Comprehension and navigation of networked hypertexts

This study aims to investigate secondary school students' reading comprehension and navigation of networked hypertexts with and without a graphic overview compared to linear digital texts. Additionally, it was studied whether prior knowledge, vocabulary, verbal, and visual working memory moderated the relation between text design and comprehension. Therefore, 80 first‐year secondary school students read both a linear text and a networked hypertext with and without a graphical overview. Logfiles registered their navigation. After reading the text, students answered textbased multiple choice questions and drew mindmaps to assess their structural knowledge of each text content. It was found that both textbased and structural knowledge were lower after reading a networked hypertext than a linear text, especially in students with lower levels of vocabulary. Students took generally more time to read the hypertext than the linear text. We concluded that networked hypertexts are more challenging to read than linear texts and that students may benefit from explicit training on how to read hypertexts.     

Towards an analysis framework for investigating students' engagement and learning in educational blogs

Educational blogs are currently gaining in popularity in schools and higher education institutions, and they are widely promoted as collaborative tools supporting students' active learning. However, literature review on educational blogging revealed a lack of a complete and consistent framework for studying and assessing students' engagement and the impact of blogging on students' learning. This study reports on the application of an analysis framework for evaluating blogging learning activities, based on two well‐documented models, those of Community of Inquiry (CoI) and Social Network Analysis. The framework proposed is examined through an empirical study involving 21 K‐9 students, coming from two classes, in Greece. This investigation shed light into the different ways of students' engagement in a blog‐based project, namely their social and cognitive presence that supported the development of a CoI and learning. The results suggest that the students, through their different roles in the blog, achieved higher thinking and cognitive levels.     

The effect of a graph‐oriented computer‐assisted project‐based learning environment on argumentation skills

The purpose of this quasi‐experimental study was to explore how seventh graders in a suburban school in the United States developed argumentation skills and science knowledge in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application. A total of 54 students (three classes) comprised this treatment condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application, whereas a total of 57 students (three classes) comprised the control condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment without this graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application. Verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students' post essays were collected. A random effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted and a significant difference in science knowledge about alternative energies between conditions was observed. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted and there was a significant difference in counterargument and rebuttal skills between conditions. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application supported students' development of argumentation skills and affected the quality of collaborative argumentation. The difference in argumentation structure and quality of argumentation between conditions might explain a difference in science knowledge as well counterargument and rebuttal skills (argumentation) between both conditions. This study concluded that a project‐based learning environment incorporating a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application was effective in improving students' science knowledge and developing their scientific argumentation skills.     

High school students' perceptions of affect and collaboration during virtual science inquiry learning

This study examined affect during high school students' face‐to‐face collaborative inquiry learning in science, supported by the web‐based software Virtual Baltic Sea Explorer. Self‐reported affective states during the inquiry process in peer groups were related to evaluations of a group's collaboration and performance in three phases of interdisciplinary science inquiry (biology and chemistry). Results indicate that despite high cognitive demands, positive affect prevailed whereas negative affect was infrequent. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the significance of affect on collaboration and group performance. The relationship between affect, collaboration, and the groups' productive outcome revealed that self‐assurance had a significant effect on collaboration and support, intertwined with scientific understanding and group performance. Furthermore, a cross‐lagged analysis showed a reciprocal relation between positive affect, scientific understanding, collaboration, and support. These outcomes contribute to the scarce literature on the nature and importance of affect in the process of face‐to‐face computer‐supported collaborative inquiry and learning in science.     

