practice. Implications for those designing instructional videos are discussed, as well as the limitations of the current study.     

FACTORS INFLUENCING PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ IMAGINATION AT THE MICROSCOPIC LEVEL IN CHEMISTRY

This study explores the mental images at the microscopic level of matter created by 22 preservice science teachers in Oman. Participants were encouraged during a guided imagery session to construct mental images for a scenario written about the explanation of the reaction of sodium in water. They were then asked to describe what they envisioned in their own imagination. Participants had images that were based on textbook illustrations, modeling kits, a solar-system model, physical properties, and humanized animations. 3D mental images represented 33.36% of participants’ mental images at the microscopic level, while images in 2D format formed 39.15% of the overall created mental images. Several factors shaped the participants’ mental images, such as their imaginative ability, attention mode, and the nature of their old images stored in their long-term memory. Most of the participants experienced image transformation from one form to another as they were progressing in the GI session. This unstable reliance on different models might indicate unorganized conceptual networks in learners’ LTM: a feature that characterizes novices’ mental networking. On the contrary, past research has revealed that experts have more organized and sophisticated conceptual networking. This study argued that participants lacked the homogeneous and reliable mental model of the atom that is required to carry out advanced cognitive processes for mental exploration of chemical phenomena. The absence of this mental model might explain the overwhelming finding in literature that many learners fail to explain and predict chemical phenomena.     

Epistemic Beliefs and Conceptual Understanding in Biotechnology: A Case Study

The purpose of this investigation was to explore students’ epistemic beliefs and conceptual understanding of biotechnology. Epistemic beliefs can influence reasoning, how individuals evaluate information, and informed decision making abilities. These skills are important for an informed citizenry that will participate in debates regarding areas in science such as biotechnology. We report on an in-depth case study analysis of three undergraduate, non-science majors in a biotechnology course designed for non-biochemistry majors. We selected participants who performed above average and below average on the first in-class exam. Data from multiple sources—interviews, exams, and a concept instrument—were used to construct (a) individual profiles and (b) a cross-case analysis of our participants’ conceptual development and epistemic beliefs from two different theoretical perspectives—Women’s Ways of Knowing and the Reflective Judgment Model. Two independent trained researchers coded all case records independently for both theoretical perspectives, with resultant initial Cohen’s kappa values above .715 (substantial agreement), and then reached consensus on the codes. Results indicate that a student with more sophisticated epistemology demonstrated greater conceptual understandings at the end of the course than a student with less sophisticated epistemology, even though the latter performed higher initially. Also a student with a less sophisticated epistemology and low initial conceptual performance does not demonstrate gains in their overall conceptual understanding. Results suggest the need for instructional interventions fostering epistemological development of learners in order to facilitate their conceptual growth.     

Understanding and Enhancing the Use of Multiple External Representations in Chemistry Education

Theories on learning with Multiple External Representations (MER) claim that low prior knowledge learners in science have difficulties using MER, which are seen as necessary to achieve a conceptual understanding. In two experiments, we analyze the mechanisms underlying the learning of chemistry with MER. Our first experiment focuses on how MER can support learning. We found no difference in learning gains of conceptual understanding, regardless of the format (whether MER were provided or not). It is concluded that chemical MER on themself cannot be seen as learning aids. The second experiment compares three types of instructional aids (prompts, prompts with an answer, and note-taking) to determine which types of aids enhance learning with MER. Contrary to the findings of Seufert (Learn Instr 13:227?C237, 2003), path-analysis suggests that the lowest prior knowledge group benefits the most from instructional aids such as prompts and note-taking. These aids guide learners?? attention towards one specific representational format (symbols), while other formats (submicroscopic representations) receive less attention.     

Networking From the Inside Out: Understanding Learners' Processes,Activities, and Experiences

Research to date has demonstrated that networking can be an effective strategy for supporting meaningful learning. However, studies have shown that learners encounter difficulties using it. In an attempt to understand and thus reduce these difficulties, this study examined learners' underlying cognitive processes and activities while networking. Detailed process, observational, and post-activity interview data were gathered on 14 participants during and after their networking of an 800-word text. The study showed that learners must possess several forms of prior knowledge, and devote appropriate time and effort in order to derive benefits from networking. The instructional implications of the process and the methodological contribution of this study are discussed.     

