Effects of interactivity and instructional scaffolding on learning: Self-regulation in online video-based environments

Online learning often requires learners to be self-directed and engaged. The present study examined students' self-regulatory behaviors in online video-based learning environments. Using an experimental design, this study investigated the effects of a newly designed enhanced video learning environment, which was designed to support or scaffold students' self-regulated or self-directed learning on students' learning behaviors and outcomes. In addition, correspondence between students' self-regulation strategies in traditional learning environments and observed self-regulated learning behaviors in the enhanced video environment were examined. A cross-sectional experimental research design with systematic random assignment of participants to either the control condition (common video) or the experimental condition (enhanced video) was utilized. Undergraduate and graduate students participated in the study (N = 80). Study results indicate that the newly designed enhanced video learning environment was a superior instructional tool than the common video learning environment in terms students' learning performance. In addition, there was correspondence between graduate students' self-reported self-regulation and observed self-regulation, with those high on seeking/learning information and managing their environment/behavior more likely to engage more in interactive note-taking.     

Developing Web-based assessment strategies for facilitating junior high school students to perform self-regulated learning in an e-Learning environment

This research refers to the self-regulated learning strategies proposed by Pintrich (1999) in developing a multiple-choice Web-based assessment system, the Peer-Driven Assessment Module of the Web-based Assessment and Test Analysis system (PDA-WATA). The major purpose of PDA-WATA is to facilitate learner use of self-regulatory learning behaviors to perform self-regulated learning and in turn improve e-Learning effectiveness. PDA-WATA includes five main strategies: ‘Adding Answer Notes,’ ‘Stating Confidence,’ ‘Reading Peer Answer Notes,’ ‘Recommending Peer Answer Notes’ and ‘Querying Peers’ Recommendation on Personal Answer Notes’. Using these strategies, examinees are allowed to add answer notes to explain why they chose a certain option as the correct answer and state their confidence in their own answer and answer notes, for peers’ reference. In addition to reading peer answer notes, examinees can also recommend peer answer notes as valuable references. The recommendation information can also be queried by all examinees. Quasi-experimental design was adopted to understand the effectiveness of PDA-WATA in facilitating learner use of self-regulatory learning behaviors to perform self-regulated learning and in improving learner e-Learning effectiveness. Participants were 123 seventh-grade junior high school students from four classes. These four classes were randomly divided into the PDA-WATA group (n = 63) and the N-WBT group (n = 60). Before e-Learning instruction, all students took the pre-test of the Learning Process Inventory (LPI), used to understand how often learners use self-regulatory learning behaviors in the learning process, and the pre-test of the summative assessment. After a two-week e-Learning instruction, the students all took the post-test of the LPI and the summative assessment. Results indicate that students in the PDA-WATA group appear to be more willing to take the Web-based formative assessment than students in the N-WBT group. In addition, PDA-WATA appears to be significantly more effective than N-WBT in facilitating learner use of self-regulatory learning behaviors to perform self-regulated learning and in improving their e-Learning effectiveness. Moreover, this research also finds that in the PDA-WATA group, there is no significant difference between the learning effectiveness of students with a low level of self-regulated learning and students with a high level of self-regulated learning, but similar result cannot be found in the N-WBT group.     

Improving literacy and metacognition with electronic portfolios: Teaching and learning with ePEARL

Can an electronic portfolio that is both a multimedia container for student work and a tool to support key learning processes have a positive impact on the literacy practices and self-regulated learning skills of students? This article presents the findings of a yearlong study conducted in three Canadian provinces during the 2007–2008 school year initially involving 32 teachers and 388 students. Due to varying levels of implementation our final data set included 14 teachers and 296 students. Using a non-equivalent pre-test/post-test design, we found that grade 4–6 students who were in classrooms where the teacher provided regular and appropriate use of the electronic portfolio tool ePEARL (i.e., medium–high implementation condition, n = 7 classrooms and 121 students), compared to control students (n = 7 classrooms and 175 students) who did not use ePEARL, showed significant improvements (p < .05) in their writing skills on a standardized literacy measure (i.e., the constructed response subtest of the Canadian Achievement Test-4th ed.) and certain metacognitive skills measured via student self-report. The results of this study indicate that teaching with ePEARL has positive impacts on students’ literacy and self-regulated learning skills when the tool is used regularly and integrated into classroom instruction.     

