A closer look at split visual attention in system- and self-paced instruction in multimedia learning

Two experiments examined visual attention distribution in learning from text and pictures. Participants watched a 16-step multimedia instruction on the formation of lightning. In Experiment 1 (N = 90) the instruction was system-paced (fast, medium, slow pace), while it was self-paced in Experiment 2 (N = 31). In both experiments the text modality was varied (written, spoken). During learning, the participants’ eye movements were recorded. Results from both experiments revealed that learners spent more time studying the visualizations with spoken text than those with written text. In written text conditions learners consistently started reading before alternating between text and visualization; moreover, they spent more time reading the text than inspecting the visualizations. While in Experiment 1 additional time that was made available in conditions with a slow or medium instruction pace was spent inspecting visualizations, in Experiment 2 longer learning times resulted from reading the text more intensively. With respect to learning outcomes (retention, transfer, and visual memory) Experiment 1 revealed an effect of text modality for visual memory only. In Experiment 2 no modality effects were found. Instruction pace was hardly related to learning outcomes. Overall, the results confirm prior findings suggesting that the distribution of visual attention in multimedia learning is largely guided by the text.     

Integrating self-paced mobile learning into language instruction: impact on reading comprehension and learner satisfaction

The study integrated self-paced mobile learning (m-learning) into a language course, and examined what impacts were being produced on learners’ reading comprehension and student satisfaction resulting from the instruction with m-learning integration. The self-paced, learner-centered mobile learning integration instruction (MLI) was compared with group-oriented, teacher-centered instruction without m-learning integration. Six classes of students from three different departments participated in the study. One class from each department received MLI, while the other class from each department was involved in traditional learning instruction (TLI). Evaluation of the instruction was based upon data from the post-treatment reading test and one questionnaire related to learner satisfaction. The results revealed that the learners exposing to the MLI scored higher in the test than those with TLI, and they showed great satisfaction with the instruction integrating m-learning. Particularly, the students from the Department of Information Management receiving instruction supported by mobile technologies performed best in the reading test and gained the highest score on the satisfaction questionnaire.     

Theoretical foundations for sound's use in multimedia instruction to enhance learning

Recent technological advances now make possible the full integration of sound in instructional software. Sounds may gain and focus learner attention, reduce distracting stimuli, and make learning more engaging. In addition, they may help learners condense, elaborate on, and organize details, highlighting inter connections among new pieces of information and making connections to preexisting knowledge. Thus, sound may hold great promise for moderating acquisition, processing, and retrieval “noise” in instructional software. Unfortunately, interface and instructional design guides almost completely ignore sound, and research suggests many promising instructional uses remain largely unexplored. This paper explores information-processing and communication theoretical foundations for sound's systematic use in the instructional communication system and proposes a framework for a program of research on instructional software's use of sound. MJ is assistant progressor in the Educational Technology program at Lehigh University, and Ward teaches instructional design and interface design and coordinates the Educational Technology program there.     

The effect of self-regulated learning strategies on performance in learner controlled computer-based instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS) on performance in a learner-controlled and a program-controlled computer-based instruction (CBI). SRLS was measured using a self-regulated learning strategies questionnaire. Seventh-grade subjects were divided into high and low levels of SRLS and then randomly assigned to one of two versions of a CBI lesson: one allowing learner control over the sequence and content of the instruction and the other having the learners follow a linear instructional sequence. Results revealed that the performance differences between learners with high SRLS and those with low SRLS were greater under learner control than under program control (p<.05). Poor performance by subjects with low SRLS under learner control indicates a strong need for learners to possess self-regulatory learning strategies to achieve success under learner control. Program control, however, seems to minimize the performance differences between low and high levels of SRLS.     

