Translating the ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement Into Practice

Putting ICAP to the test: how technology-enhanced learning activities are related to cognitive and affective-motivational learning outcomes in higher education

Digital technology is considered to have great potential to promote learning in higher education. In line with the Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive (ICAP) framework, this seems to be particularly true when instructors stimulate high-quality learning activities such as constructive and interactive learning activities instead of active and passive learning activities. Against the background of a lack of empirical studies in authentic, technology-enhanced instructional settings, we investigated the cognitive and affective-motivational effects of these learning activity modes in technology-enhanced higher education courses. To this end, we used 3.820 student assessments regarding 170 course sessions for which the teachers stated the learning activities students were engaged in. Results of multilevel structural equation modelling highlight the importance of technology-enhanced interactive learning activities for students' perception of learning and the potential negative consequences of passive learning activities for affective-motivational outcomes. However, the superiority of constructive and interactive learning activities compared to passive and active learning activities for cognitive and affective-motivational outcomes was not supported by the findings. Instead, the findings point to potential differential effects of the individual learning activities within one activity mode. Future research should follow up on these effects to gain a more fine-grained understanding of how technology-enhanced learning activities can be optimized to enhance students' learning outcomes.

How teachers make connections among ideas in mathematics instruction

Conceptual understanding involves understanding connections among ideas within a domain. In this chapter, we consider how teachers support students in learning about connections among ideas in mathematics. We review research focusing on teachers' connection making in mathematics classrooms, and we consider several dimensions of variability in that connection making. Across three corpora of lessons that varied in students' grade levels (first grade to college), cultural settings (United States and China), and mathematics content, we found that all teachers produced linking episodes, but the frequency with which they did so varied substantially, raising new questions about the sources and consequences of that variability. Teachers of first-grade students in China routinely engaged their students in co-constructing links; teachers of middle schoolers and college students in the United States typically explained links to students. Linking episodes targeted many different types of connections, including connections between representations, connections between principles and exemplars, connections between procedures and concepts, and connections between concepts and real-world instantiations. Across all three corpora, teachers expressed linked ideas multimodally in a majority of linking episodes. Based on the findings, we present several hypotheses about how teacher behaviors may support students' understanding of connections among ideas, and we suggest directions for future work.

Generative preparation tasks in digital collaborative learning: actor and partner effects of constructive preparation activities on deep comprehension

Deep learning from collaboration occurs if the learner enacts interactive activities in the sense of leveraging the knowledge externalized by co-learners as resource for own inferencing processes and if these interactive activities in turn promote the learner's deep comprehension outcomes. This experimental study investigates whether inducing dyad members to enact constructive preparation activities can promote deep learning from subsequent collaboration while examining prior knowledge as moderator. In a digital collaborative learning environment, 122 non-expert university students assigned to 61 dyads studied a text about the human circulatory system and then prepared individually for collaboration according to their experimental conditions: the preparation tasks varied across dyads with respect to their generativity, that is, the degree to which they required the learners to enact constructive activities (note-taking, compare-contrast, or explanation). After externalizing their answer to the task, learners in all conditions inspected their partner's externalization and then jointly discussed their text understanding via chat. Results showed that more rather than less generative tasks fostered constructive preparation but not interactive collaboration activities or deep comprehension outcomes. Moderated mediation analyses considering actor and partner effects indicated the indirect effects of constructive preparation activities on deep comprehension outcomes via interactive activities to depend on prior knowledge: when own prior knowledge was relatively low, self-performed but not partner-performed constructive preparation activities were beneficial. When own prior knowledge was relatively high, partner-performed constructive preparation activities were conducive while one's own were ineffective or even detrimental. Given these differential effects, suggestions are made for optimizing the instructional design around generative preparation tasks to streamline the effectiveness of constructive preparation activities for deep learning from digital collaboration.

Interest of a Hospital-Based Geriatric Living Lab among Inpatients with Neurocognitive Disorders: The ALLEGRIA Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION

The objectives of this study were to determine the participation rates, levels of engagement, and abilities to answer User eXperience (UX) questionnaires according to the presence and severity of major neurocognitive disorders (MNCD) among participants involved in gerontechnological experimentations within a hospital-based geriatric clinical living lab.

