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.     

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.     

Using QR codes to increase user engagement in museum-like spaces

Quick Response (QR) code technologies offer potentially outstanding opportunities to transform public experience in museum-like spaces. However, although QR codes are a cost-effective way of delivering digital information in these spaces, there is as yet little information on the resulting effects on visitor engagement. We conducted two different controlled experiments in order to examine the effects of QR codes on visitor engagement in museum-like spaces. These experiments were structured in two research cycles and followed the Design-Based Research methodology. The first experiment compares the effects of QR codes versus traditional display screens for providing information about the exhibits. This experiment was carried out with 200 participants in a public garden. The second experiment was carried out with 260 college students at a university campus hall. This experiment compares traditional (or one-way) QR codes with two-way QR codes as different methods for delivering information. Two-way QR codes allow visitors to search for information about the exhibit, as well as contributing by leaving comments. In both experiments, we measured engagement as a combination of three variables: (1) amount of information consumed by visitors; (2) the time visitors spend at the exhibit; and (3) the visitors’ perceived quality of the experience. The results show that visitors prefer direct mechanisms for obtaining information about the exhibits, such as text on a panel or videos on a screen. However, we also found that two-way QR codes are a cheaper alternative for delivering digital content in museum-like spaces, especially for college-age visitors.     

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.     

Computer game development as a literacy activity

This study examined computer game development as a pedagogical activity to motivate and engage students in curriculum-related literacy activities. We hypothesized that as a consequence, students would improve their traditional reading and writing skills as well as develop new digital literacy skills. Eighteen classes of grade 4 students were assigned to either an experimental or control group. Both groups studied the same curriculum unit over a 10 week period, however, in addition the experimental group developed computer games related to the unit using a game development shell. An analysis of pre- and post-unit scores on two standardized literacy test batteries revealed that the experimental students performed significantly better on one of the subtests, a measure of logical sentence construction (p = .002). Field notes and teacher interview data indicated that game development helped improve student content retention, ability to compare and contrast information presented, utilize more and different kinds of research materials including digital resources, editing skills, and develop an insight into questioning skills.     

Visual design guidelines for improving learning from dynamic and interactive digital text

Despite the dynamic and interactive features of digital text, the visual design guidelines for digital text are similar to those for printed text. The purpose of this study was to develop visual design guidelines for improving learning from dynamic and interactive digital text and to validate them by controlled testing. Two structure design guidelines (for enhancing text structure comprehension) and two selective-attention design guidelines (for maintaining the learners' attention on the essential contents) were developed based on the psychological and instructional, technological foundations that can affect the visual design of digital text. In this study, a 2 × 2 factorial design with 141 university students was used to examine the effectiveness of the visual design guidelines. The university students had 20 min to study a piece of digital text with the structure design guidelines, selective-attention design guidelines, both, or no design guidelines applied. Both the structure and selective-attention design guidelines had a positive influence on text structure understanding, essential contents comprehension and usability of digital text. The suggested visual design guidelines were found to be useful for enhancing text comprehension.     

Exploring relationship between students’ questioning behaviors and inquiry tasks in an online forum through analysis of ideational function of questions

In this study we explored questioning behaviors among elementary students engaging in inquiry science using the Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported collaborative learning tool. Adapting the theory of systemic functional linguistics, we developed the Ideational Function of Question (IFQ) analytical framework by means of inductive analysis of the questions found in 10 online forums contributed by three classes of Year 4 elementary school students and their teachers. We found 25 categories of questions which we grouped into three main kinds: Scientific, Epistemological, and Meta-discoursal. We then narrowed our analysis to three forums involving digestive systems. Using the IFQ framework, we explored the relationship between nature of inquiry task and students’ questioning behaviors. Our analysis shows that for close-ended task that sought scientific facts from authoritative sources, students tended to ask only scientific questions. For open-ended problem-solving task that demanded epistemic justification from the students, there was more even distribution in all three kinds of questions.     