The effects of integrating technology,observation and writing into a teacher education method course

The purpose of this study was to integrate asynchronous learning technology with teaching strategies on observation and writing into a teacher education method course. The research questions were to explore the effects of the innovative teaching method and to compare it with the traditional teaching method. There were 134 preservice teachers involved in this study. This study used a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The main data included questionnaires, observation reports, and on-line information. According to the findings, there were significant differences in the “teaching and learning interaction” and “application of technology and theories” (F = 9.728, P < 0.01, and F = 16.88, P < 0.001, respectively.), but there were no significant differences in the other aspects. The results also showed the experimental teaching method combined the effect of both traditional classroom and online teaching, and reinforced the integration of teaching theories and practices. The preservice teachers reflected that they had learned how to integrate technologies with teaching through the learning environment of the asynchronous learning network and teaching observation. The interactive teaching and learning of this study could supplement the any existing deficiencies in traditional teaching. Therefore, the experimental teaching method is not only a way to construct knowledge, theories and experiences of teaching, but also a good strategy to promote the utilization of instructional technology within teaching for preservice teachers. The limitations in the asynchronous learning technology and the difficulties associated with the preservice teachers’ learning processes were also discussed.     

Self-regulated learning through writing on computers: Consequences for reading comprehension

The overall aim for the present study was to analyze the consequences for reading ability among the children of a computer supported self-regulated learning environment in grade two. By means of a quasi-experimental design in a natural setting, an experimental group (n = 39) was compared to a control group from a national sample (n = 3409) on reading comprehension. The statistical analyses showed that the experimental group achieved better on reading comprehension both as a group (p < .001) as well as girls (p < .001) and boys (p < .05) separately. The proportion of high achievers was higher, and the proportion of low achievers was lower in the experimental group. In order to explain the level of reading comprehension in the experimental group Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used. The main explanatory factor for reading comprehension was writing with β = .44. As a tentative conclusion it was suggested that the extended writing in combination with the self-regulated learning environment can promote reading comprehension in grade two, whereas home literacy had no impact on reading comprehension in this context.     

Dynamic scaffolding of socially regulated learning in a computer-based learning environment

The aim of this study is to test the effects of dynamically scaffolding social regulation of middle school students working in a computer-based learning environment. Dyads in the scaffolding condition (N = 56) are supported with computer-generated scaffolds and students in the control condition (N = 54) do not receive scaffolds. The scaffolds are dynamically adjusted to dyads’ progress with an attention management system. The scaffolds support two aspects of socially regulated learning namely the metacognitive and cognitive activities. We analyzed the effects of dynamic scaffolding on dyads’ performance, their perception of the learning environment and students' knowledge acquisition. We found that scaffolding had a positive effect on the dyads’ learning performance, but did not affect students’ domain knowledge. The repeated measurements of perception of the learning environment showed that dyads in the experimental condition were more positive about their teachers and their collaborators than students in the control condition. With respect to their perception of the software and the 3D embodied agent delivering the scaffolds, we found a stronger decrease of appreciation over time in the scaffolding condition compared to the control condition.     

The educational impact of metacognitive group coordination in computer-supported collaborative learning

Group coordination is a crucial component for successful collaborative learning, but is hard to achieve in an online learning environment. A web-based group coordination tool was developed based on metacognitive scaffolding principles for the study. The tool was implemented in an online course for a group project and its effects were investigated. A total of 59 students formed into 20 groups participated in and completed a project while being guided with the tool. Based on response rate to metacognitive prompts of the tool, groups were categorized as Active Metacognitive Team (AMT, n = 30) or Passive Metacognitive Team (PMT, n = 29). AMT showed higher positive interdependence than PMT at the end of the project. AMT perceived reciprocal help among group members while PMT did not. AMT also evaluated its group process higher than PMT did. These results show that groups who more actively used the coordination support tool established positive interdependence, engaged in positive interactions, and had enhanced group productivity.     

Web-based Personalised System of Instruction: An effective approach for diverse cohorts with virtual learning environments?

