Investigating the relationships among instructional strategies and learning styles in online environments

This exploratory study tests the assertion that instructional strategies that match field-dependence status of students are most effective. The study conducted with 12 graduate students registered in a graduate level online course. An online version of the Psychological Differentiation Inventory was used to measure the field-dependence status of students. Students’ perceived learning outcomes, their effort and involvement, and level of interaction that they perceived in online course module were measured through an online questionnaire. Results suggested that matches between students’ learning styles and instructional strategies did not affect learner perception of their own learning outcomes, level of effort and involvement, and level of interactions in the course. Data also indicated that no single instructional strategy, among three instructional strategies tested, emerged as superior for high and low field-dependent online students.     

The role of student learning styles, gender, attitudes and perceptions on information and communication technology assisted learning

The present study adopts an illuminative approach to evaluate students’ initial attitudes towards the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Ninety-nine undergraduate science students participated in this study and their learning styles were classified according to Honey and Mumford (1986) (Honey, P., Mumford, A., 1986. The Manual of Learning styles. Peter Honey, 10 Linden Avenue, Maidenhead) learning style questionnaire. Student learning styles were classified as activist, reflector, theorist, or pragmatist. No significant difference in learning styles was observed between genders and between student cohorts. Six dimensions to student attitudes toward ICT were identified as follows; ‘comfort’, ‘interactivity’, ‘self-satisfaction’, ‘value new technology’, ‘experience’ and ‘context’. Students exhibited low scores in the attitude dimensions of ‘value new technology’, ‘interactivity’ and ‘context’ indicating that they were uncomfortable with computers, were unhappy about the lack of personal contact and would prefer to learn in a more traditional mode. A significant, though weak, negative correlation between the ‘theorist’ and the ‘interactivity’ and ‘context’ attitude dimensions was also observed. In addition, based on the results of this study it appears that first year students exhibit a more positive perception of ICT supported learning than second and third year students. Though the use of ICT in higher education is becoming more widespread based on the results of this study student use of the technology may be limited by a negative attitude toward a style of teaching which is not consistent with their past learning experiences.     

A blended learning Approach to teaching foreign policy: Student experiences of learning through face-to-face and online discussion and their relationship to academic performance

This article presents research on students’ experiences of learning through a blend of face-to-face and online discussion. The participants in our study were students enrolled in a foreign policy course at a major Australian university. Students’ conceptions of learning through discussion, and their approaches to both face-to-face and online discussion, were elicited through open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Students’ responses to both open-ended questionnaires and interviews were analysed using a phenomenographic framework. Qualitative variations in students’ conceptions and approaches were categorised and were found to form a hierarchy. Subsequent quantitative analysis found associations between students’ conceptions of learning through discussion, their approaches to both face-to-face and online discussion and their academic performance (as indicated by the final mark for the course). Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.     

A case study of computer gaming for math: Engaged learning from gameplay?

Employing mixed-method approach, this case study examined the in situ use of educational computer games in a summer math program to facilitate 4th and 5th graders’ cognitive math achievement, metacognitive awareness, and positive attitudes toward math learning. The results indicated that students developed more positive attitudes toward math learning through five-week computer math gaming, but there was no significant effect of computer gaming on students’ cognitive test performance or metacognitive awareness development. The in-field observation and students’ think-aloud protocol informed that not every computer math drill game would engage children in committed learning. The study findings have highlighted the value of situating learning activities within the game story, making games pleasantly challenging, scaffolding reflections, and designing suitable off-computer activities.     

A study of multimedia annotation of Web-based materials

Web-based learning has become an important way to enhance learning and teaching, offering many learning opportunities. A limitation of current Web-based learning is the restricted ability of students to personalize and annotate the learning materials. Providing personalized tools and analyzing some types of learning behavior, such as students’ annotation, has attracted attention as a means to enhance Web-based learning. We describe a Web-based tool for creating and sharing annotations and investigate the effect on learning of its use with college students. First, an annotation tool was designed and implemented for the research. Second, learning support mechanisms, including full and group annotation sharing, were developed to promote students’ motivation for annotation. Lastly, experiments with individual and shared annotation were conducted and the results show that the influence of annotation on learning performance becomes stronger with the use of sharing mechanisms. We conclude that there is value in further study of collaborative learning through shared annotation.     

