对优化超文本阅读的思考

作为信息网络时代最流行的语义载体,超文本以其自身的超链接性、非线性等特点潜移默化地影响并改变着传统地阅读方式。这种超文本阅读方式给读者们带来便捷的同时,也导致了读者的心理认知负担等方面的问题。鉴于此,学习者要加强对认知策略和元认知策略培养的认识,同时通过大学英语网络多媒体辅助教学以减轻心理认知负荷问题,促进英语自主学习,实现超文本阅读的自主化、个性化。     

Individual variation in children's reading comprehension across digital text types

The present study examined children's digital text comprehension of digital text types linear digital text vs hypertext, with or without graphical navigable overviews. We investigated to what extent individual variation in children's comprehension could be explained by lexical quality (word reading efficiency and vocabulary knowledge), cognitive load factors (prior knowledge and working memory), text type and graphical overview. Participants were 93 sixth graders in a within‐subject design. Word reading efficiency, vocabulary knowledge and prior knowledge predicted children's digital comprehension scores, while working memory did not. Reading comprehension was equal for linear text or hypertext. However, the presence of an overview facilitated reading comprehension for readers with lower prior knowledge. It can be concluded that hypertexts with basic digital text features and accompanying comprehension questions are not more difficult for children than linear digital texts, that similar individual factors predict reading comprehension of linear text and hypertext, and that a graphical overview helps when prior knowledge is low.     

Exploring individual processes of knowledge construction with hypertext

This empirical study reports on cognitive activities when hypertext readers construct interpretations, appreciate multiple perspectives and become able to manipulate the knowledge-construction process itself. A variety of methods of data collection for exploring the cognitive activities of students were produced. Quantitative results show that, in general, all students profit from their learning activities. A more detailed analysis reveals that lowprior-knowledge students benefited more from working with the hypertext program than those with high prior knowledge. From qualitative data analysis, three typical hypertext reading patterns were discovered: (1) systematic reading, (2) systematic versus explorative reading, and (3) exploration due to individual preferences. Also, it was found that, on the basis of their hypertext reading behaviour, the students could be divided into two groups, which are called self-regulated and cue-dependent learners. It seems that information presentation with hypertext appears to be the most beneficial to self-regulated readers who are to a higher degree capable of using metacognitive skills and possess, at the same time, a lesser degree of test anxiety. It is the self-regulated learner who profits most from a hypertext program.     

How Should I Use My E‐Reader? An Exploration of the Circumstances Under Which Electronic Presentation of Text Results in Good Comprehension

The present research aimed to determine the circumstances under which comprehension between paper and e‐readers is comparable and what role working memory plays in successful comprehension of text presented in these formats. Narrative and expository texts were presented in electronic and paper formats to determine whether readers glean different information for these text types via different presentation formats. Results indicated that comprehension for paper and electronic formats may not be equivalent. Although comprehension of thematic information presented via e‐reader was better than when reading for detail (as in expository passages), it did not lead to comprehension as successfully as printed text. In addition, removing working memory led to the disappearance of the effects of presentation method and the type of questions, suggesting that it was important for individual differences in use of the e‐reader device. Implications for the appropriate use of e‐readers are discussed.     

Teaching Text Design

A growing body of literature defines a rhetoric of visible text based on page layout, typography, and the various design features afforded by page composition tools buitt into word processors and page design programs. Little has been written, however, about what a wriier needs to know about design and in what order. This article describes and demonstrates a scope and sequence of learning that encourages writers to develop their skills as text designers. It introduces relevant liierature that is helpful for such learning and it does so in an evolving format that displays visually what the essay discusses verbally.     

