Instructional implications of text processing research

Basic theoretical approaches in the history of text comprehension research have been reviewed and compared to their instructional implications: readability research, comprehensibility research, traditional psycholinguistics, traditional elementaristic models of text processing, and new holistic models of text processing. Contrary to a sceptical view, which denies the practical instructional relevance of text comprehension research, recommendations for instructional design can be shown to be closely related to specific theoretical perspectives. Especially in the last years important advances in research have taken place which have considerably changed our picture of text comprehension. The more refined understanding of text processing implies more differentiated and specific recommendations for instructional design, which go far beyond everyday knowledge about text comprehension. This is illustrated on the basis of new holistic theoretical approaches combined with the notion of procedural semantics. The instructional value of the new theories on text processing is seen in their heuristic function. They provide new perspectives on instructional problems and suggest new ways of thinking. Thus, they are a basis for attaining a more comprehensive and differentiated analysis and, thus, for better founded instructional decisions.     

Self-regulation in online learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of goal orientation and academic self-efficacy in student achievement mediated by effort regulation, metacognitive regulation, and interaction regulation in an online course. The results show that intrinsic goal orientation and academic self-efficacy predicted students’ metacognitive self-regulation; however, extrinsic goal orientation did not predict any type of regulation. Effort regulation and the amount of time spent in Blackboard predicted students’ academic achievement in the course, and interaction regulation predicted the amount of time spent in the online course. Results show the importance of individual students’ intrinsic goal orientation and academic self-efficacy in academic achievement. Discussion relates to current research and implications for online teaching and learning practice.     

Which aspects of processing text mediate genetic effects?

Genetic influences on reading are investigated in a sample of 285, 13 year old twins. Using a multiple regression procedure, the heritability of disability (h _g ² ) for Reading Recognition was found to be non-significant. However the h _g ² for spelling disability was found to be 0.58 (P<0.05), after controlling for individual differences in IQ. The twins in this study were an unselected sample from the general population. Therefore it was possible to estimate h _g ² for differing degrees of severity of disability. These analyses showed that for spelling but not for Reading Recognition or Reading Composite, there were substantial genetic contributions to all levels of disability. For indices of Orthographic Coding there were no significant values of h _g ² . In contrast measures of Phonological Coding and Homophone Recognition have consistently high values of h _g ² . More detailed analyses suggested that there were possibly two independent aspects of phonological ability, each influenced by genetic factors.     

The role of importance and interest in the processing of text

In this review, text-based research on importance and interest is analyzed with several objectives in mind. First, the constructs of importance and interest are unidimensionally considered to show that various forms of each can operate within any text-learning environment. Second, research specifically addressing the interplay between these two factors is explored in relation to the goal of learning from text. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the research on importance and interest from a methodological standpoint and to delineate key findings that emerge from this body of research. Finally, based on the review of the literature, implications for future research and instructional practice are presented.     

Macrostructure construction and organization in the processing of multiple text passages

This paper addresses the issue of macrostructural processing of multiple text passages. Two levels of macrostructural processing, macrostructural construction (extracting important information) and organization (structuring selected information) may be at work during complex text comprehension. Three experiments examined the effects of various textual and situational factors on macrostructural construction and organization. College students were asked to read small sets of documents presented in hypertext format. The students' reading strategies as well as their written reports were analyzed. Experiment 1 showed that headings and presentation format influence macrostructural organization. Experiment 2 showed that task requirements tend to influence macrostructure construction and organization, whereas presentation conditions, such as the marking of important information and the presentation order, can affect both levels of macrostructural processing. Finally, experiment 3 indicated that there is an interaction between global and local headings and the construction and organization of macrostructure. The three experiments also suggested that subjects can be characterized based on how well they deal with macrostructural construction and organization. It is concluded that the comprehension of hypertext involves higher levels of cognitive processing which ensure the structuring of multiple text information.     

