The Relative Merits of Explicit and Implicit Learning of Contrasted Algebra Principles

Knowledge representations that result from practicing problem solving can be expected to differ from knowledge representations that emerge from explicit verbalizing of principles and rules. We examined the degree to which the two types of learning improve problem-solving knowledge and verbal explanation knowledge in classroom instruction. We presented algebraic addition and multiplication problems to 153 sixth graders randomly assigned to two conditions. Students in the explicit learning condition had to verbally compare contrasted algebra problems. Students in the implicit learning condition had to generate and solve new problems. On three follow-up tests over 10 weeks, students in the explicit learning condition exhibited better problem-solving knowledge than students in the implicit learning condition, as well as some advantages in verbal concept knowledge. Implicit learning showed some advantages on not directly taught but incidentally learned aspects. Overall, this outcome favors the explicit learning of concepts. Explicit comparison fostered student performance on non-verbal and verbal measures, indicating that verbalization facilitates effective comparison.     

Teachable Agents and the Protégé Effect: Increasing the Effort Towards Learning

Betty’s Brain is a computer-based learning environment that capitalizes on the social aspects of learning. In Betty’s Brain, students instruct a character called a Teachable Agent (TA) which can reason based on how it is taught. Two studies demonstrate the protégé effect: students make greater effort to learn for their TAs than they do for themselves. The first study involved 8th-grade students learning biology. Although all students worked with the same Betty’s Brain software, students in the TA condition believed they were teaching their TAs, while in another condition, they believed they were learning for themselves. TA students spent more time on learning activities (e.g., reading) and also learned more. These beneficial effects were most pronounced for lower achieving children. The second study used a verbal protocol with 5th-grade students to determine the possible causes of the protégé effect. As before, students learned either for their TAs or for themselves. Like study 1, students in the TA condition spent more time on learning activities. These children treated their TAs socially by attributing mental states and responsibility to them. They were also more likely to acknowledge errors by displaying negative affect and making attributions for the causes of failures. Perhaps having a TA invokes a sense of responsibility that motivates learning, provides an environment in which knowledge can be improved through revision, and protects students’ egos from the psychological ramifications of failure.     

Achievement after failure: The role of achievement goals and negative self-related thoughts

Theory on achievement goals favours a trichotomous model encompassing learning goals, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Performance-avoidance goals are associated with lower achievement compared to performance-approach and learning goals. The present study investigated the predictions of this model as regards achievement after failure. Low achievement of participants with performance-avoidance goals was expected to be mediated by a high degree of negative self-related thoughts. Before manipulating achievement goals, achievement on verbal analogies was assessed. After manipulating achievement goals for an anagram task, all participants (N = 87) were exposed to failure. Subsequently, achievement on a parallel version of the verbal analogies task was assessed. Participants in the performance-avoidance goals condition showed low achievement after failure, mediated by a high degree of negative self-related thoughts.     

Look into my eyes! Exploring the effect of addressing in educational videos

Numerous studies were conducted to investigate how recipients are affected by the miscellaneous characters in multimedia. However, there is a lack of research concerning the connection between parasocial processes and learning performances. This study aims to investigate the influence of addressing (as a social encounter of parasocial interaction) on learning performance in an educational video. Addressing was operationalized by manipulating proximity (near vs. far) and orientation (frontal, vs. lateral) of a presented lecturer. We conducted an experiment with 88 participants who were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental groups. Results revealed a large significant orientation effect for retention performance with higher learning outcomes for frontal orientation. Proximity did not significantly influence learning outcomes. Results were interpreted suggesting perceived parasocial interaction which was enhanced in the frontal condition. Parasocial interaction might lead to deeper cognitive processing and affective states which are beneficial for learning. The findings of this study show that learning is fostered by personae in educational learning environments by giving learners the impression to be addressed directly through eye contact.     

Effect of on-screen text on multimedia learning with native and foreign-accented narration

This study examined the impact of redundant on-screen text on learning from an animated PowerPoint presentation, narrated either by a native or a foreign-accented narrator, with no text, summary text, or full text. Participants completed retention and transfer tests and rated the cognitive load induced by the narration and the PowerPoint materials. With a native narrator, participants performed better on transfer with no text than summary text (redundancy effect). The foreign-accented narration was perceived to be more difficult to understand. Transfer performance was worse for accented than native narration with no text, replicating a voice effect. With a foreign-accented narrator, participants performed better on retention with full text than summary text. Full text facilitated decoding of the accented narration at the word level, but it did not facilitate deep processing for knowledge transfer. The results are discussed in the context of cognitive load and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.     