The Personalised System of Instruction is a form of mastery learning which, though it has been proven to be educationally effective, has never seriously challenged the dominant lecture-tutorial teaching method in higher education and has largely fallen into disuse. An information and communications technology assisted version of the Personalised System of Instruction using a virtual learning environment is promoted here based on the authors’ longitudinal design research into this pedagogy. The particular elements of the virtual learning environment which are promoted are short video clips, online formative tests and an assessment management system. The authors present their experiences of developing and deploying this pedagogy for the teaching of introductory discrete mathematics to large classes of Computer Science students at two UK higher education institutions both with whole cohorts and ‘at risk’ groups of students. In particular, this method is promoted as particularly helpful to students who do not adopt a deep approach to learning as many students fail to do. Moreover ‘at risk’ students using this method (n = 71) demonstrated an average Glass effect size of 0.83 compared with other ‘at risk’ students who did not (n = 35). Based on these experiences, this pedagogy is promoted as an effective approach to teaching in higher education, especially the teaching of cognitive skills to diverse cohorts of students on foundation level modules.     

Performance measures in courses using computer-aided personalized system of instruction

Archived data from four courses taught with computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI) – an online, self-paced, instructional program – were used to explore the relationship between objectively rescored final exam grades, peer reviewing, and progress rate – i.e., the rate at which students completed unit tests. There was a strong positive correlation (r = .68, p < .01) between rate of progress and the amount of peer reviewing students did. This was predictable because peer reviewers had to be further along in the course than the students whose unit tests they reviewed. Students who completed all the units tended to obtain higher final exam scores than those who did not. For students who completed all the units there was little difference between the final exam performance of those who had a high progress rate and those who had a low progress rate. Considering all students together there was a moderate correlation between progress rate and final exam performance (r = .36, p < .01). In addition, there was a moderate positive correlation (r = .33, p < .01) between the amount of peer reviewing students did and their performance on the final exam. This correlation was substantially reduced (r = .13, p < .20) when rate of progress was partialed out. Thus, overall, students who progressed more rapidly through the course did more peer reviewing and learned more as measured by final exam performance. Interestingly, there were students who showed good learning without much participation in course related behaviors such as completing unit tests and peer reviewing. It is concluded that the CAPSI instructional program provides a good learning environment for students who utilize its components but it also accommodates other learning styles. In addition, there may be a distinction between students who complete all assigned units and those who do not regardless of their tendencies to procrastinate.     

Affective impact of navigational and signaling aids to e-learning

College students had 30 min to study a 17-frame online lesson on distance learning that included navigational aids (for showing the learner’s location in the lesson), signaling aids (for highlighting the important content), both aids, or no aids. On a 30-item usability survey consisting of 8 usability scales, students who received navigational aids produced significantly higher mean ratings on each of the 8 usability scales—ease of use, satisfaction of use, awareness of lesson structure, awareness of lesson length, awareness of location, ease of navigation, lesson comprehension, and lesson learning—with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.50 to d = 1.35. Students who received signaling aids produced significantly higher ratings on 4 of the 8 usability scales—ease of use, satisfaction of use, lesson comprehension, and lesson learning with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.39 to d = 2.15. Results help to clarify the mechanism underlying previous findings showing that students learned more from e-lessons that contained navigational aids. In the present study, there was a significant positive correlation between usability rating and recall test score for 5 of the 8 usability scales (particularly for ease of use), indicating partial support for the prediction that learners’ satisfaction with an e-learning system is related to their learning outcome. Results support the predictions of the emotional design hypothesis and have implications for the design of e-learning interfaces.     

Cognitive load and science text comprehension: Effects of drawing and mentally imagining text content

One hundred and eleven 10th graders read an expository science text on the dipole character of water molecules (ca. 1600 words). Reading instruction was varied according to a 2 × 2 experimental design with factors ‘drawing pictures of text content on paper’ (yes, no) and ‘mentally imagining text content while reading’ (yes, no). The results indicate that drawing pictures, mediated through increased cognitive load, decreased text comprehension and, thus, learning (d = −0.37), whereas mental imagery, although decreasing cognitive load, increased comprehension only when students did not have to draw pictures simultaneously (d = 0.72). No evidence was found that the effects were moderated by domain-specific prior knowledge, verbal ability, or spatial ability. The results are in line with cognitive theories of multimedia learning, self-regulated learning, and mental imagery as well as conceptions of science learning that focus on promoting mental model construction by actively visualizing the content to be learned. Constructing mental images seems to reduce cognitive load and to increase comprehension and learning outcome when the mental visualization processes are not disturbed by externally drawing pictures on paper, whereas drawing pictures seems to increase cognitive load resulting in reduced comprehension and learning outcome.     