基于Authorware的《PS文字特效处理》课件设计

文章主要是利用Authorware的面向对象的可视化编程的人机交互方式,丰富的媒体素材使用方法,强大的数据处理能力,高效的多媒体集成环境等功能设计了《PS文字特效处理》课件。文章针对《PS文字特效处理》教学内容的特点,介绍了利用 Authorware软件开发本课件时应注意的问题,以及对教育教学产生的优越性。     

Improving cross-content transfer in text processing by means of active graphical representation

The two studies presented investigate the conditions under which adults with different academic backgrounds (in terms of formal mathematical competencies and domain-specific knowledge in economics) use linear graphs as reasoning tools that can be transferred from one economic content area to another. In each of the studies, two groups of participants were presented with a text on stockkeeping. One group passively encountered a linear graph, while the other group was asked to actively construct this graph following the instructions provided. To control for transfer effects of content knowledge, a third group received a text on direct costing, a topic also dealt with in the transfer text. The groups were compared with respect to their transfer potential in processing a text dealing with the revenue functions and break-even points of two companies. Questions posed in this text could be easily answered by constructing a linear graph similar to that encountered in the stockkeeping text. Two studies with a total of 281 university and vocational school students confirmed that active graphical representation can be a powerful transfer tool.     

Utilizing intact and embedded headings as processing aids with nonnarrative text

This study examined the utility of intact (i.e., topic outline format) and embedded (i.e., appropriately positioned within the text) headings as processing aids with nonnarrative text. The argument was advanced that headings potentially provide useful cues for both input and output processing but that little empirical evidence exists to either support or refute this proposition. It was further argued that each of the prior studies reviewed were subject to one or more methodological criticisms which may attenuate the generality of the findings. The results of the present study indicated that no advantage accrued to students on the basis of training; however, limitations of this finding are discussed in terms of the amount of training provided and the time available to the students for integrating the new strategies with their existing techniques. The major result of this investigation was that students provided with text containing intact and embedded headings significantly outperformed students whose text did not contain these processing aids. The major benefits were observed at delayed testing; the text-with-headings students recalled approximately 11% more information at immediate testing and 44% more information at delayed testing than the text-without-headings students. Implications of these results and future research issues are discussed.     

Self-regulation in Higher Education Teacher Learning

Various studies have focused on self-regulated student learning. However, little attention has been given to the self-regulation processes in teacher learning. In this study, we focus on the work-related learning processes reported by experienced higher education teachers. The aim of this study was to discover whether teachers actively self-regulate their learning experiences (as their students are expected to do) and to examine how this regulation takes place in the workplace. We tested some generally held assumptions and conceptions regarding teacher learning. Fifteen experienced college teachers, from three different colleges in The Netherlands, participated. Two semi-structured interviews and a (digital) diary study were used as the primary data collection methods. We collected 86 examples of teacher learning episodes. These were analysed using a phenomenographic method. The results show that our teachers’ learning experiences are not as self-regulated, planned, reflective, or spiral as some assume. Sometimes, the teachers’ learning was planned (self-regulated), but mostly it occurred in a non-linear (both external and self-regulated) or spontaneous (externally regulated) way. We conclude that our teachers do not always self-regulate their learning, but they mostly do self-regulate their teaching practice (with learning as a result).     

影响大学生自我调适的因素探析

人是在不断调适自我的过程中逐渐走向成熟的。时于步入高等院校的大学生来说,主动调适自我,适应全新的大学生活是十分必要的。人生目标和态度、人际交往的范围、个人的经历与认知水平、自我认知与自我定位、对成功与失败的归因等影响着大学生的自我调适。分析影响大学生自我调适的因素,则有利于培养其自我调适能力,促进身心健康发展,以成为德才兼备的人才。     

自我调节研究进展

自我调节是指个人系统地引导自己的思维、情感和行为,使之指向目标实现的一种过程。对自我调节行为认知取向的研究主要包括自我调节的类型、自我调节的过程、自我调节的结构和对自我调节的解释。有关自我调节神经机制的研究表明,额叶控制着自我调节的多方面,但同时自我调节也涉及其他特殊区域。自我调节与人们的生理和心理健康有着密切关系。此外,未来的研究可以从多角度对自我调节以及自我调节与自我的关系做进一步探讨。     

Effect of prior domain knowledge and headings on processing of informative text

College students with either high or low prior domain knowledge (PK) read a text chapter presented in short pages on a computer monitor. Half of the participants read with headings present and half with headings absent. The computer recorded time spent reading and rereading each short page. Learning was assessed through a structured recall task. In general, headings seem to improve recall of high importance information, and headings were more effective for high PK learners. Analysis of time data showed that participants with headings spent more time per word reading the pages with headings than participants that did not have headings. Prior knowledge had no effect on attention to either high importance information or important supporting detail. Low prior knowledge readers decreased the amount of time spent reading each word as they progressed through the passage and neither the presence nor absence of headings influenced this effect.     