Exploring the necessary conditions for observing interleaved practice benefits in math learning

Previous research has demonstrated benefits of interleaved practice over blocked practice for learning mathematical formulas. This experiment tested whether the benefits from interleaved practice would generalize to more complex problems, where the problem type must be inferred from information in the problem. We compared delayed test performance of participants assigned to blocked practice to participants assigned to interleaved practice who had high or low practice performance. University students (M_age = 18.97, SD_age = 1.50, 64% female) learned how to solve probability word problems in blocked practice, interleaved practice, or hybrid conditions that included both kinds of practice. Conditions that included some interleaved practice outperformed a condition that included only blocked practice at delayed test. Participants with high performance on interleaved practice problems outperformed participants assigned to blocked practice at delayed test. These results suggest that interleaved practice can confer learning advantages even for more complex problems.     

Category Learning in Poor Comprehenders

ABSTRACT

Poor comprehenders (PCs) are characterized by poor reading comprehension despite intact decoding and general cognitive ability. Poor word meaning knowledge is one of the earliest deficits associated with a PC profile. We examined processes underpinning word learning in PCs using a category learning paradigm. Adolescent participants (20 typically developing [TD], 19 PC, ages 13–18 years) learned novel categories with two key manipulations: information type (verbal vs. nonverbal) and training type (directed vs. undirected). We found that PCs showed more benefit from directed training than TD individuals overall; however, both groups performed similarly when receiving directed blocks first. Moreover, when undirected training was received first, TD individuals showed better performance in directed as compared to undirected blocks, whereas PCs who receive undirected training first showed no significant difference between training types. Our investigation indicates that PCs may have different strategies for learning, especially when their attention is not externally directed toward relevant features.     

Undergraduate students' understanding of the contraposition equivalence rule in symbolic and verbal contexts

Literature suggests that the type of context wherein a task is placed relates to students' performance and solution strategies. In the particular domain of logical thinking, there is the belief that students have less difficulty reasoning in verbal than in logically equivalent symbolic tasks. Thus far, this belief has remained relatively unexplored in the domain of teaching and learning of mathematics, and has not been examined with respect to students' major field of study. In this study, we examined the performance of 95 senior undergraduate mathematics and education majors in symbolic and verbal tasks about the contraposition equivalence rule. The selection of two different groups of participants allowed for the examination of the hypothesis that students' major may influence the relation between their performance in tasks about contraposition and the context(symbolic/verbal) wherein this is placed. The selection of contraposition equivalence rule also addressed a gap in the body of research on undergraduate students' understanding of proof by contraposition. The analysis was based on written responses of all participants to specially developed tasks and on semi-structured interviews with 11 subjects. The findings showed different variations in the performance of each of the two groups in the two contexts. while education majors performed significantly better in the verbal than in the symbolic tasks, mathematics majors' performance showed only modest variations. The results call for both major- and context- specific considerations of students' understanding of logical principles, and reveal the complexity of the system of factors that influence students' logical thinking.     

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.     

Effects of violent and non-violent computer game content on memory performance in adolescents

The present study focuses on the short-term effects of electronic entertainment media on memory and learning processes. It compares the effects of violent versus non-violent computer game content in a condition of playing and in another condition of watching the same game. The participants consisted of 83 female and 94 male adolescents with a mean age of 17.6 years. The dependent variables are memory for previously learnt verbal and visual material, memory for media-related content and physiological measures of stress (heart rate, cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase). Besides the group comparisons, potential mediation effects and gender differences were examined. The results show that violent content leads to a poorer memory performance for verbal material and to an increased heart rate. The heart rate, however, does not mediate the effect on memory performance. Genders differ regarding their abilities to memorise verbal and visual material, with females showing a better performance (independent of the experimental condition), and for memorising media-contents, where the males outperform females (also independent of experimental condition). The study supports the assumption that violent and arousing media content has a negative short-term effect on simultaneous information processing and learning and that there are gender-specific media effects.     

教学视频中线索类型与学习者先前知识经验对学习的交互影响

教学视频因其多通道展现教学内容的特性而成为数字化学习资源的首选形态。线索作为教学视频中的重要引导性教学设计手段,探究其类型及学习者先前知识经验对学习效果的交互影响,有益于优化教学视频的设计策略。基于学习者先前知识经验水平(高水平和低水平)和线索类型(言语线索和视觉线索)两个维度,运用眼动追踪技术和认知负荷、学习满意度、学习效果等测量工具,通过实验考察二者对学习的影响及其内在机制后发现:学习者先前知识经验水平对认知负荷的影响显著;线索类型对学习满意度的影响显著,且线索类型与学习者先前知识经验水平在学习满意度上的交互效应显著;学习者先前知识经验水平对学习效果的影响显著,且线索类型与学习者先前知识经验水平在迁移测验成绩上的交互效应显著。实验结果表明,线索类型与学习者先前知识经验水平对学习满意度和学习效果存在明显的交互作用,即只有低知识经验水平学习者在学习含有视觉线索的教学视频后,学习满意度与学习效果才有显著提升。这可能是由于该类学习者在信息选择时存在困难,视觉线索可以帮助其提高信息搜索效率,而言语线索却会使其认知负荷超载。     