Implement web learning environment based on data mining

The need for providing learners with web-based learning content that match their accessibility needs and preferences, as well as providing ways to match learning content to user’s devices has been identified as an important issue in accessible educational environment. For a web-based open and dynamic learning environment, personalized support for learners becomes more important. In order to achieve optimal efficiency in a learning process, individual learner’s cognitive learning style should be taken into account. Due to different types of learners using these systems, it is necessary to provide them with an individualized learning support system. However, the design and development of web-based learning environments for people with special abilities has been addressed so far by the development of hypermedia and multimedia based on educational content. In this paper a framework of individual web-based learning system is presented by focusing on learner’s cognitive learning process, learning pattern and activities, as well as the technology support needed. Based on the learner-centered mode and cognitive learning theory, we demonstrate an online course design and development that supports the students with the learning flexibility and the adaptability. The proposed framework utilizes data mining algorithm for representing and extracting a dynamic learning process and learning pattern to support students’ deep learning, efficient tutoring and collaboration in web-based learning environment. And experiments do prove that it is feasible to use the method to develop an individual web-based learning system, which is valuable for further study in more depth.     

Scaffolding student-generated questions: Design and development of a customizable online learning system

Despite the fact that the benefits of student question generation are well documented, most students do not take part in question generation exercises during their formal schooling and are not accustomed to authoring questions. Under the premise that student question generation activities should be better supported in a timely, flexible and logistically feasible fashion, a customizable online learning environment that accentuates various scaffolding techniques has been designed and developed. The framework guiding the development of the system, and its associated designs, are described. To assess the various built-in scaffolds used to support students’ learning activities by means of question generation, a study was undertaken to that measured students’ perceived usefulness of each mechanism, as well as the effects of the perceived usefulness of the scaffolds on students’ attitudes toward question generation learning activities in general. The data collected indicated that, by utilizing computers and network technologies, the developed system provided a supportive learning environment for student’s question generation learning activities. Support features not yet included in other similar systems (including access to generic question stems with sample questions, access to model questions, two-way cyclic communication between authors of question and assessors, and the ability to conceal one’s real identity by anonymity or nickname, etc.), were confirmed to provide a high level of support. Recommendations for classroom implementations and future studies are offered.     

Effects of learning support in simulation-based physics learning

This paper describes the effects of learning support on simulation-based learning in three learning models: experiment prompting, a hypothesis menu, and step guidance. A simulation learning system was implemented based on these three models, and the differences between simulation-based learning and traditional laboratory learning were explored in the context of physics studies. The effects of the support type on learning performance were also quantified. In second-year junior high school students it was found that the outcome for learning about the basic characteristics of an optical lens was significantly better for simulation-based learning than for laboratory learning. We also investigated the influences of different learning models on the students’ abstract reasoning abilities, which showed that the different learning models do not have different effects on individuals with different abstract reasoning abilities. However, we found that students who are better at higher abstract reasoning benefit more from simulation-based learning, and also that the learning results are better for experiment prompting and a hypothesis menu than for step guidance.     

The formation of learners’ semiosphere by authentic inquiry with an integrated learning object “Young Scientist”

An integrated learning object, a web-based inquiry environment “Young Scientist” for basic school level is introduced by applying the semiosphere conception for explaining learning processes. The study focused on the development of students’ (n = 30) awareness of the affordances of learning objects (LO) during the 3 inquiry tasks, and their ability of dynamically reconstructing meanings in the inquiry subtasks through exploiting these LO affordances in “Young Scientist”. The problem-solving data recorded by the inquiry system and the awareness questionnaire served as the data-collection methods.It was demonstrated that learners obtain complete awareness of the LO affordances in an integrated learning environment only after several problem-solving tasks. It was assumed that the perceived task-related properties and functions of LOs depend on students’ interrelations with LOs in specific learning contexts. Learners’ overall awareness of certain LO affordances, available in the inquiry system “Young Scientist”, developed with three kinds of patterns, describing the hierarchical development of the semiosphere model for learners. The better understanding of the LO affordances, characteristic to the formation of the functioning semiosphere, was significantly related to the advanced knowledge construction during these inquiry subtasks that presumed translation of information from one semiotic system to another. The implications of the research are discussed in the frames of the development of new contextual gateways for learning with virtual objects. It is assumed that effective LO-based learning has to be organized through pedagogically constrained gateways by manifesting certain LO affordances in the context in order to build up the dynamic semiosphere model for learners.     