Assessment criteria for competency-based education: a study in nursing education

This study examined the effects of type of assessment criteria (performance-based vs. competency-based), the relevance of assessment criteria (relevant criteria vs. all criteria), and their interaction on secondary vocational education students’ performance and assessment skills. Students on three programmes in the domain of nursing and care (N = 93) participated in the study. Results show that students who were given the relevant criteria made more accurate assessments of an expert model, performed better on a test and achieved higher instructional efficiency (defined as the relationship between performance and mental effort) compared to students who were given all criteria. Students who were given performance-based assessment criteria made more accurate assessments of an expert model and scored higher on task performance during practice compared to students who were given competency-based assessment criteria. They invested less mental effort in the assessments, resulting in higher instructional efficiency. An interaction effect for the concreteness of answers shows that the combination of performance-based and relevant criteria leads to superior analysis of worked examples compared to the other combinations of criteria.     

“Sprouting” the Couch Potato: Techniques to Increase the Effort Learners Invest in Video-Based Materials

Although videotapes are a popular instructional medium in the training environment, viewers often adopt a passive stance toward learning from video. Viewers perceptions of video as a passive, “easy” medium may minimize the information they gain from video-based instruction. If instructional designers and trainers want to encourage the “couch potato” to process the content of a video-based lesson in an active manner, they should make sure that their lessons are designed to facilitate this process. This article discusses the relationship of mental effort to achievement, provides recommendations for designing video-based materials to increase the effort learners invest in the instruction, and presents a list of practical techniques for increasing learners' mental effort and achievement that can be incorporated into lessons that include video-based materials.     

Fostering the analytical competency of pre-service teachers in a computer-supported case-based learning environment: A matter of perspective?

Analytical competency in classroom situations can be seen as a crucial aspect of teachers' professional competency. While case-based learning is considered to have great potential for teacher education, particularly with respect to the promotion of teachers' analytical skills, there have been very few attempts to investigate the effects of corresponding instructional support. The present empirical study investigated the effects of instructional support in the form of multiple perspectives (i.e. authentic comments made by teachers and learners) and the presentation format of these perspectives in a computer-supported case-based learning environment which was based on the principles of cognitive flexibility theory. Twenty-nine foreign-language student teachers participated in the study. Experimental groups were presented with multiple perspectives in a video (plus audio track) or audio-track format. A control group did not have access to these multiple perspectives. The instructional support with multiple perspectives positively influenced learning processes and outcomes with respect to a central dimension of analytical competency – learners' ability to apply conceptual knowledge to case information. Learners with access to multiple perspectives as “audio only” outperformed learners in the “audio + video” condition, who did not substantially differ from the control group.     

The expertise reversal effect in prompting focused processing of instructional explanations

Providing prompts to induce focused processing of the central contents of instructional explanations is a promising instructional means to support novice learners in learning from instructional explanations. However, within research on the expertise reversal effect it has been shown that instructional means that are beneficial for novices can be detrimental for learners with more expertise if the instructional means provide guidance that overlaps with the internal guidance provided by the prior knowledge of learners with more expertise. Under such circumstances, prompts to induce focused processing might even be detrimental for learners with expertise whose prior knowledge already provides internal guidance to learn from explanations. On this basis, we aimed at experimentally varying expertise by developing prior knowledge. Specifically, we used a preparation intervention with contrasting cases to enhance learners’ prior knowledge (expertise). Against this background, we tested 71 university students in a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design: (a) Factor of expertise. Working with contrasting cases to develop prior knowledge and expertise to provide internal guidance to learn from instructional explanations (with vs. without), (b) Factor of prompts. Prompts to induce focused processing of the explanations (with vs. without). The results showed that prompts to induce focused processing fostered conceptual knowledge for novice learners whereas prompts hindered the acquisition of conceptual knowledge for learners with expertise that was developed by working with contrasting cases beforehand. Moreover, measures of subjective cognitive load and learning processes suggest that the instructional guidance provided by prompts compensated for the low internal guidance of novice learners and overlapped with the internal guidance of learners with expertise.     