A cluster-randomized trial measuring the effects of a digital learning tool supporting decoding and reading for meaning in grade 2

A large-scale, cluster-randomized controlled field trial (N_classrooms = 47; N_students = 1,013) assessed the impact of a digital text-to-speech reading material that supported 8-year-olds’ decoding and reading comprehension. An active control group used the most prevalent Danish learning material with a research-based systematic, explicit phonics approach supporting primarily decoding. The digital tool allows children to read unfamiliar text for meaning. Students are supported in mapping between orthography and phonology by three levels of text-to-speech support and in identifying spelling patterns. The risk of students overusing text-to-speech was countered by postponing access to having words read aloud by directing students towards identifying and training relevant orthographic patterns before activating text-to-speech. Results showed no statistically significant difference in decoding, but treatment improved reading comprehension. The study demonstrates how digital tools can facilitate strengthening students' decoding skills as efficiently as a traditional phonics-based programme while students are reading text of relatively high orthographic complexity for meaning.     

Teaching genetics with multimedia results in better acquisition of knowledge and improvement in comprehension

The main goal of this study was to explore whether the use of multimedia in genetics instruction contributes more to students' knowledge and comprehension than other instructional modes. We were also concerned with the influence of different instructional modes on the retention of knowledge and comprehension. In a quasi‐experimental design, four comparable groups of 3rd and 4th grade high school students were taught the process of protein synthesis: group 1 was taught in the traditional lecture format (n = 112 students), group 2 only by reading text (n = 124 students), group 3 through multimedia that integrated two short computer animations (n = 115 students) and group 4 by text supplemented with illustrations (n = 117 students). All students received one pre‐test in order to estimate their prior knowledge, and two post‐tests in order to assess knowledge and comprehension immediately after learning and again after 5 weeks. Results showed that students comprising groups 3 and 4 acquired better knowledge and improved comprehension skills than the other two groups. Similar results were observed for retention of acquired knowledge and improved comprehension. These findings lead to the conclusion that better learning outcomes can be obtained by the use of animations or at least illustrations when learning genetics.     

Supporting middle school students' online reading of scientific resources: moving beyond cursory,fragmented, and opportunistic reading

The abundant scientific resources on the Web provide great opportunities for students to expand their science learning, yet easy access to information does not ensure learning. Prior research has found that middle school students tend to read Web‐based scientific resources in a shallow, superficial manner. A software tool was designed to support middle school students in reading online scientific resources through three key strategies: making explicit a skim–read–summarize structure for online reading, using prompts to guide students' reading and foster articulation of thinking, and connecting reading to learning purposes. This study examined the differences between regular and guided online reading performed by eight pairs of sixth graders in a science inquiry project. The students' online reading processes and conversations were captured by a screen‐recording programme. Analysis of 60 h of screen videos showed that the students' online reading in the regular condition was cursory, fragmented, and opportunistic, while the structured online reading was more deliberate, thorough, and purposeful. Overall, the results suggest that middle school students' online reading of scientific resources needs to be guided.     

Collaborative activities enabled by GroupScribbles (GS): An exploratory study of learning effectiveness

This paper describes the findings of an exploratory cycle of a design-based research project and examines the learning effectiveness of collaborative activities that are supported by the GroupScribbles (GS) software technology in two Singapore primary science classrooms. The students had ten weeks of GS-based lessons in science, which were co-designed by teachers and researchers to teach the curriculum by tapping on collaborative work in small groups as well as in the whole class. The results show that the GS classes performed better than non-GS classes as measured by traditional assessments. With GS, students were found to have more opportunities to participate in class discussions, and were exposed to diversified ideas. Analysis of data collected in the classroom as well as data on students’ attitudes and perceptions indicate that GS facilitated students’ collaborative learning, and improved students’ epistemology and attitudes toward science learning.     

English outside the academic sphere: A mobile-based context-aware comparison study on collaborative and individual learning

Context-aware ubiquitous learning (CAUL) technology provides language learners with interactive learning environments and has been found to increase learning effectiveness and self-efficacy due to student interaction, discussion and evaluation of the entire learning process. This study used a mobile-based ubiquitous learning system combined with a collaborative learning approach to develop Fitness-specific English listening and reading, and fitness knowledge. The researchers recruited two groups of participants, an individual learning group (N = 31) and a collaborative learning group (N = 30), and evaluated their learning performance via pre-and post-tests. In addition, a questionnaire explored the perceived usefulness, usability, follow-up intention of using the system and self-efficacy regarding fitness-specific English. The results show that both groups improved fitness-specific English in terms of listening and reading comprehension. Moreover, collaborative learning was found to facilitate fitness-specific knowledge, and those in the collaborative learning group improved their self-efficacy more than those in the individual learning group.     