Epistemological beliefs, interest, and gender as predictors of Internet-based learning activities

We examined the contribution of epistemological beliefs, individual interest, and gender to self-reports of Internet-based learning activities in a sample of 80 Norwegian student teachers in an innovative pedagogical context with special emphasis on the use of information and communication technologies. Epistemological beliefs and individual interest were measured in the autumn term of the first year of the teacher education program, and learning activities were measured in the autumn term of the second year. The results indicated that epistemological beliefs about the speed of knowledge acquisition predicted Internet-search activities, with students who believed that learning occurs quickly or not at all being less likely to realize that managing the wealth of information found on the Internet and critically evaluating Web-based resources is a difficult and often time-consuming task. In addition, students who held the naive epistemological belief that knowledge is given and stable were less likely to engage in discussion and communication about subject content on the Internet, with such Internet-based communication also predicted by students’ interest in their field of study. Epistemological beliefs predicting Internet-communication activities were also found to predict self-reported use of strategies when learning from conventional printed texts. Finally, males reported higher levels of participation in Internet-based communication activities than females, and females reported higher levels of strategy use when learning from conventional printed texts than males.     

Not just fun, but serious strategies: Using meta-cognitive strategies in game-based learning

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of the meta-cognitive strategies on the academic and gaming achievements. Exploring the effects of those achievements on the social problem solving of students is also of interest. For this purpose, the MMORPG Gersang was used. The participants, consisting of ninth graders, played the game until they all reached the third level to ensure that they have the same gaming ability prior to gaming for the study. Three meta-cognitive strategies were developed: self-recording, modeling and thinking aloud. Those strategies are specially related to gaming activities and applied in pre-gaming activities, gaming activities, and post-gaming activities. Three meta-cognitive strategies were set as independent variables. The social problem solving ability was set as a mediating variable, and academic achievement and scores in the game were chosen as dependent variables. The path between meta-cognitive strategies and both academic achievement and game performance by mediating social problem solving abilities were discovered. The social problem solving ability, which is the mediating variable, affects the academic achievement and the game performance very strongly. These results imply that a commercial game playing in conjunction with meta-cognitive strategies can be an effective way to increase students’ performance both in learning and gaming by keeping them involved. Talking and observation activities such as thinking aloud and modeling are more effective than writing activities in enhancing the students’ achievements both in learning and gaming.     

Interactive processes and learning attitudes in a web-based problem-based learning (PBL) platform

This paper discusses the steps taken to set up a digital logic course problem through a problem-based learning (PBL) constructivist approach. PBL is the learning which results from the process of working toward the understanding and resolution of a problem. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement problem-based learning in a digital logic course in a senior vocational industrial high school. Data collection included content analysis and a questionnaire survey. Content analysis was used to evaluate the students’ discussion messages, quality of dialogue, and the level of problem-solving activities. A survey was then administered to examine the students’ learning attitudes and perceptions toward this platform as a possible tool for PBL learning. Researchers found “Peer-responses” category is the most messages; the contents of messages focus on “General explanation” and “Reaction”; the level results of all groups’ problem-solving are similar; the index of the “Interaction” satisfaction level is the highest in PBL activity. Finally, some research suggestions were also proposed.     

Investigating university student preferences and beliefs about learning in the web-based context

Psychological studies have shown that personal beliefs about learning and environmental preferences affect learning behaviors. However, these learner characteristics have not been widely discussed in the web-based context. By developing questionnaires, this study attempted to detect learners’ web-based learning environmental preferences (WLEP) and beliefs about web-based learning (BWL). The scope of WLEP focused on the pedagogical dimension of the web-based learning environment, while BWL concerned the attributes and control factors of the web-based learning. There were about five hundreds of Taiwan university students participating in the study. Through factor analysis, the scales discussed in the study revealed a satisfactory validity and reliability in assessing students’ preferences and beliefs. Further analyses showed that university students preferred more of individual and structured instructional configurations while expected the outward mode of interaction. In general, students held a rather contextual belief about web-based learning, which was found to be correlated with their environmental preferences.     

