A personalized recommendation-based mobile learning approach to improving the reading performance of EFL students

In this paper, a personalized recommendation-based mobile language learning approach is proposed. A mobile learning system has been developed based on the approach by providing a reading material recommendation mechanism for guiding EFL (English as Foreign Language) students to read articles that match their preferences and knowledge levels, and a reading annotation module that enables students to take notes of English vocabulary translations for the reading content in individual or shared annotation mode. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted on a senior high school English course by assigning three classes of students to two experimental groups and a control group. One experimental group learned with the recommendation system with the individual annotation function, the other experimental group learned with the recommendation system with the shared annotation function, while the students in the control group learned with the individual annotation function, but without the recommendation system. The experimental results show that both experimental groups outperformed the control group, but there was no difference in learning outcome between the two experimental groups in terms of learning achievements.     

An interactive peer-assessment criteria development approach to improving students' art design performance using handheld devices

Engaging students in higher order thinking such as evaluation and analysis has been recognized as being an important strategy for helping them develop knowledge and skills, in particular, in creativeness-oriented learning activities such as artwork design. In this paper, an interactive peer-assessment criteria development approach is proposed to help students develop assessment criteria, learn from viewing peers' work, and make reflections in artwork design activities using mobile devices. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in an elementary school art course. A total of 103 students participating in the experiment were assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The students in the experimental group learned with the proposed approach, while those in the control group learned with the conventional peer assessment approach. From the experimental results, it was found that the proposed approach significantly improved the students' learning achievement, learning motivation and meta-cognitive awareness, suggesting the effectiveness of engaging students in assessment criteria development in an interactive manner.     

A hybrid approach to promoting students’ web-based problem-solving competence and learning attitude

Fostering problem-solving abilities has long been recognized as an important issue in education; however, past studies have shown that it is difficult and challenging to find effective learning strategies or tools for improving students’ problem-solving abilities. To cope with this problem, in this study, a hybrid approach that integrates the cognitive apprenticeship model with the collaborative learning strategy is proposed for conducting web-based problem-solving activities. Students’ problem-solving performance is examined in such a hybrid learning context. Furthermore, past studies indicate that cognitive load could affect learners’ performance; thus, the influence of cognitive load on students’ problem-solving effectiveness with this new approach is investigated in depth. The experimental results show that middle- and low-achievement students in the experimental group gained significant benefits from the hybrid approach in comparison with those who learned with the traditional approach. Accordingly, a discussion of how to accommodate the needs of different learning ability groups is provided.     

Could a mobile‐assisted learning system support flipped classrooms for classical Chinese learning?

In this study, the researcher aimed to develop a mobile‐assisted learning system and to investigate whether it could promote teenage learners' classical Chinese learning through the flipped classroom approach. The researcher first proposed the structure of the Cross‐device Mobile‐Assisted Classical Chinese (CMACC) system according to the pilot survey and reviewed literature, and then adopted a quasi‐experimental design to understand whether the developed system could promote and support flipped classroom learning for classical Chinese. A total of 56 eleventh graders from two classes participated in the experiment. The learners in the experimental group learned classical Chinese with the flipped classroom learning strategy with the assistance of the CMACC system, while the control group adopted the flipped classroom learning strategy without using the CMACC system. The results reveal that all of the students improved their Chinese performance, but it was noticeable that the learners who used the CMACC system showed better motivation in terms of self‐directed preview learning, while those who only learned with the traditional textbooks tended to be more passive. In sum, the mobile‐assisted learning system added value in providing learners with opportunities to achieve anytime and anywhere flipped classroom learning. The integration of ubiquitous mobile learning technology and the flipped classroom strategy can be viewed as a critical factor leading to students achieving self‐regulated learning. It is also suggested that instructors should carefully take the targeted learners' cultural background and the availability of supporting learning devices into consideration so as to prevent the flipped classroom from exacerbating the digital divide. Other suggestions for educators and instructional designers are also proposed.     

Effects of mental process integrated nursing training using mobile device on students’ cognitive load,learning attitudes,acceptance, and achievements

Clinical nursing training is important to nursing educators and student nurses in nursing education since safe and competent care depends on good clinical problem solving skills. Therefore, developing better cognitive problem-solving strategies or tools are essential for clinical nursing practices. Moreover, learning diagnosis is also a critical determinant in the acquisition, processing, and application of clinical skills in nursing practices. Bearing this in mind, this study aims to develop a mobile interactive learning and diagnosis (MILD) system to support problem-based learning (PBL) in a clinical nursing course based on the testing-based approach. Using mobile devices as a learning tool to integrate both real-world and digital-world resources for students and adopting PBL as a learning strategy to facilitate the development of the clinical problem solving skills. To show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in a foundations of nursing course at a nursing college in Taiwan. The experimental results show that the proposed approach is helpful to students in improving learning performance and reducing cognitive loads. Moreover, it was also found that most students showed positive perceptions toward the usage of the proposed system.     