Scaring Them into Learning!? Using a Snake Screen to Enhance the Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness of a Web Interface

It seems that surprise events have the potential to turn short-term memories into long-term memories, an unusual phenomenon that may have limited but interesting applications in learning tasks. This surprise-enhanced cognition phenomenon is theoretically modeled based on the notion that many human mental traits have evolved through natural selection; a mathematical analysis building on Price's covariance theorem is employed in this modeling effort. Additionally, the phenomenon is discussed in the context of an online learning task, based on a study involving 186 student participants. A simulated threat was incorporated into a human–computer interface with the goal of increasing the interface's knowledge-transfer effectiveness. The participants were asked to review Web-based learning modules and subsequently take a test on what they had learned. Data from six learning modules in two experimental conditions were contrasted. In the treatment condition, a Web-based screen with a snake in attack position was used to surprise the participants; the snake screen was absent in the control condition. As predicted, the participants in the treatment condition did significantly better in the test for the modules immediately before and after the snake screen than the participants in the control condition. These findings are extrapolated to classroom applications in general. Ethical considerations are also discussed.     

Verbalization and children's self-regulated learning

This article discusses the idea that overt verbalization helps to develop children's self-regulated learning of cognitive skills. Verbalization can enhance children's attention to task-relevant features. As a type of rehearsal, verbalization may improve coding, storage, and retention of material, and thereby facilitate subsequent retrieval and use. Verbalization can help children maintain a positive task outlook and cope with difficulties. Because verbalization makes salient a systematic approach for improving learning and children's ability to apply it, verbalization also can raise self-efficacy (perceived capabilities). Research is summarized that assesses the effects on children's learning due to verbalizing information to be remembered, modeled actions, and strategies. Future research needs to explore maintenance and generalization of systematic approaches to learning, verbalization of task-specific and general statements, and uses of verbalization in classrooms.     

Constructing videocases to help novices learn to facilitate discussions in science and English: how does subject matter matter?

Learning to conduct interactive classroom discussions is a high priority for becoming an effective teacher, and most teachers view conducting productive classroom discussions as a complex undertaking. Because the dynamics of facilitating classroom discussions are multifaceted and hard to analyze in real time, there is a growing interest in how video allows preservice teachers to examine records of their practice to promote further growth. What prospective teachers actually take away from analysis of video, however, needs further exploration. In this study, we explored five preservice student teachers’ beliefs about conducting discussions and probed the potential of videocase construction for supporting teacher learning by investigating the following question: ‘To what extent and how does making a videocase help preservice teachers investigate their facilitation of a subject‐specific discussion?’ Results revealed that by constructing and talking about their videocases, all five preservice teachers gained insights about how they lead discussions. Studying video excerpts and articulating what they saw in them provided a context for looking more closely at their own roles and student roles within their discussion. They also recognized the complexities of leading discussions and acknowledged particular areas that need improvement. The teachers used the metaphorical language of ‘guiding’ their students down a pathway when they talked about leading classroom discussions. There were similarities and differences among teachers’ conceptions of good discussions in English and science, and their notions of ‘guiding’ were related to their subject matter goals. The study suggests, however, several areas that may require further attention in preservice teachers’ preparation in leading discussions. Although the teachers expressed views of discussion that aligned broadly with disciplinary views in English or science, their language lacked specificity in what it means to develop varied interpretations of texts in English or consensus based on argument and evidence in science. More specific video analysis focused on subject matter goals and corresponding conversational elements may help preservice teachers develop more nuanced, sophisticated views of how particular types of social interaction have the potential to help their students reach specific subject matter goals. We conclude that investigation is needed on larger numbers of preservice teachers’ videocase construction processes, and further inquiry is needed into how working with video analysis affects their actual performance in future discussion facilitation.     

Investigating video as a means to promote vocabulary for at-risk children

Two studies on the role of video on vocabulary learning were conducted in kindergarten classrooms with substantial numbers of children from low-income and Dual Language Learning (DLL) backgrounds. In the first study (n = 78), the effect of video viewing was compared with the effect of book reading on vocabulary learning. In the second study (n = 89), the effect of repeated viewing of video was compared with the effect of single viewing of video on vocabulary learning. Pre-test and post-test receptive and expressive vocabulary measures, which were aligned with the content in the studies, were administered. Analysis of Variance was used to test the effect of condition (i.e., video viewing versus book reading and single versus repeated reading) on children’s word knowledge. Results showed no difference in vocabulary learning between the video viewing and book reading conditions. Findings showed that there was no difference in vocabulary learning between children in the single and repeated viewing condition on the receptive measure, but children in the repeated viewing condition showed higher gains in vocabulary on the expressive measure. No differences were found in either study between children with higher and lower vocabulary knowledge.     