Developing a reciprocal teaching/learning system for college remedial reading instruction

In face-to-face instruction of Reciprocal Teaching (RT), students’ reading processes and dialogues with their peers are hardly observed. As a result, the teacher has few clues to identify students’ learning difficulties and provide further scaffoldings. To record students’ reading processes and enhance their comprehension, this study reports on the design of an online reciprocal teaching and learning system to support teachers and students in college remedial reading instruction. A sample of 129 under-prepared college students voluntarily signed up to participate in a remedial reading program. They were encouraged to use multiple strategies such as predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing, which were supported by the functionalities of dialogue box, chat room, discussion forum, and annotation tool in the system. In this study, it was observed that students employed the multiple strategies to enhance their reading comprehension, as revealed by the students’ reading processes recorded in the system. When encountering difficulties in using these multiple strategies, students expressed that they observed and learned from the teacher’s or their peers’ externalization of strategy usage. Students’ reading progress in the remedial instruction incorporating the RT system was also identified by the pre- and post-tests. This study suggests that there may be benefits for teachers in encouraging students to interact with others in order to clarify and discuss comprehension questions and constantly monitor and regulate their own reading.     

The role of tasks and epistemological beliefs in online peer questioning

The current study examines the assertion that students are motivated and learn more by carrying out tasks consistent with their epistemological beliefs in web-based learning environments. In the study, 120 undergraduate students in an educational technology course participated as part of their coursework. Using a wiki, triads reciprocally asked and responded to questions as constructing either a group summary or a group argument. Students with less advanced epistemological beliefs more actively coordinated formats and procedures for group work and achieved higher comprehension of reading materials in the collaborative summary than in the collaborative argumentation. By contrast, these differences were not found for students with more advanced epistemological beliefs. However, the interaction effect between tasks and epistemological beliefs disappeared for the quality of argumentation on case problems. Independently of epistemological beliefs, collaborative argumentation promoted more constructive and interactive peer questioning activities and helped to construct higher quality arguments in case problems than collaborative summary. Therefore, the effects of matching tasks and epistemological beliefs varied depending on types of learning outcomes (comprehension vs. argumentation) in online peer questioning.     

The impact of paper-based versus computerized presentation on text comprehension and memorization

We compared the effects of two media (paper vs. computer) on reading comprehension and memorization among students in their third or fourth year of secondary school. To assess comprehension, we constructed and validated a text with a carefully controlled hierarchical structure, accompanied by a questionnaire containing three types of questions (surface, semantic, inference). Memory of the text was assessed with a test based on the Remember-Know (R/K) paradigm. The results of the comprehension and R/K tests indicated that there was no difference between the two media. Regardless of medium, surface comprehension was better than either semantic or inference comprehension. The R/K test indicated that memorization was better for the surface elements of the text (more R than K responses). In conclusion, overall results show that if we fulfil all the conditions of paper-based versus computerized presentation (text structure, presentation on a single page, screen size, several types of questions measuring comprehension and memory performances), reading performances are not significantly different.     

Enhancement of digital reading performance by using a novel web-based collaborative reading annotation system with two quality annotation filtering mechanisms

Collaboratively annotating digital texts allows learners to add valued information, share ideas, and create knowledge. However, excessive annotations and poor-quality annotations in a digital text may cause information overload and divert attention from the main content. The increased cognitive load ultimately reduces the effectiveness of collaborative annotations in promoting reading comprehension. Thus, this work develops a web-based collaborative reading annotation system (WCRAS-TQAFM) with two quality annotation filtering mechanisms—high-grade and master annotation filters—to promote the reading performance of learners. Ninety-seven students from three classes of a senior high school in Taiwan were invited to participate in an 80-min reading activity in which individual readers use WCRAS with or without annotation filters. Analytical results indicate that digital reading performance is significantly better in readers who use the high-grade annotation filter compared to those who read all annotations. Moreover, the high-grade annotation filter can enhance the reading comprehension of learners in all considered question types (i.e., recall, main idea, inference, and application). Also, the Cohen’s kappa statistics was used for assessing whether the annotation selected by the high-grade annotation filter is in agreement with the annotations selected by a domain expert. The statistic results indicate that the proposed high-grade annotation filter is valid to some degree. Finally, neither of the proposed quality annotation filtering approaches significantly reduces cognitive load.     