Dyslexic children show deficits in implicit sequence learning,but not in explicit sequence learning or contextual cueing

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling abilities. The absence of other high level cognitive deficits in the dyslexic population has led some authors to propose that non-strategical processes like implicit learning could be impaired in this population. Most studies have addressed this issue by using sequence learning tasks, but so far the results have not been conclusive. We test this hypothesis by comparing the performance of dyslexic children and good readers in both implicit and explicit versions of the sequence learning task, as well as in another implicit learning task not involving sequential information. The results showed that dyslexic children failed to learn the sequence when they were not informed about its presence (implicit condition). In contrast, they learned without significant differences in relation to the good readers group when they were encouraged to discover the sequence and to use it in order to improve their performance (explicit condition). Moreover, we observed that this implicit learning deficit was not extended to other forms of non-sequential, implicit learning such as contextual cueing. In this case, both groups showed similar implicit learning about the information provided by the visual context. These results help to clarify previous contradictory data, and they are discussed in relation to how the implicit sequence learning deficit could contribute to the understanding of dyslexia.     

Eye-movement patterns and reader characteristics of students with good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams

This study investigated the cognitive processes and reader characteristics of sixth graders who had good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams. We first measured the reading ability and reading self-efficacy of sixth-grade participants, and then recorded their eye movements while they were reading an illustrated scientific text and scored their answers to content-related questions. Finally, the participants evaluated the difficulty of the article, the attractiveness of the content and diagram, and their learning performance. The participants were then classified into groups based on how many correct responses they gave to questions related to reading. The results showed that readers with good performance had better character recognition ability and reading self-efficacy, were more attracted to the diagrams, and had higher self-evaluated learning levels than the readers with poor performance did. Eye-movement data indicated that readers with good performance spent significantly more reading time on the whole article, the text section, and the diagram section than the readers with poor performance did. Interestingly, readers with good performance had significantly longer mean fixation duration on the diagrams than readers with poor performance did; further, readers with good performance made more saccades between the text and the diagrams. Additionally, sequential analysis of eye movements showed that readers with good performance preferred to observe the diagram rather than the text after reading the title, but this tendency was not present in readers with poor performance. In sum, using eye-tracking technology and several reading tests and questionnaires, we found that various cognitive aspects (reading strategy, diagram utilization) and affective aspects (reading self-efficacy, article likeness, diagram attraction, and self-evaluation of learning) affected sixth graders’ reading performance in this study.     

Teaching Hypertext Composition

Composing hypertext documents can be an enriching path into the world of technical communication. In learning to produce hypertext, students are introduced to an important form of written composition that encompasses not only text generation, but also visual communication and information architecture. In this article, I provide a rationale for teaching hypertext composition and then some specific curricular suggestions in two parts, one for teaching beginners, and one for teaching more advanced students.     

Logical pages: revolutionising the use of print for teaching?

"Edutainment" publishers have begun to deploy an alternative to traditional physical artefacts such as videos, books and cartridges, namely "logical pages", stored electronically and able to be selected from, to provide content in various physical forms, including multimedia, hypertext and hypermedia. Educational texts can be created using the paradigm of logical pages, which is notionally equivalent to treating a course as if it were a database of learning resources. In the case of a study text, those notional databases can contain more study guidance and raw information than conventional educational texts. Each user can select differently from the notional database, and post-process the retrieved information. Thus, some users can choose to view, on screen, a teaching text whose content and layout are identical to a conventional text, then can print a single copy, "on demand". Other users can select other page layouts or content, then transform their selection to suit their individual learning style and learning needs. This paper considers the implications of logical pages for teachers and learners. As yet, there is relatively little research into the educational uses of logical pages, so the paper extrapolates from the literature on reading and writing physical pages, including hypertext pages.     

FROM COVERT PROCESSES TO OVERT OUTCOMES OF REFUTATION TEXT READING: THE INTERPLAY OF SCIENCE TEXT STRUCTURE AND WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY THROUGH EYE FIXATIONS

This study extends current research on the refutation text effect by investigating it in learners with different levels of working memory capacity. The purpose is to outline the link between online processes (revealed by eye fixation indices) and off-line outcomes in these learners. In science education, unlike a standard text, a refutation text acknowledges readers’ alternative conceptions about a topic, refutes them, and presents scientific conceptions as viable alternatives. Lower and higher memory span university students with alternative conceptions about the topic read either a refutation or a non-refutation text about tides. Off-line measures of learning revealed that both groups of refutation text readers attained higher knowledge gains. During the reading process, refutation text readers fixated for longer on the refutation segments while reading the parts presenting the scientific information (look-froms). Non-refutation text readers looked back to the informational parts for longer. Look-froms (positively) and reading time (negatively) predicted learning from refutation text, indicating that the quality, not quantity, of reading was related to it. In contrast, learning from non-refutation text was predicted only by working memory capacity. The refutation effect is discussed and educational implications are drawn.     