Efficiency of learning environment using GeoGebra when calculus contents are learned in collaborative groups

In this paper we present a modern approach of teaching mathematics based on the computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) of calculus contents. The collaborative learning was used in calculus course at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, for examining functions and drawing their graphs. In 2012 the authors decided to improve the collaborative learning introducing GeoGebra application. Small four member groups were formed by using Kagan's (1994) principles. Two groups of students, the experimental, and the control one were observed. The students in the experimental group learned with the help of GeoGebra, and the students in the control group learned without using GeoGebra.Comparison between those two groups of the first year calculus students, regarding their way of learning and the results achieved, is described below. Before the students' collaborative learning, they were tested with a pre-test and their knowledge necessary for examining functions was verified. The pre-test showed that there was no significant statistical difference between the experimental and the control group. The experimental group worked with the help of the computer and the control one without it. After the collaborative learning, the students were tested with a test (colloquium) and the results of the experimental group were significantly better than the results of students in the control group. At the end of the course the students did their exams (post-test), and the results of the experimental group were significantly better than the results of students in the control group.Some students from the experimental group had to answer questions in an interview related to the use of GeoGebra during their collaborative learning. In order to see the students' difficulties in solving problems, students in the experimental group were asked to cross out incorrect parts of solutions, not to erase them. The teachers reviewed the students' tasks done during the collaborative learning and after that the students who had corrected their mistakes were invited for an interview about using GeoGebra for overcoming their difficulties. Based on the students' results in the tests, answers in the questionnaire and in the interview, it can be concluded that GeoGebra has enabled an easier learning of this material. The GeoGebra package enables the students to check whether each step in the process of solving a task was correctly done or not. The results of our research show that GeoGebra can help those students having insufficient knowledge (necessary for solving those tasks) to improve it.We can say that our research shows that the students' learning achievement in examining functions and drawing their graphs is better when they use GeoGebra, working in collaborative groups than without using it. Also, GeoGebra enables creation of effective learning environment for examining functions and drawing their graphs.     

Patterns of students' collaborations by variations in their learning orientations in blended course designs: How is it associated with academic achievement?

Background

While a number of learner factors have been identified to impact students' collaborative learning, there has been little systematic research into how patterns of students' collaborative learning may differ by their learning orientations.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate: (1) variations in students' learning orientations by their conceptions, approaches, and perceptions; (2) the patterns of students' collaborations by variations in their learning orientations and (3) the contribution of patterns of collaborations to academic achievement.

Methods

A cohort of 174 Chinese undergraduates in a blended engineering course were surveyed for their conceptions of learning, approaches to learning and to using online learning technologies, and perceptions of e-learning, to identify variations in their learning orientations. Students' collaborations and mode of collaborations were collected through an open-ended social network analysis (SNA) questionnaire.

Results and Conclusions

A hierarchical cluster analysis identified an ‘understanding’ and ‘reproducing’ learning orientations. Based on students' learning orientations and their choices to collaborate, students were categorized into three mutually exclusive collaborative group, namely Understanding Collaborative group, Reproducing Collaborative group and Mixed Collaborative group. SNA centrality measures demonstrated that students in the Understanding Collaborative group had more collaborations and stayed in a better position in terms of capacity to gather information. Both students' approaches to learning and students' average collaborations significantly contributed to their academic achievement, explaining 3% and 4% of variance in their academic achievement respectively. The results suggest that fostering a desirable learning orientation may help improve students' collaborative learning.     