Skimming (Scanning) News Items Printed in 8-Point and 9-Point Letters

Fifty housewives searched for particular words in paragraphs of text printed in 8-point and 9-point Times New Roman without leading in lines of 2·2 inches. To prove that they had found a word they had to write down the following word. The 9-point. print was scanned 7 per cent faster than the 8-point (p<0·05). The method appears to be more sensitive to small changes in the visibility of print than methods involving comprehension.     

Back to the Future: An Historical Perspective on the Pendulum-Like Changes in Literacy

This article focuses on the pendulum-like change in the way people read and use text, which was triggered by the introduction of new reading and writing technologies in human history. The paper argues that textual features, which characterized the ancient pre-print writing culture, disappeared with the establishment of the modern-day print culture and has been “revived” in the digital post-modern era. This claim is based on the analysis of four cases which demonstrate this textual-pendulum swing: (1) The swing from concrete iconic-graphic representation of letters and words in the ancient alphabet to abstract phonetic representation of text in modern eras, and from written abstract computer commands “back” to the concrete iconic representation in graphic user interfaces of the digital era; (2) The swing from scroll reading in the pre-print era to page or book reading in the print era and “back” to scroll reading in the digital era; (3) The swing from a low level of authorship in the pre-print era to a strong authorship perception in the print era, and “back” to a low degree of authorship in the digital era; (4) The swing from synchronic representation of text in both visual and audio formats during the pre-print era to a visual representation only in print, and “back” to a synchronic representation in many environments of the digital era. We suggest that the print culture, which is usually considered the natural and preferred textual environment, should be regarded as the exception.     

融合句法指导与字符注意力机制的案情阅读理解方法

案情阅读理解是机器阅读理解在司法领域的具体应用。案情阅读理解通过计算机阅读裁判文书,并回答相关问题,是司法智能化的重要应用之一。当前机器阅读理解的主流方法是采用深度学习模型对文本词语进行编码,并由此获得文本的向量表示。模型建立的核心问题是如何获得文本的语义表示,以及问题与上下文的匹配。考虑到句法信息有助于模型学习句子主干信息,以及中文字符具有潜在的语义信息,提出了融合句法指导与字符注意力机制的案情阅读理解方法。通过融合句法信息及中文字符信息,提升模型对案情文本的编码能力。在法研杯2019阅读理解数据集上的实验结果表明,所提出的方法与基线模型相比EM值提升了0.816,F1值提升了1.809%。     

Effect of in-app components,medium, and screen size of electronic textbooks on reading performance,behavior, and perception

Although many app-based textbooks are available for students, reading have not been thoroughly outlined. This study aimed to understand how changes from paper to electronic textbooks have affected the academic reading task, investigate student users’ perceptions of in-app components and screen sizes, and identify issues affecting in-app components and task requirements. A mixed factorial design experiment was employed. Results showed that there were no significant changes in comprehension and time spent reading between print text and the iPad. Yet, student highlighting, notetaking, and reading behavior and perception significantly changed based on condition. In addition, students struggled to use in-app components and found them frustrating especially when accounting for sentence splitting. The findings presented can assist in understanding the changes in student reading behavior, which can be used to improve interface design of future e-textbooks.     

基于多层次信息融合的多跳机器阅读理解

以往机器阅读理解模型中存在文本特征提取单一, 文本和问题的交互信息不全面等问题, 导致模型不能充分对文本进行理解, 本文提出了一种多层次信息融合的机器阅读理解模型. 通过在不同位置使用不同方法, 对文本信息进行多种层次的获取. 使用膨胀卷积网络捕捉文本的全局信息, 采用双向注意力机制和自注意力机制融合文本和问题之间的交互信息, 通过指针网络预测答案及其对应的支撑句. 该模型在CAIL2019和CAIL2020阅读理解数据集上训练的联合F1值分别达到50.09%和58.44%, 相比于其他基线模型取得了明显的性能提升.     