Enhancing digital reading performance with a collaborative reading annotation system

As children now spend considerable time reading electronic media, digital reading skills and good reading comprehension are essential. However, many studies agree that screen-based reading leads to shallow reading, short attention spans, and poor comprehension. Therefore, this work presents a collaborative reading annotation system with a reading annotation and interactive discussion scaffold (CRAS-RAIDS) for improving reading performance in collaborative digital reading environments. This study used a quasi-experimental design. Fifty-three Grade 5 students were recruited from two classes of an elementary school in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. One class was randomly designated the experimental group used the proposed CRAS-RAIDS support for collaborative reading. The other class was designated the control group and used the traditional paper-based reading annotation method and face-to-face discussions. The two groups were then compared in terms of reading attitude, reading comprehension, and use of reading strategy in an active reading context. Analytical results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in direct and explicit comprehension, inferential comprehension performance, and use of reading strategy. Moreover, the experimental group, but not the control group, had a significantly improved reading attitude in the total dimensions and in the behavioral and affective sub-dimensions. Additionally, the experimental group showed positive interest and high learning satisfaction.     

Performance,cognitive load,and behaviour of technology‐assisted English listening learning: From CALL to MALL

This study examines differences in English listening comprehension, cognitive load, and learning behaviour between outdoor ubiquitous learning and indoor computer‐assisted learning. An experimental design, employing a pretest‐posttest control group is employed. Randomly assigned foreign language university majors joined either the experimental group (outdoor ubiquitous learning), with 80 participants (26 males and 54 females), or a control group (indoor computer‐assisted learning), with 80 participants (27 males and 53 females). The experiment lasted 3 weeks. Both groups were administered a test of English listening proficiency before and after the experiment along with a questionnaire of cognitive load postexperiment. Prior English listening proficiency forms a covariate for the multivariate analysis of covariance. Results show (a) students in the experimental group exhibit significantly better English listening comprehension after the experiment compared to the control group; (b) students in the experimental group reported significantly lower cognitive load than the control group; (c) English listening comprehension and cognitive load exhibited a statistically significant negative relationship; and (d) outdoor ubiquitous learning enhanced self‐reported learning interests and interactions more than indoor computer‐assisted learning. Contributions and significances of this study are presented based on these results. Finally, implications for teaching practices are proposed.     

Outdoor ubiquitous learning or indoor CAL? Achievement and different cognitive loads of college students

The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences in English listening achievement and three types (intrinsic, extraneous, and germane) of cognitive load between outdoor ubiquitous learning (u-learning) and indoor computer-assisted learning (CAL). Participants included 160 university students taking a freshman English course, with 53 males and 107 females. They were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (outdoor u-learning) with 80 participants or a control group (indoor CAL) with 80 participants. The instructional experiment lasted three weeks. The results showed that (a) the experimental group had significantly better English listening achievement than the control group; (b) the experimental group had significantly lower extraneous but higher germane cognitive load than the control group, and both groups did not have a significantly different intrinsic cognitive load; (c) there was a significantly negative relationship between English listening achievement and extraneous cognitive load, a significantly positive relationship between English listening achievement and germane cognitive load, but no significant relationship between English listening achievement and intrinsic cognitive load; and (d) among three types of cognitive loads, only extraneous and germane cognitive loads had a significant correlation. The study may provide some implications for English teaching and u-learning.     

The impact of goal specificity and goal type on learning outcome and cognitive load

Two hundred and thirty three 15-year old students conducted experiments within a computer-based learning environment. They were provided with different goals according to an experimental 2 × 2 design with goal specificity (nonspecific goals versus specific goals) and goal type (problem solving goals versus learning goals) as factors. We replicated the findings of other researchers that nonspecific problem solving goals lead to lower cognitive load and better learning than specific problem solving goals. For learning goals, however, we observed this goal specificity effect only on cognitive load but not on learning outcome. Results indicate that the goal specificity affects the element interactivity of a task and cognitive load with both, problem solving goals or learning goals. But differences in overall cognitive load are not sufficient for explaining differences in learning outcome. Additionally, differences in strategy use come into play. Specific problem solving goals seem to restrict students to use a problem solving strategy whereas nonspecific problem solving goals or learning goals allow students to use a learning strategy. We conclude that in order to foster learning, students must be provided with goals that allow them to use a learning strategy. Additionally, providing them with nonspecific goals decreases cognitive load and, thus, enables students to learn with less effort.     

