Learning science via animated movies: Its effect on students’ thinking and motivation

Some researchers claim that animations may hinder students’ meaningful learning or evoke misunderstandings. In order to examine these assertions, our study investigated the effect of animated movies on students’ learning outcomes and motivation to learn. Applying the quantitative methodology, two pre- and post-questionnaires were administered: Science thinking skills and Motivation to learn science. Students’ overall achievement in science was examined by their report card scores. The research population (N = 1335) was divided into experimental (N = 926) and control (N = 409) groups from 11 elementary schools. Findings indicated that the use of animated movies promoted students’ explanation ability and their understanding of scientific concepts. Findings also indicated that students who studied science with the use of animated movies developed higher motivation to learn science, in terms of: self-efficacy, interest and enjoyment, connection to daily life, and importance to their future, compared to the control students. Following the definition of multimedia, the students who study with the use of animated movies, applied all three learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. The use of multimedia and the fact that the students were engaged in exploring new concepts, that were relevant to their daily life experiences, can explain the positive results.     

Motivation of computer based learning across adulthood

This research investigates learning motivation of young and old adults. In detail, we explore motives of young and old adults to participate in two ICT-course settings: e-learning and face-to-face courses. In a first study young (n = 53, M = 26.0 years) and old (n = 55, M = 69.8 years) participants of e-learning courses completed an online questionnaire on learning motivation and personality. In a second study young (n = 46, M = 26.7 years) and old (n = 57, M = 69.5 years) participants of face-to-face ICT courses completed the same learning motivation questionnaire and questions about personality, subjective age and life satisfaction. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors of learning motivation: belonging, instrumentality, personal growth, and competition. As expected, older adults expressed stronger motives of belonging and personal growth, and thus expressed a stronger interest in self-determined and intrinsic learning. Young adults, in contrast, strongly endorsed competitive-related motives of learning. Instrumentality was influenced by the interaction of age and subjective age; older participants showed higher instrumentality when the difference between chronological age and subjective age is big. Findings of this study shed new light on assumptions of socioemotional selectivity theory.     

Intensive use of ICT in school: Developing differences in students’ ICT expertise

The purpose of the study was to examine the development of students’ high-level computer skills and competence (student expertise) in information and communication technology (ICT), and to examine the characteristics of such expertise. Eighteen lower secondary school students, selected to represent both genders and all school achievement levels, were given laptops for three years to be used both at school and at home. The data of the longitudinal study consisted of a test on ICT skills; self-evaluation questionnaires on ICT competence, thoughts about their own expertise, ICT-related activities and task, interest in ICT, and classroom observations. The results of the study indicated that the intensive use of ICT and the process-oriented learning environment supported the development of student expertise. In the analysis, three groups were identified, which oriented themselves somewhat differently in relation to ICT: student experts (n = 6), advanced users (n = 8) and non-interested users (n = 4). The experts differed from the other groups in respect of especially focusing on advancing their ICT skills; they had undertaken ICT-related tasks outside the school, they had metacognitive consciousness about their competence, and they had future plans concerning ICT in their further education and profession.     

Construction of an instrument to measure student information and communication technology skills,experience and attitudes to e-learning

Over the past 20 years self-report measures of healthcare students’ information and communication technology skills have been developed with limited validation. Furthermore, measures of student experience of e-learning emerged but were not repeatedly used with diverse populations. A psychometric approach with five phases was used to develop and test a new self-report measure of skills and experience with information and communication technology and attitudes to computers in education. Phase 1: Literature review and identification of key items. Phase 2: Development and refinement of items with expert panel (n = 16) and students (n = 3) to establish face and content validity. Phase 3: Pilot testing of draft instrument with graduate pre-registration nursing students (n = 60) to assess administration procedures and acceptability of the instrument. Phase 4: Test–retest with further sample of graduate pre-registration nursing students (n = 70) tested stability and internal consistency. Phase 5: Main study with pre-registration nursing students (n = 458), further testing of internal consistency. The instrument proved to have moderate test–retest stability and the sub-scales had acceptable internal consistency. When used with a larger, more diverse population the psychometric properties were more variable. Further work is needed to refine the instrument with specific reference to possible cultural and linguistic response patterns and technological advances.     

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.     

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.     