Augmenting paper-based learning with mobile phones

Paper and traditional books have been serving as useful tools in supporting knowledge-intensive tasks and school learning. Although learning strategies such as selective verbatim note-taking or question-asking may foster intentional recall or resolve comprehension difficulties in paper-based learning practice, improvement in learning may depend on the opportunity and quality of which students apply note-taking, review notes, or enhance comprehension through questioning. This study aims to complement a paper textbook with a mobile phone and to treat the combination as a whole to facilitate verbatim note-taking, resolving comprehension questions, and receiving reading recommendations. The textbook paragraphs were augmented with line numbers to facilitate coordination between the mobile phone and the paper textbook. An eight-week comparative study was conducted to explore the use of two reading vehicles. The results and findings show that using a mobile phone to augment paper-based learning is technically feasible and seems to promote the application of verbatim note-taking and posting comprehension questions for discussion. However, the results of two course tests indicate that consequent learning improvement seemed inconsistent among the students. A six-week case study was also conducted to explore the implications of the augmented support to students’ learning practice. The findings show that mobile phones as learning supportive tools to augment paper-based learning could support students’ planning and management of learning strategies or activities. The portability of mobile phones and paper textbooks and the ubiquitous connection of paper-based learning with an online learning community may provide the flexibility in planning ahead for suitable learning strategies or activities and may enhance students’ assessment for management of students’ learning goals.     

Instructional effectiveness of a computer-supported program for teaching reading comprehension strategies

This article examines the effectiveness of a computer-based instructional program (e-PELS) aimed at direct instruction in a collection of reading comprehension strategies. In e-PELS, students learn to highlight and outline expository passages based on various types of text structures (such as comparison or cause-and-effect) as well as to paraphrase, self-question, and summarize. The study involved 1041 fourth-grade elementary students from 21 schools distributed in three regions in central Chile. Participant teachers integrated this program into the Spanish language curriculum, instructing their students during thirty sessions of 90 min each during one school semester. Pretest-to-posttest gains in reading comprehension scores were significantly greater for students instructed with this program than for students who received traditional instruction (d = .5), with particularly strong effects for lower-achieving students (d = .7). The findings support the efficacy of direct instruction in specific learning strategies in a computer-based environment.     

Designing dynamic English: a creative reading system in a context-aware fitness centre using a smart phone and QR codes

Abstract

This article describes the design and development of a context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning) system for users to increase fitness-related reading comprehension in a fitness centre. With the use of mobile devices and sensing technologies, practitioners and researchers of ICT and ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) are paying attention to the planning and use of u-learning components to provide users more interactions with authentic learning objects in a real context. Meanwhile, English for specific purposes (ESP) with interaction design has been a focus in recent years; however, few ESP practitioners and researchers have explored fitness-related English with ubicomp. All of the users were satisfied with the use of the smart phones and scanning of QR codes on the machines in the fitness centre to develop their reading comprehension of fitness-related English. Finally, a learning design model for Fitness English reading with u-learning components was developed and elaborated from designers' perspectives.     

Students’ performance and satisfaction with Web vs. paper-based practice quizzes and lecture notes

The use of computers to deliver course-related materials is rapidly expanding in most universities. Yet the effects of computer vs. printed delivery modes on students’ performance and motivation are not yet fully known. We compared the impacts of Web vs. paper to deliver practice quizzes that require information search in lecture notes. Hundred and twenty two undergraduate students used either a web site or printed documents to answer 18 mathematics questions during a tutored session. A revised Web site was designed based on ergonomic criteria, to test the hypothesis that improved usability would decrease time spent on the task, the number of pages consulted, and students’ perceived cognitive load. The group working with printed documents had the highest performance. Furthermore, students perceived the paper materials as less effortful to read, and expressed preference for printing lecture notes and questions. However, students appreciated having a Web site available. No differences were found between the two sites. We conclude that Web delivery imposed higher perceived cognitive load due to the need to read lengthy documents. We suggest possible ways to improve Web-based practice materials, such as simultaneous display of questions and lecture notes.