Real education in non-real time: The use of electronic message systems for instruction

Education in different communication media takes place with functional differences that have consequences for the course of instructional interaction. In this paper, we examine instructional interaction among people using a computer-based electronic message system, contrasting it with conventional face-to-face discussion in a college level class. Interaction via the non-real time message system contained multiple “threads of discourse,” a higher proportion of student turns to teacher turns, and other deviations from the “initiation-response-evaluation” sequences usually found in face-to-face classroom interactions. Based on the results of our contrast, we describe ways to organize instruction using electronic message systems to take advantage of new properties and to avoid shortcomings of these new instructional media.     

提升网上教学有效性的程序与策略

网上教学的有效性应以科学、合理的实施程序和灵活、恰当的策略为保证。基于6年多工商管理专业(本科)企业战略管理课程网上教学的实践,我们将该课程及该专业相关课程的网上教学程序和策略归纳为:最优化的教学资源配置、一体化的教学设计、多样化的教学交互和模式化的教学实施。其中,建设满足学生学习需要的、高质量的课程网上教学资源是提升网上教学有效性的起点;编制出一体化的课程设计方案并在此统领下开展课程网上教学,是确保网上教学有效性的重要基础;多样化的网上教学交互是确保网上教学交互有效性的核心;模式化的教学实施能使课程教学具体化、操作程序化、活动内容明确化,使网上教学有效性逐步得到提升。     

The influence of goal orientation dimensions on time to train in a self-paced training environment

This study examined the role of goal orientation dimensions in understanding differences in time spent in an online, occupational training program. In predicting time to train, there was a significant interaction between mastery and performance-avoid goal orientations (β = ? .32), highlighting the value of considering goal orientation dimensions in concert. Trainees with low mastery and low performance-avoid goal orientations completed training considerably faster than trainees who were high on one or both of these dimensions. Although trainees varied greatly in the amount of time spent in training (lengths ranged from 21 to 72 days), time spent in training did not significantly predict knowledge levels (β = ? .14). As organizations move toward Web-based instruction, research is needed to elucidate the decisions that trainees make in self-paced training environments and the impact that individual differences have on these decisions.     

Is the self-paced instructional program,via microcomputer-based instruction,the most effective method of addressing individual learning differences?

One of the canons that guides the design of microcomputer-based instructional programs is to use a self-paced instructional method. However, there has been some indication that moderate levels of external pacing may prove to be more effective for overall learning, in terms of amount of content acquired and level of competency achieved with that content. Hypotheses derived from this idea were tested using three types of pacing. Learning was evaluated using five achievement tests ranging in difficulty from memorizing facts to problem solving. Experimental results supported the hypothesis favoring moderate levels of external pacing and found that the common principle of using self-paced instructional methods as the best style for all types of microcomputer instruction is an incorrect assumption.     

Teaching and learning cycles in a constructivist approach to instruction

This study attempts to analyze and synthesize the knowledge collected in the area of conceptual models used in teaching and learning during inquiry-based projects, and to propose a new frame for organizing the classroom interactions within a constructivist approach. The IMSTRA model consists in three general phases: Immersion, Structuring, Applying, each with two sub-phases that highlight specific roles for the teacher and the students. Two case studies, one for mathematics in grade 9 and another for science in grade 3, show how the model can be implemented in school, making inquiry realistic in regular classes. Beyond its initial purpose, the IMSTRA model proved to be a powerful tool in curriculum development, being used in producing mathematics textbooks, as well as in developing teaching courses for a long-distance teacher-training program.     

Interactive effect of information structure sequence of information and process learning time on rule learning using computer-based instruction

The purpose of this study was to investigate three instructional design variables hypothesized to improve rule learning by use of information processing methods. These variables included: analysis and structure of information, response-sensitive sequencing of information, and monitoring of learning time. Using secondary education students learning internal punctuation rules, results from two experiments showed that (a) structuring information by a schematic analysis improved learning over a taxonomic analysis, (b) a response-sensitive sequence that first adapted instruction for generalization and second discrimination improved learning over either sequence separately, and (c) program monitoring of the display time interval improved learning over learner control. Findings are discussed in reference to an interactive nature of learning theory, instructional systems, and computer technology.     