Modifying Knowledge,Emotions, and Attitudes Regarding Genetically Modified Foods

The purpose of this study was to explore whether conceptual change predicted emotional and attitudinal change while learning about genetically modified foods (GMFs). Participants were 322 college students; half read a refutation text designed to shift conceptual knowledge, emotions, and attitudes, while the other half served as a control group. The results suggest that the refutation text effectively facilitated change in conceptual knowledge, emotions, and attitudes. The hypothesized relationship among the variables was explored using structural equation modeling. The analysis showed that when participants experienced knowledge change toward more scientifically accepted conceptions of GMFs, their emotions became more positive and less negative, which predicted a subsequent shift toward more-positive attitudes. The results suggest that change in emotions mediates the relationship between conceptual and attitudinal change. Several theoretical and practical implications are discussed including the impact that these findings may have on science education.     

Fostering active processing of instructional explanations of learners with high and low prior knowledge

Despite the potential advantages of instructional explanations, evidence indicates that they are usually ineffective. Subsequent work has shown that in order to make instructional explanations effective indeed, one successful strategy is to combine them with indications of the limitations in learners' understanding that they are intended to revise, which makes learners deeply process the explanations. We explored whether this is so for both learners with low and those with high prior domain knowledge. In one experiment, 77 participants with low and high prior knowledge learned about plate tectonics from a multimedia presentation. In addition to the presentation, half the participants received instructional explanations combined with indications, whereas the rest received instructional explanations with no indications. After using the materials, the participants solved retention and transfer tests. Results showed that low prior knowledge learners learned more from explanations including indications of their misunderstandings, whereas high prior knowledge learners profited from instructional explanations either with or without the indications. We discussed theoretical and practical implications.     

Using the Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal to assess the rigor gap

In a line of research employing a survey instrument, the Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal, teachers supported critical-thinking (CT) activities more for high- than low-advantage learners, likely exacerbating a “rigor gap” implicated in persistent achievement gaps. Such beliefs were less likely to be espoused by expert teachers than randomly selected ones, and teacher-education programs mitigated these beliefs but did not expunge them, suggesting a need for interventions that foster belief change. Six issues were found to be associated with support for low-CT activities with low-advantage populations—learners’ prior knowledge, time constraints, influence of parents, influence of colleagues, learners’ level of motivation, and learners’ level of ability. The rigor gap may be ameliorated through teacher-education practices that encourage teachers to (a) reflect on their existing beliefs, their experiences as students, their field experiences, classroom scenarios, and models of best practice, and (b) create instructional plans featuring high-CT activities for low-advantage learners.     

The effects of metaphorical interface on germane cognitive load in Web-based instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a metaphorical interface on germane cognitive load in Web-based instruction. Based on cognitive load theory, germane cognitive load is a cognitive investment for schema construction and automation. A new instrument developed in a previous study was used to measure students?? mental activities of schema construction and automation supported by structural cues in a metaphorical interface environment. Eighty participants were randomly assigned to one of two types of instructional units with the same instructional content and different interface types (i.e., non-metaphorical interface and metaphorical interface). The results indicated that germane cognitive load positively affected learning performance while there was no relationship between germane cognitive load and students?? prior knowledge. A metaphorical interface enhanced learners?? germane cognitive load and learning performance, and both germane cognitive load and prior knowledge similarly contributed to learning performance. The findings provide implications for the advancement of cognitive load theory and the practice of instructional development.     

A motivational perspective on the relation between mental effort and performance: Optimizing learner involvement in instruction

Motivation can be identified as a dimension that determines learning success and causes the high dropout rate among online learners, especially in complex e-learning environments. It is argued that these learning environments represensent a new challenge to cognitive load researchers to investigate the motivational effects of instructional conditions and help instructional designers to predict which instructional configurations will maximize learning and transfer. Consistent with the efficiency perspective introduced by Paas and Van Merriënboer (1993), an alternative motivational perspective of the relation between mental effort and performance is presented. We propose a procedure to compute and visualize the differential effects of instructional conditions on learner motivation, and illustrate this procedure on the basis of an existing data set. Theoretical and practical implications of the motivational perspective are discussed.