Do students need teacher’s initiation in online collaborative learning?

As more and more people use computers to complete their work and solve problems in the workplace, computing education is emphasized for students of all levels and disciplines in Taiwan. However, the computing education in Taiwan can hardly be recognized as effective and satisfactory. Many inappropriate examples that lack context are used in teaching and textbooks that may result in employees with low competence and insufficient ability for collaborative working. Students who grow up in this learning context usually lack the ability to seek information and solve problems by themselves. In this regard, the author redesigned a course and adopted online collaborative learning with initiation to establish the essential knowledge for students’ collaboration in the initial stage of a course. This study conducted an experiment that included 169 undergraduates from three class sections – the first two from an academic university (Case 1, n = 68; Case 2, n = 68) and the last one from a university of science and technology (Case 3, n = 33) – taught by the same teacher under the same course name and the same course website. The results show that students who received online collaborative learning with initiation had higher grades than those without. The author further discusses the implications for teachers, schools, and scholars who plan to provide online courses for their students, particularly computing courses.     

The role of academic emotions in the relationship between perceived academic control and self-regulated learning in online learning

Self-regulated learning is recognized as a critical factor for successful online learning, and students' perceived academic control and academic emotions are important antecedents of self-regulated learning. Because emotions and cognition are interrelated, investigating the joint relationship between perceived academic control and academic emotions on self-regulated learning would be valuable to understanding the process of self-regulated learning. Therefore, this study examined the role of academic emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom) in the relationship between perceived academic control and self-regulated learning in online learning. The path model was proposed to test the mediating and moderating effects of academic emotions. Data were collected from 426 Korean college students registered in online courses, and a path analysis was conducted. The results demonstrated that enjoyment mediated the relationship between perceived academic control and self-regulated learning, but the moderating effect of enjoyment was not significant. Boredom and anxiety did not have significant mediating effects on self-regulated learning, whereas they showed significant moderating effects in the relationship between perceived academic control and self-regulated learning. The role of academic emotions in learning and their implications for facilitating students' self-regulated learning in online learning were discussed based on the findings.     

Can the use of cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies be predicted by learners’ levels of prior knowledge in hypermedia-learning environments?

Research on self-regulated learning (SRL) in hypermedia-learning environments is a growing area of interest, and prior knowledge can influence how students interact with these systems. One hundred twelve (N = 112) undergraduate students’ interactions with MetaTutor, a multi-agent, hypermedia-based learning environment, were investigated, including how prior knowledge affected their use of SRL strategies. We expected that students with high prior knowledge would engage in significantly more cognitive and metacognitive SRL strategies, engage in different sequences of SRL strategies, spend more time engaging in SRL processes, and visit more pages that were relevant to their sub-goals than students with low prior knowledge. Results showed significant differences in the total use of SRL strategies between prior knowledge groups, and more specifically, revealed significant differences in the use of each metacognitive strategy (e.g., judgment of learning), but not each cognitive strategy (e.g., taking notes) between prior knowledge groups. Results also revealed different sequences of use of SRL strategies between prior knowledge groups, and that students spent different amounts of time engaging in SRL processes; however, all students visited similar numbers of relevant pages. These results have important implications on designing multi-agent, hypermedia environments; we can design pedagogical agents that adapt to students’ learning needs, based on their prior knowledge levels.     

Does cognitive load moderate the seductive details effect? A multimedia study

Several studies have shown that adding seductive details to instructional materials has a detrimental effect on learning. However, other studies have shown non-significant findings. The present study uses cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework to explain these controversial results in seductive details research. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design we asked a group of high-school students (N = 100) to learn about biology with a multimedia environment that manipulated the presence of seductive details (with vs. without) and the modality of the verbal information (high load, on-screen text vs. low load, narration). The findings showed that students’ learning performance was significantly higher when seductive details were presented under the low load condition (narration) as compared to all other conditions. The theoretical implications for understanding the effects of non-redundant and interesting, but irrelevant learning material are discussed and future research directions are presented.     