The impact of multimedia effect on science learning: Evidence from eye movements

This study examined how middle school students constructed their understanding of the mitosis and meiosis processes at a molecular level through multimedia learning materials presented in different interaction and sensory modality modes. A two (interaction modes: animation/simulation) by two (sensory modality modes: narration/on-screen text) factorial design was employed. The dependent variables included subjects’ pre-test, post-test, and retention-test scores, showing their understanding of mitosis and meiosis process at molecular level, as well as data of subjects’ eye-movement behavior. Results showed the group that received animation with narration allocated a greater amount of visual attention (number of fixations, total inspection time, and mean fixation duration) than the group that received animation with on-screen text, in both pictorial area and area of interest, which is consistent with students’ immediate and long-term retained learning of the processes of mitosis and meiosis. The group that received simulation with on-screen text allocated a greater amount of visual attention than the group that received simulation with narration, consistent with students’ immediate and retained learning. The group that received simulation with on-screen text also allocated a greater amount of visual attention than the group that received animation with on-screen text, consistent with students’ immediate and retained learning. This study adds empirical evidence of a direct correlation between the length of eye fixation behavior and the depth of learning. Moreover, it provides insight into the multimedia effect on students’ cognitive process through the use of eye fixation behavior evidence.     

On-line peer assessment and the role of the peer feedback: A study of high school computer course

The purposes of this study were to explore the effects and the validity of on-line peer assessment in high schools and to analyze effects of various types of peer feedback on students. The participating students, a total of 184 10th graders, developed their individual course projects by involving the on-line peer assessment learning activities in a computer course. The peer assessment activities consisted of three rounds, and each of the students acted as an author and a reviewer. Research data as evaluated from peers and experts indicated that students significantly improved their projects as involving the peer assessment activities. The scores determined by the learning peers were highly correlated with those marked by the experts, indicating that peer assessment in high school could be perceived as a valid assessment method. Moreover, this study also examined the relationships between the types of peer feedbacks in which students obtained from peer assessment and the subsequent performance of their projects. We categorized peer feedbacks into four types: Reinforcing, Didactic, Corrective and Suggestive. It was found that Reinforcing peer feedback was useful in helping students’ development of better projects; however, Didactic feedback and perhaps Corrective feedback provided by peers might play an unfavorable role for subsequent improvement of students’ projects. The Suggestive feedback may be helpful in the beginning of peer assessment activities; however, in the later parts of peer assessment, the effect of this type of feedback on learning might not be significant.     

Investigating the quality of student approaches to using technology in experiences of learning through writing

This study reports on the student experience of learning through writing in an undergraduate science subject. During their writing experience, 52 first year university science students used a writing database, bulletin board and word-processor. Using quantitative questionnaires developed from student learning research, this study investigates the quality of the approaches adopted by students to the use of the technologies and how this related to the quality of their whole experience and performance measures. The results show that students who adopted a surface or reproductive approach tended to achieve relatively poorer learning outcomes and lower performance measures than students who adopted approaches which reflected understanding. The findings have important implications for teachers introducing technologies into writing processes for the purpose of improving students’ learning outcomes.     

Teaching e-commerce Web page evaluation and design: a pilot study using tourism destination sites

This study explores a teaching method for improving business students’ skills in e-commerce page evaluation and making Web design majors aware of business content issues through cooperative learning. Two groups of female students at a Japanese university studying either tourism or Web page design were assigned tasks that required cooperation to investigate whether a minimum of formal training and interaction between the two groups would result in an increase in the “design” students’ awareness of content issues in page design, and an improvement in the “tourism” students’ ability to evaluate Web pages related to tourism. The results showed only slight improvements, suggesting that either the amount of cooperative learning must be increased or some formal instruction must be introduced.     

Computer-supported negotiation of course content

Students learn more effectively with personally meaningful tasks. Thus, students learn more if they have a say in deciding what specific topics and examples are being discussed in class. Naturally, the instructor knows what topics are important to cover in a course and which ones might be optional. Finding the right balance between students’ preferences and the instructor’s requirements is not so easy and thus may prevent this kind of shared control of the classroom from being realized. This article describes how the instructor’s and students’ interests can be used to generate a list of course topics that satisfies both parties. However, instead of adding technology to the classroom, technology is used to improve the classroom experiences. Specifically, it is shown how course topics can be assigned to specific students maximizing what is meaningful to the students and satisfies the course parameters as defined by the instructor. This problem can be formulated as a variation of the linear assignment problem and solved with a binary linear program. Results from actual and simulated courses are discussed and generalizations of the topic assignment problem presented.