Students' online interactive patterns in augmented reality-based inquiry activities

Inquiry learning has been developing for years and many countries have incorporated inquiry learning into the scope of K-12 education. Educators have indicated the importance of engaging students in knowledge-sharing activities during the inquiry learning process. In this study, a location-based augmented reality (AR) environment with a five-step guiding mechanism is developed to guide students to share knowledge in inquiry learning activities. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of promoting the knowledge sharing behaviors of students, an experiment has been conducted in an elementary school natural science course. The participants were 57 fourth-grade students from an elementary school in Northern Taiwan, divided into an experimental group of 28 students who learned with the AR-based approach and a control group of 29 students who learned with the conventional in-class mobile learning approach. The students' learning behaviors, including their movements in the real-world environment and interactions with peers, were recorded. Accordingly, the learning patterns and interactions of the two groups were analyzed via lag-sequential analysis and quantitative content analysis. It was found that, in comparison with the conventional inquiry-based mobile learning activity, the AR-based inquiry learning activity is able to engage the students in more interactions for knowledge construction. The findings of this study provide guidance for helping teachers develop effective strategies and learning designs for conducting inquiry-based learning activities.     

Powering up flipped learning: An online learning environment with a concept map-guided problem-posing strategy

Scholars have suggested that flipped learning can be enhanced by designing effective in-class learning activities to improve students' higher order thinking skills. Problem posing has been recognized as such a learning strategy that has great potential for improving students' higher order thinking skills. However, it has been reported as a challenging task for most students. Research evidence has indicated the potential of engaging students in group learning with step-by-step hints when conducting problem-posing activities. Therefore, this study proposed a multilevel concept mapping-based problem-posing strategy to assist students in completing the problem-posing tasks in flipped learning. To understand the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, a flipped learning system was developed and adopted in the science class of an elementary school. Seventy-five fifth graders from three classes were divided into experimental group A, experimental Group B and a control group. Students in Group A used the concept map-guided problem-posing strategy for flipped learning (CMPP-FL), students in Group B used the problem-posing strategy-based flipped learning, while students in the control group used the conventional flipped learning strategy. The results showed that the CMPP-FL was effective in terms of improving students' learning performance, especially for students with higher levels of critical thinking tendency.     

Effects of an integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving approach on students' learning achievements,perceptions and cognitive loads

Although students could effectively search for web data with proper keywords and select web pages related to the studied core issue, however summarizing or organizing the retrieved information remains a difficult task for them. Concept mapping is known to be an effective knowledge construction tool for helping learners organize important concepts related to a core issue. To address the problem, an integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving environment, CM-Quest, has been developed; moreover, an experiment has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach on students' learning performance, learning satisfaction and cognitive load in an elementary school social studies course. The results show that the concept map-integrated approach can significantly enhance the students' web-based problem-solving performance, although the students showed lower degrees of technology acceptance and learning satisfaction in comparison with the conventional web-based problem-solving approach. Moreover, it is found that the students in the concept mapping group revealed higher cognitive loads than those in the control group, which could be the factor contributing to the lower technology acceptance degree and learning satisfaction. As a consequence, it is concluded that the integrated concept mapping and web-based problem-solving approach is helpful to students in guiding them to learn in a more effective way. On the other hand, it remains an open issue to find a suitable way of integrating concept maps into the learning process without introducing too much extra cognitive load so as to promote students' acceptance degree of using technology for better learning.     

A formative assessment-based mobile learning approach to improving the learning attitudes and achievements of students

The advancement of mobile and wireless communication technologies has encouraged an increasing number of studies concerning mobile learning, in which students are able to learn via mobile devices without being limited by space and time; in particular, the students can be situated in a real-world scenario associated with the learning content. Although such an approach seems interesting to the students, researchers have emphasized the need for well-designed learning support in order to improve the students’ learning achievements. Therefore, it has become an important issue to develop methodologies or tools to assist the students to learn in a mobile learning environment. Based on this perspective, this study proposes a formative assessment-based approach for improving the learning achievements of students in a mobile learning environment. A mobile learning environment has been developed based on this approach, and an experiment on a local culture course has been conducted in southern Taiwan to evaluate its effectiveness. The experimental results show that the proposed approach not only promotes the students’ learning interest and attitude, but also improves their learning achievement.     

A concept map-embedded educational computer game for improving students' learning performance in natural science courses

Many recent studies have reported the benefits of educational computer games in promoting students' learning motivations. On the other hand, however, the effect of digital game-based learning in improving students' learning performance has been questioned. Several previous studies have reported that without properly integrating learning strategies into gaming scenarios, the effectiveness of educational computer games could be limited, or may be even worse than that of the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. In this study, a concept map-embedded gaming approach is proposed for developing educational computer games by integrating concept mapping as part of the gaming scenarios to help students organize what they have learned during the game-based learning process. Moreover, a role-playing game has been developed for an elementary school natural science course based on the proposed approach. From the experimental results, it is found that the concept map-embedded gaming approach can significantly improve the students' learning achievement and decrease their cognitive load. Moreover, the students who learned with the proposed approach revealed a significantly higher degree of perceived usefulness than those who learned with the conventional game-based learning approach.     