Activity index model for self-regulated learning with learning analysis in a TEL environment

Various learner-oriented teaching–learning models are spreading along with development of the technology-enhanced learning (TEL) environment and the spread of the massive open online course (MOOC). Vast amounts of various data are being created and accumulated from learning activities based on the TEL environment. Also, a self-regulated learning ability is required in the MOOC environment because the learning process is constituted on students making decisions by themselves. Accordingly, this study is aimed at suggesting an activity index model based on self-regulated learning and an activity index based on self-regulated learning. It is intended to provide a means to collect proof of what influences the teaching–learning activity. This model is intended to set a learning activity standard on the basis of general activity, interaction activity, and achievement activity by students. It will be possible to analyze the student’s participation level based on the activity index, which is based on self-regulated learning, to induce participation in the teaching–learning activity, and to recommend more appropriate learning activity elements. The student data are divided into score-related, time-related, and count-related groups for applications. The stabilization of the data was confirmed through time series analysis. In multiple regression analysis, the academic achievement element was set by the target variable, and the relationships among explanatory variables were confirmed. It was understood from the explanatory variables that similar student groups were highly concerned with notice participation in the learning activity. It will be possible to analyze the students’ participation levels, induce participation in the teaching–learning activities, and recommend more appropriate learning activity elements on the basis of an activity index based on self-regulated learning.

     

Structural relationships among internal locus of control, institutional support, flow, and learner persistence in cyber universities

Although cyber education has become significant due to the development of appropriate information and communication technology, it has a problem as compared to traditional educational methods’ learning outcomes: a low rate of learner persistence. Learning outcomes in the cyber environment are complex phenomena affected by various factors, which need integrative comprehension regarding how the variables affect learning outcomes, for qualitative improvement. The current study aimed to establish a structural equation model explaining the causal relationships among internal locus of control, institutional support, flow, and learner persistence, and to examine the practical direct and indirect effects among them. Therefore, we conducted surveys on these variables, in order to examine the causal relationships among them. We received responses from 568 students at W Cyber University. The results indicate direct effects between learner’s internal locus of control and flow (ß = .273), between institutional support and flow (ß = .487), between internal locus of control and flow (ß = .333), and between flow and learner persistence (ß = .705). In addition, we found flow has an intermediating effect between internal locus of control and learner persistence and between institutional support and learner persistence. We propose strategies to raise learner persistence by improving the learner’s internal locus of control, institutional support, and flow based on these results.     

Learning presence as a moderator in the community of inquiry model

This study of over 2000 US college students examines the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) in its capacity to describe and explain differences in learning outcomes in hybrid and fully online learning environments. We hypothesize that the CoI model's theoretical constructs of presence reflect educational effectiveness in a variety of environments, and that online learner self-regulation, a construct that we label “learning presence” moderates relationships of the other components within the CoI model. Consistent with previous research (e.g., Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009; Shea & Bidjerano, 2011) we found evidence that students in online and blended courses rank the modalities differently with regard to quality of teaching, social, and cognitive presence. Differences in help seeking behavior, an important component of self-regulated learning, were found as well. In addition, results suggest teaching presence and social presence have a differential effect on cognitive presence, depending upon learner's online self-regulatory cognitions and behaviors, i.e. their learning presence. These results also suggest a compensation effect in which greater self-regulation is required to attain cognitive presence in the absence of sufficient teaching and social presence. Recommendations for future research and practice are included.     

Students’ self-presentation on Facebook: An examination of personality and self-construal factors

The present research seeks to extend existing theory on self-disclosure to the online arena in higher educational institutions and contribute to the knowledge base and understanding about the use of a popular social networking site (SNS), Facebook, by college students. We conducted a non-experimental study to investigate how university students (N = 463) use Facebook, and examined the roles that personality and culture play in disclosure of information in online SNS-based environments. Results showed that individuals do disclose differently online vs. in-person, and that both culture and personality matter. Specifically, it was found that collectivistic individuals low on extraversion and interacting in an online environment disclosed the least honest and the most audience-relevant information, as compared to others. Exploratory analyses also indicate that students use sites such as Facebook primarily to maintain existing personal relationships and selectively used privacy settings to control their self-presentation on SNSs. The findings of this study offer insight into understanding college students’ self-disclosure on SNS, add to the literature on personality and self-disclosure, and shape future directions for research and practice on online self-presentation.