Perceived stress,sensation seeking,and college students’ abuse of the Internet

College students (n = 140) were examined to test whether sensation seeking and perceived stress would predict abuse of the Internet. Previous studies have found that disinhibition, boredom susceptibility, and total sensation seeking scores were related to Internet abuse ( 9 and 30). Because stress has been documented to have a negative effect on students ( Pierceall & Keim, 2007), and may be linked to Internet use ( Lavoie & Pychyl, 2001), it was tested as a possible predictor of Internet abuse. This study also analyzed abuse of the Internet for sexual purposes, because sexuality is prevalent online, and college students are in an age of sexual exploration. Results of stepwise regression analyses revealed that disinhibition and total perceived stress were predictive of Internet abuse for sexual purposes, and perceived hopelessness and boredom susceptibility were predictive of Internet abuse for non-sexual purposes. Implications for students and Internet abuse are discussed.     

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 effects of conceptual change texts accompanied with animations on overcoming 11th grade students’ alternative conceptions of chemical bonding

This paper aims to determine the effect of conceptual change texts accompanied with computer animations on 11th grade students’ understanding and alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding. One experimental group (EG; N = 28) and one comparison group (CG; N = 30) were used in the study. While the comparison group taught traditional instruction, the experimental group received conceptual change text accompanied with computer animations instruction. Chemical bonding achievement test was applied as pre-test, post-test and delayed test to collect data. The results of the study indicated that while there is no statistically significant difference between groups in pre-test, performance of EG students is greater than the CG ones in post-test and delayed test. And also, the EG students are better in remediating their alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding. Based on the study, it is concluded that conceptual change texts combined with computer animations can be effective instructional tools to improve students’ conceptual understanding of chemical concepts.     

The effects of video on cognitive load and social presence in multimedia-learning

Two studies examined the use of video in multimedia learning environments. In Study 1, participants (N = 26) viewed one of two versions of a computer-based multimedia presentation: video, which included a video of a lecture with synchronized slides, or no video, which included the slides but only an audio narration of the lecture. Learning, cognitive load and social presence were assessed, but a significant difference was found only for cognitive load, with video experiencing greater cognitive load, t (24) = 2.45, p < .05. In Study 2, students (N = 25) were randomly assigned to either video or no video condition. Background knowledge and visual/verbal learning preference were assessed before viewing the presentation, and learning, cognitive load, and social presence were assessed after viewing. No significant differences were found for learning or social presence. However, a significant visual/verbal learning preference by condition interaction was found for cognitive load, F (1,21) = 4.51, p < .05: low visual-preference students experienced greater cognitive load in the video condition, while high visual-preference students experienced greater cognitive load in the no video condition.     

An exploration of social networking site use,multitasking, and academic performance among United States and European university students

Studies have shown that multitasking with technology, specifically using Social Networking Sites (SNSs), decreases both efficiency and productivity in an academic setting. This study investigates multitasking’s impact on the relationship between SNS use and Grade Point Average (GPA) in United States (US; n = 451) and European (n = 406) university students using quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Moderated Multiple Regression analysis results showed that the negative relationship between SNS use and GPA was moderated by multitasking only in the US sample. This may be due to European students being less prone to “disruptive” multitasking. The results provide valuable cautionary information about the impact of multitasking and using SNSs in a learning environment on university students’ GPAs.     

Comparing actual and self-reported measures of Facebook use

Numerous studies exist examining how college students use Facebook and how this affects aspects of their college experience; however, all of these studies have relied on self-report measures of Facebook use. Research in other areas of human behavior has shown that self-report measures are substantially inaccurate when compared to actual behaviors. This study provides the first test of the criterion validity of measures of Facebook frequency by comparing self-reported time spent on the site and number of logins against actual usage as measured by computer monitoring software. A sample of 45 college students installed software that monitored their computer usage for 1 month. There was a strong positive correlation between self-reported and actual time spent on Facebook; however, there was a significant discrepancy between the two. Students spent an average of 26 min (SD = 30) per day on Facebook, significantly lower than the average of 145 (SD = 111) minutes per day obtained through self-report. There was a moderate relationship between number of logins and actual time spent on Facebook. Although there are some limitations of monitoring computer usage, researchers are encouraged to attempt to relate their self-report measures to actual behaviors in order to improve external validity.     

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.     