Supporting secondary school students' reading comprehension in computer environments: A systematic review

This systematic literature review analysed the content, focus, provision, and effects of support (scaffolds) in computer environments with regard to secondary school students' reading comprehension outcomes. The relevant search terms yielded many hits (period 2000–2017); however, intervention studies regarding reading comprehension of expository texts in computer environments seemed to be rather scarce. A careful analysis of these studies revealed that most of them provided cognitive support and some provided metacognitive support. Almost all studies focused on learning products, half of them in combination with learning processes. Most studies provided support in the form of statements, often provided during the task. Both cognitive and metacognitive scaffolds in computer environments produced a positive effect on reading comprehension outcomes. However, only one of the studies provided students with motivational scaffolds. Because the details of the design and content of the scaffolds used in all studies often remained unclear, it was difficult to determine the effectiveness of specific characteristics of scaffolds in computer environments. It is suggested that researchers should be more careful and comprehensive in designing and reporting on research in this area. Recommendations for future research and practical implementations of computer environments are presented.     

A cross‐cultural study of the effect of a graph‐oriented computer‐assisted project‐based learning environment on middle school students' science knowledge and argumentation skills

The purpose of this mixed‐methods study was to explore how seventh graders in a suburban school in the United States and sixth graders in an urban school in Taiwan developed argumentation skills and science knowledge in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application (GOCAA). A total of 42 students comprised the treatment condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a GOCAA. Of these 42 students, 21 were located in the United States and 21 were located in Taiwan. A total of 26 students comprised the control condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment without the GOCAA. Of these 26 students, 15 were in the United States and 11 were in Taiwan. In each country, verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students' post‐essays were collected. A one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for each measure of science knowledge about alternative energies. The results showed a significant treatment effect for the outcome of scientific explanation among U.S. students, while among Taiwanese students, a significant treatment effect on scientific facts was observed. A one‐way ANOVA was additionally conducted for each measure of argumentation skills and a significant treatment effect on counterarguments and rebuttals was observed among the U.S. students, while in Taiwan, a significant treatment effect on reasoning and rebuttals was observed. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the GOCAA supported students' development of argumentation skills in different countries. This study found distinct argumentation patterns between the U.S. and Taiwanese intervention teams. Additionally, a distinct gender difference in the use of evidence and division of labour was noted when the Taiwanese teams were compared with the U.S. teams, which may be explained by cultural differences. This study concluded that, in both the United States and Taiwan, a project‐based learning environment incorporating a GOCAA was effective in improving students' science knowledge and developing their scientific argumentation skills.     

Evolutionary development: a model for the design,implementation, and evaluation of ICT for education programmes

The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) in primary and secondary education is still an open question. Following review of the available literature, we classify the causes of the lack of impact on students' attainment in four dimensions: (1) the design and implementation of ICT in educational settings; (2) the evaluation of its impact; (3) the scaling up of these kinds of innovations; and (4) the cost‐effectiveness of technology‐enhanced learning environments. Based on this evidence, we proposed the evolutionary development model (EDM), which aims to produce a cost‐effective and sustainable ICT for education (ICT4E) programme in three steps: efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency. In each step, one component of the programme is built and validated in real educational settings. Therefore, the resultant ICT4E programme is ready to be replicated across the school system. We also show how the EDM guided the development of a programme based on mobile computer supported collaborative learning, known as Eduinnova. Finally, we discuss how EDM can serve as an analysis tool for researchers and policy makers.     

Investigating face‐to‐face peer interaction patterns in a collaborative Web discovery task: the benefits of a shared display

Mobile computers are now increasingly applied to facilitate face‐to‐face collaborative learning. However, the factors affecting face‐to‐face peer interactions are complex as they involve rich communication media. In particular, non‐verbal interactions are necessary to convey critical communication messages in face‐to‐face communication. Through gathering discourse and non‐verbal interaction records, this study explores the peer interactions supported by two collaborative applications: one with mobile computers and the other with shared‐display groupware (SDG). The results show that the students tended to interact with each other according to a distributed and an unsocial interaction pattern when using the application with mobile computers. In contrast, the students who learned with the SDG demonstrated a shared interaction pattern, whereby they often jointly focused on and referred to the shared work. The analysis of the students' work further found that a higher level of discussion was generally associated with the shared interaction pattern. The results seem to support SDG as being useful in augmenting face‐to‐face peer interaction supported by mobile computers. The implications derived from the findings also support the argument that non‐verbal interaction records are useful for quantitatively and qualitatively analysing face‐to‐face peer interactions.     