Use of predictive text in text messaging over the course of a year and its relationship with spelling,orthographic processing and grammar

An investigation into the impact of predictive text use upon the literacy skills of primary school, secondary school and university cohorts was conducted over the course of a year. No differences in use of text abbreviations (‘textisms’) were found between predictive text users and nonusers. However, secondary school children who used predictive text made more genuine spelling errors than nonusers. Predictive text was related to use of some specific grammatical violations in school‐age children's text messages but was not related overall to the tendency to make grammatical errors when texting. University students, however, made significantly fewer grammatical errors in their text messages when they used predictive text. Over the course of a year, predictive text use was variable for all age groups. Consistency of predictive text use was unrelated to grammatical understanding, spelling or orthographic processing for primary and secondary school cohorts. Predictive text use was negatively related to morphological awareness for adult participants.     

Self-regulation and the income-achievement gap

The pervasive income-related achievement gap among children has been partially explained by parental investments. Wealthier parents provide more cognitively enriched environments (e.g., books, informal learning opportunities such as music lessons) and converse more with their children relative to low-income parents. However parental investment only partially accounts for the income-achievement gap. On average, low-income children have more difficulty regulating their emotions and behavior in comparison to their wealthier counterparts. Academic achievement is a function not only of cognitive competencies but also encompasses emotional and behavioral components that could also contribute to the income-achievement gap. In Study 1, family income among rural, White 9-year-olds is positively related to delay of gratification skill. This, in turn, accounts for subsequent, middle school grades at age 13. In Study 2, family income during early childhood (age 2 to Grade 3) in an ethnically diverse, national sample predicts cognitive development in 5th graders, controlling for prior levels of cognitive development at 15 months. This prospective, longitudinal relation is again mediated by delay of gratification skills. Evidence is also presented in Study 2 that the income → self-regulation → achievement path operates independently of parental investment. Analyses of both sets of data also include multiple indices of familial characteristics (e.g., maternal education, ethnicity, single-parent status). Early childhood poverty matters for later academic achievement but reasons encompass both cognitive and socioemotional processes.     

Self-regulation with respect to informal learning

This chapter draws attention to the self-regulatory skills that students use in informal learning settings. Formal and informal learning settings are defined as complementary learning environments and it is pointed out that students differ with respect to the learning environments they find conducive to learning. It is suggested that the goals students set for themselves when learning in an informal learning context are different from the goals they set for themselves in a formal learning context. Furthermore, it is speculated that students attend to different clues and select different self-regulatory strategies in these complementary learning contexts, mainly because goal congruent information becomes readily available while learning.     

Effects of processing instructions on the usefulness of a graphic organizer and structural cueing in text

This study assessed two adjuncts to instructional text, structural cueing and graphic organizer processing instructions. Previous research has shown that cueing is a useful indicator of textual structure and that graphic organizers can be enhanced by providing learners with an indication of how they can be used. Results indicated the presence of a three-way interaction among reading ability groups, structural cueing and graphic organizer processing instructions. Analysis of this interaction revealed that high level readers were the only subjects who profited from processing instructions, and only in the presence of cueing. Middle level readers benefited from cueing in both conditions of processing instructions while low level readers were able to take advantage of cueing only in the absence of processing instructions. The results are interpreted in light of previous graphic organizer research.     

提高大学生在慕课中的自我调节学习

本文简单介绍了慕课,回顾了自我调节学习理论,并根据该理论提出了四点提高大学生在慕课学习环境中自我调节学习的方法,有助于大学生掌握自我调节学习策略,取得更好的学业成绩。     

Individual differences in spatial text processing: High spatial ability can compensate for spatial working memory interference

The present study investigates the relation between spatial ability and visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in spatial text processing. In two experiments, participants listened to a spatial text (Experiments 1 and 2) and a non-spatial text (Experiment 1), at the same time performing a spatial or a verbal concurrent task, or no secondary task. To understand how individuals who differ in spatial ability process spatial text during dual task performance, spatial individual differences were analyzed. The tasks administered were the Vandenberg and Kuse [Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotation, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599-604.] mental rotation test (MRT) and a reading comprehension task (RCT). Individuals with high (HMR) and low (LMR) mental rotation differed in MRT scores but had similar RCT performance. Results showed that the HMR group, in contrast with LMR counterparts, preserved good spatial text recall even when a spatial concurrent task was performed; however, Experiment 2 revealed a modification of spatial concurrent task performance in LMR as well in HMR group. Overall, results suggest that HMR individuals have more spatial resources than LMR individuals, allowing them to compensate for spatial working memory interference, but only to a limited extent, given that the processing of spatial information is still mediated by VSWM.