A fuzzy framework for coordinating pricing and inventory policies for deteriorating items under retailer partial trade credit financing

In this paper, we proposed a generalized economic order quantity (EOQ) – based inventory model using a trade credit policy in a fuzzy sense. The trade credit policy adopted here is a two-level trade credit policy in which the supplier offers the retailer a permissible delay period M, and the retailer, in turn, partially provides customers a permissible delay period N. This study considers fuzzy EOQ model to allow for: (1) selling price dependent demand rate which is imprecise in nature, (2) a profit maximization objective and (3) an imprecise holding cost, ordering cost, purchasing cost, interest earned and interest charged rate. Besides, the cases N ? M and N ? M are explored thoroughly. The objective function for the retailer in fuzzy sense is defuzzified using Modified Graded Mean Integration Representation Method. For the defuzzified objective function sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the optimal solution are provided. An efficient algorithm is designed to determine the optimal pricing and inventory policies for the retailer. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the proposed model and the effect of key parameters on optimal solution is examined.     

Applying the self-explanation principle to multimedia learning in a computer-based game-like environment

What is the most effective way to incorporate self-explanation into an educational game? In Experiment 1, students who played a 10-level computer game about electrical circuits performed better on an embedded transfer test (i.e., level 10) if they were required to select the reason for each move from a list on levels 1–9 (selection self-explanation) than if they were not required to engage in self-explanation (d = 1.20). In Experiment 2, the same pattern of results was replicated (d = 0.71), but students who were required to type in their reason for each move on levels 1–9 (generation self-explanation) did not perform any better than those who were not required to engage in self-explanation (d = −0.06). Overall, asking students to select a reason from a list fosters some degree of reflection while not overly disrupting the flow of the game.     

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.     

Cognitive consequences of making computer-based learning activities more game-like

Some students (base group) played the Circuit Game, a 10-level computer-based learning activity intended to help students learn how electrical circuits work. Other students (competition group) played the same game but with competition features added - including a score bar showing performance on each level, the opportunity to earn one ticket per level if a performance criterion is met, and the opportunity to win a prize based on the number of tickets earned. On a retention test given after the game, the competition group remembered significantly more than the base group (d = 0.47). On an embedded transfer test constituting the final level of the game, the groups did not differ significantly. However, on the transfer test there was a significant gender by group interaction in which men performed worse in the competition group than the base group (d = −0.54) and women performed better in the competition group than the base group (d = 0.24). Overall, adding game-like features to a computer-based learning activity caused students to pay attention to game details but did not motivate students - particularly men - to learn more deeply.     

Effects of a collaborative annotation method on students’ learning and learning-related motivation and affect

Two studies tested the effectiveness of a web-based collaborative annotation system (Hy-Lighter) for learning comprehension, and learning-related affect and motivation. In an undergraduate course setting, students (N = 27) in study 1, (1) highlighted and annotated selected articles, and (2) highlighted and annotated selected articles and reviewed peer highlights and annotations. In a graduate course setting, students (N = 40) in study 2, (1) highlighted and annotated selected articles, and (2) highlighted and annotated selected articles and reviewed peer highlights and annotations. Control groups in both studies read a hard copy of the articles -without using HyLighter and engaging in its associated annotation practices. The main dependent variables included: (a) performance on quizzes, and (b) a number of affective and motivational variables related to reading assignments and academic success. Although not statistically significant, summative assessment scores were higher for students using HyLigther relative to the ones exposed to conventional instruction. HyLighter use also seemed to be associated with more positive affect in undergraduate students relative to their graduate counterparts. Somewhat equivocal findings between the two studies were attributed to the differential implementation of the software in and outside of the classroom. Recommendations for optimal use and desired outcomes were advanced.     

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.     

Reliability,equivalence and respondent preference of computerized versus paper-and-pencil mental health questionnaires

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability, equivalence and respondent preference of a computerized version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOSSSS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Utrecht Coping List (UCL) in comparison with the original version in a general adult population. Internal consistency, equivalence and preference between both administration modes was assessed in a group of participants (n = 130) who first completed the computerized questionnaire, followed by the traditional questionnaire and a post-assessment evaluation measure. Test–retest reliability was measured in a second group of participants (n = 115), who completed the computerized questionnaire twice. In both groups, the interval between first and second administration was set at one week. Reliability of the PC versions was acceptable to excellent; internal consistency ranged from α = 0.52–0.98, ICC’s for test–retest reliability ranged from 0.58–0.92. Equivalence was fair to excellent with ICC’s ranging from 0.54–0.91. Interestingly, more subjects preferred the computerized instead of the traditional questionnaires (computerized: 39.2%, traditional: 21.6%, no preference: 39.2%). These results support the use of computerized assessment for these five instruments in a general population of adults.