信息时代知识表征的特征分析与应用策略

信息时代,伴随着技术进步和媒介发展,知识表征的形式和特征发生了很大变化。信息时代的知识表征主要有文本、超文本、概念图、多媒体和虚拟现实等类型,不同类型有各自的独特功能。更好地利用知识表征提高学习的效率和效果,需要恰当的策略。     

《老子》吊诡性之逻辑悟解

《老子》其书是晚近学术界最聚讼纷坛的话题,历来对其加以诠疏笺注者颇多。但面对老子的奇思异论,大方之家以渊深的国学根底也很难轻易地下断语。本文另辟“老学”研究径路,从几方面对《老子》进行了探隐索微,其意在擘划“老学”研究的新领域,揭橥其作者当时特定的创作心态,从而为读者比较全面地理解原著而提供些许帮助。     

Making Connections: Linking Cognitive Psychology and Intervention Research to Improve Comprehension of Struggling Readers

Many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of reading comprehension interventions for struggling readers, including students with learning disabilities. Yet, some readers continue to struggle with comprehension despite receiving these interventions. In this article, we argue that an explicit link between cognitive psychology and intervention research contributes to knowledge regarding for whom and under what conditions reading comprehension interventions are most likely to be beneficial. First, we provide a brief overview of a cognitive perspective on reading comprehension. Next, we illustrate an application of this perspective by describing a collaborative project in which we examined interactions among reader characteristics, text properties, and instructional contexts. Last, we highlight directions for future research and implications for practice.     

Stitching texts: gender and geography in Frankenstein and Patchwork Girl

This paper considers how two related texts—one in print and one in hypertext—are locations for adolescents to undertake the work of ‘literary anthropology’ in considering questions of gender and subjectivity. The first text is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which invites readers to grapple with questions of how adolescents negotiate relations with their parents and others, of how masculinity and femininity are produced and construed, and of how cultural mores inform both processes. The second is Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl, a hypertext novel that parodies the former. Both texts offer a multilayered reading experience for adolescents juxtaposing print and digital technologies, themes of boundary and displacement, and issues of identity and sexuality.     

Spatial metaphors and writing hypertexts: Study within schools

This article deals with the writing of hypertext during regular school lessons. We suppose that hypertext-environments can be used as “cognitive tools” to promote the comprehension of semantic relationships within a subject and the reflection about knowledge structures. From research on learning by writing traditional text (Bereiter &; Scardamalia 1987), it can be expected that the constitutive features of “hypertext” must be comprehensible for leaner. In this study, we focus in particular on the question: Which metaphors are helpful to introduce the main idea of “hypertext” as a cognitive tool? In an explorative field study, we examined two parallel classes constructing hypertexts during their regular school lessons. The teachers in both classes used completely different metaphors to introduce the concept of hypertext. The metaphor chosen influenced both the structures of the completed hypertext-documents and the discussion about the subject matter. The space-metaphor seems to be especially appropriate to introduce the concept of hypertext to the learner in such a way that a creative interaction between the structure of the hypertext and the semantic structure of the subject could result. Three tests were administered to measure the degree to which knowledge about semantic relations and structures was acquired. The class that had discussed hypertext with spatial metaphors showed significantly better results than the parallel class.     