A contextual game-based learning approach to improving students' inquiry-based learning performance in social studies courses

Inquiry-based learning, an effective instructional strategy, can be in the form of a problem or task for triggering student engagement. However, how to situate students in meaningful inquiry activities remains to be settled, especially for social studies courses. In this study, a contextual educational computer game is developed to improve students' learning performance based on an inquiry-based learning strategy. An experiment has been conducted on an elementary school social studies course to evaluate the effects of the proposed approach on the inquiry-based learning performances of students with different learning styles. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach effectively enhanced the students' learning effects in terms of their learning achievement, learning motivation, satisfaction degree and flow state. Furthermore, it is also found that the proposed approach benefited the “active” learning style students more than the “reflective” style students in terms of learning achievement. This suggests the need to provide additional supports to students with particular learning styles in the future.     

A knowledge acquisition approach to developing Mindtools for organizing and sharing differentiating knowledge in a ubiquitous learning environment

Previous studies have reported the importance and benefits of situating students in a real-world learning environment with access to digital-world resources. At the same time, researchers have indicated the need to develop learning guidance mechanisms or tools for assisting students to learn in such a complex learning scenario. In this study, a grid-based knowledge acquisition approach is proposed and a Mindtool is developed to help students organize and share knowledge for differentiating a set of learning targets based on what they have observed in the field. An experiment has been conducted in an elementary school Natural Science course for differentiating different species of butterflies. Forty-one fifth-grade students have been assigned to a control group and an experimental group to compare the effect of the conventional approach and that of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that the proposed approach not only improves students’ learning achievements, but also significantly enhances their ability of identifying species in the field.     

Examining different types of collaborative learning in a complex computer-based environment: A cognitive load approach

This study compared the effects of two collaborative learning strategies (Open-ended and Task-based) with an individualized learning strategy on individual learning in a computer-based environment. The experiment sought ecological validity by conducting it under real teaching and homework conditions. Ninety-four students from grade 9 participated in a webpage design task. Cognitive load theory was used to predict that the collaborative approaches would outperform the individualized approach due to reduced cognitive load. This hypothesis was confirmed by performance scores and cognitive load only in the case of the Open-ended collaborative learning condition. Evidence was also found that the Open-ended collaborative learning condition outperformed the Task-based collaborative one. It was concluded that in collaborative learning a more Open-ended task design together with moderate independent sub-task requirements leads to more effective 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.     

How flipped learning based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning affects students' academic achievements

The study aims to identify the effect of a flipped classroom approach designed according to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning on the academic achievements of eighth‐grade students (aged 14 years) in Saudi Arabia in computer science. To this end, a quasi‐experimental design was used, with a sample of 67 students; 33 students were assigned to the experimental group, whereas 34 comprised the control group. The experimental group was subjected to the flipped classroom approach, whereas the control group was given direct instruction. To measure student achievements, an instrument that measures cognitive skills based on Revised Bloom's taxonomy levels was designed. Findings revealed a positive effect on the experimental group's achievement levels with respect to Bloom's higher order thinking skills, that is, applying, analysing, and evaluating. No difference was found between the two groups in terms of academic achievements at the remembering and understanding levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Moreover, learners with low prior knowledge showed a higher improvement in academic achievements compared with those with high prior knowledge. This corresponds to the assumption of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning that learners with low prior knowledge would benefit from its principles more than learners with high prior knowledge.     

The effects of an augmented reality based magnetic experimental tool on students' knowledge improvement and cognitive load

While the use of experiments is important for developing students' scientific knowledge and skills, challenges may arise when teachers and students are conducting experiments in class, such as non-reusable experimental resources, safety issues and difficulties simulating some specific effects. Augmented reality (AR) technology affords an alternative approach to conducting experiments by bringing students a virtual–real mixed learning environment. In this study, taking junior high school physics knowledge on the magnetic field as an example, we designed and developed an AR-based mobile simulated experiment tool. This study investigates the effect of the AR-based experiment on students' knowledge improvement and cognitive load compared with 3D and traditional experiments. A sample of 122 ninth-grade students was randomly chosen and assigned to three groups (AR, 3D and Traditional). The results demonstrate that students in the AR group performed better than those in the 3D and Traditional groups in terms of their knowledge improvement. The AR group students also experienced the lowest cognitive load among the three groups. Moreover, students had positive perceptions about AR and 3D tools. The implications of this study are discussed.