Source Monitoring in Children with Learning Disabilities

The results of a recent study by Lorsbach, Melendez and Carroll‐Maher (1991) suggest that children with learning disabilities may possess a general deficit in remembering the source of their verbal memories. The purpose of the present study was to examine further whether children with learning disabilities possess a general deficit in source monitoring and whether such a deficit is independent of performance on a recognition memory task. Children with learning disabilities and nondisabled children were presented with a series of incomplete sentences once or twice in either a listen‐listen (external source monitoring) condition or a think‐listen (reality monitoring) condition. Following the presentation of the study‐list, subjects were presented with the terminal nouns of the preceding sentences and asked to make old/new recognition judgments, as well as source attributions. Although children with learning disabilities were deficient in both forms of source monitoring, they did not differ from nondisabled children in their recognition performance. The results suggest that children with learning disabilities possess a general deficit in verbal source monitoring.     

Third-party social interaction and word learning from video

In previous studies, very young children have learned words while "overhearing" a conversation, yet they have had trouble learning words from a person on video. In Study 1, 64 toddlers (mean age=29.8 months) viewed an object-labeling demonstration in 1 of 4 conditions. In 2, the speaker (present or on video) directly addressed the child, and in 2, the speaker addressed another adult who was present or was with her on video. Study 2 involved 2 follow-up conditions with 32 toddlers (mean age=30.4 months). Across the 2 studies, the results indicated that toddlers learned words best when participating in or observing a reciprocal social interaction with a speaker who was present or on video.     

The Effects of Relevance Instructions and Verbal Ability on Text Processing

The authors examined whether relevance instructions compensate for differences in verbal ability on measures of reading time, text recall, and sentence recognition. College students (n = 81) with higher and lower verbal ability were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 relevance-instruction conditions before reading a text. They asked participants in each condition to focus on different categories of information within the same text. Relevant information took longer to read and was recalled and recognized better than nonrelevant information. Readers with higher verbal ability read faster and recalled and recognized more information correctly than did those readers with lower verbal ability. Results support the noncompensatory hypothesis, which states that relevance instructions and verbal ability make independent contributions to resource allocation and learning. Readers with lower verbal ability may need additional support even when given prereading relevance instructions.     

Long‐Term Effects of Gestures on Memory for Foreign Language Words Trained in the Classroom

Language and gesture are viewed as highly interdependent systems. Besides supporting communication, gestures also have an impact on memory for verbal information compared to pure verbal encoding in native but also in foreign language learning. This article presents a within‐subject longitudinal study lasting 14 months that tested the use of gestures in the classroom, with the experimenter presenting the items to be acquired. Participants learned 36 words distributed across two training conditions: In the audio‐visual condition subjects read, heard, and spoke the words; in the gestural condition subjects additionally accompanied the words with symbolic gestures. Memory performance was assessed through cued native‐to‐foreign translation tests at five time points. The results show that gestures significantly enhance vocabulary learning in quantity and over time. The findings are discussed in terms of Klimesch's connectivity model (CM) of information processing. Thereafter, a code, a word, is better integrated into long‐term memory if it is deep, that is, if it is comprised of many interconnected components.     

The effectiveness of a marketing virtual reality learning simulation: A quantitative survey with psychophysiological measures

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been shown to be a promising teaching method in STEM subjects. Extending these findings, the current study is the first to develop and examine the feasibility of using a VR simulation in marketing (ie, a non-STEM subject). Specifically, the levels of immersion and three learning outcomes (learning attitude, enjoyment and performance) were compared between the marketing students who learned the same content through a VR simulation prototype versus a traditional static video presentation. Learning enjoyment was measured using facial electromyography, which served as a more objective measures for the feeling of enjoyment. Compared to the video condition, the results showed that VR resulted in a higher experience of immersion, learning attitude and learning enjoyment. Furthermore, immersion was found to fully mediate the positive effects of the VR simulation on learning attitude, but not enjoyment. Surprisingly, students in the video condition performed better on the knowledge-based test than those in the VR condition. The current study suggests that the current prototype of the VR simulations should be used as supplementary resource to increase the learning attitude and enjoyment, but not as a main teaching material to enhance knowledge-based performance in the marketing discipline.