Textual and graphical refutations: Effects on conceptual change learning

Refutation text is potentially more effective than standard text for conceptual change. Learning from text and graphic is also potentially superior to learning from text alone. In two studies, we investigated the effectiveness of both a refutation text and a refutation graphic for promoting high school students’ conceptual change learning about season change, as well as their metacognitive awareness of conceptual conflict and knowledge revision. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) standard text with standard graphic, (2) standard text with refutation graphic, (3) refutation text with standard graphic, or (4) refutation text with refutation graphic. Both studies had a pretest, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test design and involved students with an initial common misconception about the causes of season change. In Study 2, explicit relevance instructions to observe the important illustration were given to the participants. In both studies, refutation text with refutation graphic was not more beneficial than other instructional materials, either at immediate or delayed post-test. In Study 1, more stable conceptual change learning emerged in readers of the refutation text with standard graphic compared to readers in the control condition. In Study 2, readers of the standard text with refutation graphic performed as well as readers of the refutation text with standard graphic. In addition, more readers of the refutation text with either graphic showed metacognitive awareness of their knowledge change compared to readers in the control condition. Educational implications underline the importance of relevance instructions for guiding readers toward the graphic and of the design of text-graphic pairing to sustain knowledge revision.     

Obtaining more out of less text in CBI: Effects of varied text density levels as a function of learner characteristics and control strategy

Learning from expository text in computer-based instruction (CBI) was examined as a function of text density level (high, low, or learner-controlled) and learner characteristics in achievement, attitudes, and reading ability. Low-density text was found to be as effective for learning as high-density text, but was more popular among students and also reduced completion time. The highest achievement was obtained in the learner-control condition, with low-ability readers showing a greater tendency to select high-density text than did high-ability readers. Reading ability was also positively related to achievement in learning from high-density computer text and to preferences for learning from CBI relative to print. Based on the resulte, use of low-density text is suggested as a standard feature or learner-control option for CBI lessons.     

Learning strategies for making sense out of expository text: The SOI model for guiding three cognitive processes in knowledge construction

This article examines learning strategies that promote meaningful learning from expository text as evidenced by problem-solving transfer. The teaching of learning strategies involves decisions concerning what to teach, how to teach, where to teach, and when to teach. The teaching of learning strategies also depends on the teacher's conception of learners as response strengtheners, information processors, or sense makers. Three cognitive processes involved in meaningful learning are selecting relevant information from what is presented, organizing selected information into a coherent representation, and integrating presented information with existing knowledge. Finally, exemplary programs for teaching of learning strategies are presented. The most effective method for teaching students how to make sense out of expository text is for students to participate in selecting, organizing, and integrating information within the context of authentic academic tasks.     

A synthesis of research on effective interventions for building reading fluency with elementary students with learning disabilities

Fluent reading, often defined as speed and accuracy, is an important skill for all readers to develop. Students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle to read fluently, leading to difficulties in reading comprehension. Despite recent attention to reading fluency and ways to improve fluency, it is not clear which features of interventions that are designed to enhance fluency are beneficial for the most struggling readers. The purpose of this study is to synthesize research on interventions that are designed primarily to build reading fluency for students with LD. The search yielded 24 published and unpublished studies that reported findings on intervention features, including repeated reading with and without a model, sustained reading, number of repetitions, text difficulty, and specific improvement criteria. Our findings suggest that effective interventions for building fluency include an explicit model of fluent reading, multiple opportunities to repeatedly read familiar text independently and with corrective feedback, and established performance criteria for increasing text difficulty.     

Simplifying informational text structure for struggling readers

Direct instruction of reading strategies, such as the ‘structure strategy’, is demonstrated to be effective for the development of more mature and skilled reading processes in struggling readers. This instructional intervention approach, aimed at directly improving reading ability, can be used in combination with text simplification. Text simplification is the modification of the text in order to make it more understandable or readable for target groups of readers. In this article, we discuss a theoretically-driven text simplification approach, inspired by cognitive models of reading comprehension. Differently from classical approaches to linguistic text simplification, the aim of cognitive text simplification is not simply to reduce the linguistic complexity of the text, but to improve text coherence and the structure of information in the text. This can be achieved by using rhetorical devices, like signaling or discourse markers, which specify relationships among ideas at a global level (macrostructural) and work as processing instructions for the reader, scaffolding reading comprehension. The goal of this paper is to discuss, in light of the literature, the effectiveness of these adaptations for improving struggling readers’ understanding and learning from informational texts.