The use of computer-automated reading in reading instruction

This study evaluates the use of computer-automated reading in reading instruction and illustrates a resource role for school psychologists in providing consultative assistance for computer-assisted instruction. A reading specialist serving as the teacher's aide was taught to write computer programs for automated reading on a personal computer with a speech synthesizer. The teacher selected six beginning-reading books for her remedial reading classes with 1st- and 2nd-grade students. Five 1st-grade and five 2nd-grade students, enrolled in a compensatory education program, were randomly assigned to two experimental groups; five 1st-grade and five 2nd-grade students, enrolled in the same program, were randomly assigned to two control groups. The students in the experimental groups received automated reading with their instruction; the students in the control groups received instruction in the same books, without automated reading. Pre- and posttests of word recognition, phrase reading, and reading comprehension were administered. The random selection of 1st-grade students failed to yield comparable groups, and the contrast of adjusted posttest scores was nonsignificant. Analyses of covariance on the reading criteria for the 2nd-grade groups indicated significant achievement gains for the experimental group.     

The comparative effects of teacher-demonstration and self-paced instruction on concept acquisition and problem-solving skills of college level chemistry students

A comparison is made of the relative effectiveness of teacher-demonstration and self-paced modes of teaching concepts and problem-solving skills in chemistry. Sixty students were randomized into two treatment groups. A self-paced instructional package was used by subjects in the self-paced group. Subjects in the second group were taught by a teacher who used the same self-paced package. Results of the analyses of variance performed showed that the selfpaced mode of instruction was significantly more effective for teaching concepts and problem-solving skills. An attitude test was given at the end of the third unit. Results of the test showed that most students preferred the self-paced instruction to the teacher-demonstration method.     

The effect of multimedia instruction for Chinese learning

In Taiwan, lectures are commonly used for younger students to learn their own language, which is traditional Chinese. Passively listening to lectures has led to this group of students making such mistakes as forgetting strokes and word meanings, combining phrases to create incomprehensible blurs of information, and switching radicals with phonetic characters. Thus, the rationale of this study is that better and longer lasting Chinese learning results will occur when a combination of well‐designed texts, audio, graphics, animation, and hands‐on practice are employed. A multimedia system with computer‐based courseware in combination with added, assistive technologies including sound equipment, digital boards, and pens was developed based on this rationale. This study used a treatment group who used the system and a comparison group who received lectures. The subjects were 41 second graders in a southern city in Taiwan and all of them received the same pretest, immediate posttest, and the delayed posttest. Even though some of the differences between the two groups did not reach statistical significance, the results revealed that the treatment group consistently performed better than the comparison group in almost all the areas of competencies in both posttests.     

The effect of blended instruction on accelerated learning

While online instructional technologies are becoming more popular in higher education, educators’ opinions about online learning tend to be generally negative. Furthermore, many studies have failed to systematically examine the features that distinguish one instructional mode from another, which weakens possible explanations for why online instructional technology can be beneficial. The current study isolates three benefits of the authors’ particular online instructional technology: (1) providing flexibility in how students learn, (2) offering immediate and targeted feedback and (3) increasing student participation and engagement with instructional material. Maximum benefits were observed when students used the online instructional technology to prepare for their face-to-face class – that is, students with this blended instruction learned twice as much content in the same amount of time in comparison to students with face-to-face instruction alone, without creating an atypically high workload.     

Flexible learning and design of instruction

The paper deals with the problem of designing flexible learning and instruction. Flexibility is considered both from the learner's and the designer's perspective. The potential of telematics in the design, development and implementation of flexible and distance learning is discussed. A Method for flexible instructional modules development is presented which aims at assisting the educational designers in the development of flexible instructional modules, ie, modules, which are easily adaptable to different learner's needs, allow learner's choices and different delivery platforms, including distance delivery. Examples of Method applications and current development of a software system to facilitate the Method's implementation are reported.