Promoting academically productive talk with conversational agent interventions in collaborative learning settings

Research on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and conversational pedagogical agents has strongly emphasized the value of providing dynamic dialogue support for learners working together to accomplish a certain task. Recently, on the basis of the classroom discourse framework of Academically Productive Talk (APT), a flexible form of conversational agent support has emerged employing APT-based intervention methods so as to stimulate pedagogically beneficial conversational interactions among learning partners. This paper investigates the impact of an APT-based Linking Contributions (LC) intervention mode implemented by a conversational agent in the context of a collaborative activity in higher education. This type of agent interventions encourages students to explicitly externalize their reasoning on important domain concepts building upon the contributions of their partners. Forty-three (43) students collaborated in small groups using a prototype CSCL system to accomplish three different tasks in the domain of Multimedia Learning. Groups were randomly assigned to the treatment or the control condition. In the treatment condition, a conversational agent participated in students' dialogues making LC mode interventions. In the control condition, students discussed without the agent intervening. The results of the study illustrated that the students in the treatment condition engaged in a more productive dialogue demonstrating increased explicit reasoning throughout the collaborative activity. Furthermore, it was shown that the students in the treatment condition outperformed the control students in various measures on knowledge acquisition. Evidence also suggests that students' enhanced learning performance was mediated by the positive effect of the agent intervention mode on students' argumentation. Overall, this study provides insights into how the use of a configurable conversational agent displaying unsolicited LC interventions during students' discourse can be beneficial to collaborative learning.     

Mobile‐Based micro‐Learning and Assessment: Impact on learning performance and motivation of high school students

Mobile‐based micro‐learning has gained a lot of attention lately, especially for work‐based and corporate training. It combines features of mobile learning and micro‐learning to deliver small learning units and short‐term learning activities. The current study uses the lens of the Self‐Determination Theory of motivation and proposes a series of Mobile‐Based micro‐Learning and Assessment (MBmLA) homework activities to improve high school students' motivation and learning performance in science. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. One hundred and eight students of a senior‐level high school in Europe were randomly assigned into either a control condition (conventional paper‐based homework approach) or an experimental (MBmLA approach) condition. The study carried out for a period of 5 weeks. From the experimental results, it was found that, in comparison to the conventional paper‐based approach, the proposed MBmLA approach enhanced students' basic psychological needs of self‐perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness and improved students' exam performance in terms of factual knowledge. Moreover, students self‐reported greater learning satisfaction with the mobile‐based microassessment and micro‐learning homework tasks. Implications on educational practices as well as future research are discussed.     

Firefighter learning at a distance – a longitudinal study

This article presents a summary analysis of a 5‐year study on the implementation of a technology‐supported distance firefighter training programme in Sweden, focused on the firefighter students' learning processes regarding challenges, contradictions and changes that occurred during the implementation period. With activity theory as the theoretical basis, three data collections were carried out. The analysis, based on interviews with firefighter students and instructors as well as observation logbooks and educational documents, identified two phases, an implementation phase and a dissemination phase. The implementation phase is characterized by the distance students developing a self‐directed and goal‐oriented learning, supported by the revised and technology‐supported training design. During the dissemination phase, when many technology‐inexperienced instructors become involved in the distance programme, a number of challenges and contradictions are identified, which, however, turn out to be a driving force for the students to develop alternative learning strategies. Finally, vocational distance training is discussed in terms of potential opportunities for developing vocational students' learning processes.