METHODS

Cross-sectional analysis examining all consecutive geriatric patients involved in the Allegro living lab experimentations, separated according to the presence and severity of MNCD. Participation rates were assessed using the "Task-Based Experiment"-type User eXperience (TBE-UX). Participation was considered successful if patients fully completed the TBE-UX experimental procedure. Engagement level was characterized using a five-point scale: interactive, constructive, active, passive, and disengaged. The abilities to answer UX questionnaires were characterized using a five-point scale from "no completion" to "completion in autonomy."

RESULTS

313 patients were included. All patients without MNCD and with mild MNCD fully completed the TBE-UX procedures. Their engagement behaviors were rather active and constructive. All patients without MNCD and 88% of those with mild MNCD were able to fully complete the UX questionnaires. 96.2% of the patients with moderate MNCD fully followed the TBE-UX procedures. Their engagement behaviors were mainly active or passive. 64.2% were able to fully complete the UX questionnaires. 76.5% of the patients with severe MNCD fully followed the TBE-UX procedures. Their engagement behaviors were mainly passive or disengaged. 35.3% were able to fully complete the UX questionnaires.

CONCLUSION

Living lab experimentations appear feasible with older adults, even with those with MNCD. Task support can be offered to those with severe MNCD.

The effects of segmentation on cognitive load, vocabulary learning and retention, and reading comprehension in a multimedia learning environment

BACKGROUND

Segmentation is a common pedagogical approach in multimedia learning, but its effects on cognitive processes and learning outcomes have yet to be comprehensively explored. Understanding the role of segmentation is crucial, as it has the potential to influence the way instructional materials are designed and delivered in digital learning environments.

OBJECTIVES

This research aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of segmentation on cognitive load, vocabulary acquisition, retention, and reading comprehension in a multimedia learning context.

METHODOLOGY

Participants were selected from two language schools in Zhengzhou through a multi-stage random sampling method. Ninety teenage students were randomly assigned to six experimental groups. The study utilized a 2 × 3 factorial design to examine segmentation and textual augmentation effects. Four assessment instruments were employed: a Reading Comprehension Test, a Vocabulary Assessment Test, a Cognitive Load Assessment Scale, and a Prior Knowledge Test. The experiment comprised four stages: pre-test, Instruction, post-test, and follow-up. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22 software, involving descriptive statistics, one-way, and multi-way analysis of variance.

RESULTS

Results indicated that high segmentation significantly impacts cognitive load, vocabulary learning, retention, and reading comprehension across various aspects of multimedia learning. In essence, segmentation reduces cognitive load, supports learning efficiency, and facilitates more profound understanding, vocabulary learning, and retention.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

High segmentation in multimedia learning significantly impacts cognitive load, vocabulary learning, comprehension, and retention. Educators should prioritize segmentation for more effective and engaging e-learning experiences.

Peer-Assisted Learning Is More Effective at Higher Task Complexity and Difficulty

This paper presents two studies in which a peer-assisted learning condition was compared to an individual learning condition. The first study used the paired-associates learning task and the second study used an incrementally more complex task-the remote associate test. Participants in the peer-assisted learning condition worked in groups of four. They had to solve a given problem individually and give a first answer before being able to request to see their peers' solutions; then, a second answer was issued. After six sessions of peer-assisted practice, a final individual test was administered. Peer interaction was found to benefit learning in both studies but the benefit transferred to the final test only in the second study. Fine-grained behavioral analyses and computational modeling suggested that the benefits of peer interaction were (partially) offset by its costs, particularly increased cognitive load and error exposure. Overall, the superiority of peer-assisted learning over individual learning was more pronounced in the more complex task and for the more difficult problems in that task.

The Influence of Presence Types on Learning Engagement in a MOOC: The Role of Autonomous Motivation and Grit

Purpose

We developed a research framework based on the community of inquiry theory to examine the relationship between three kinds of MOOC presence (teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence) and learning engagement. Further, we explored the mediating effect of autonomous motivation and the moderating role of grit in this relationship.

Participants and Methods

The online survey included a sample of N = 794 college students (46.473% male) between the ages of 18 and 20. The COI survey instrument, short grit scale, the Utrecht work engagement scale-student scale and academic self-regulation questionnaire were used to test hypotheses.

Results

The study results showed that all three MOOC presences (teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence) had significant positive relationship with learning engagement. Autonomous motivation had a mediating role in them. Also, the positive relationship between social presence, cognitive presence, and autonomous motivation was stronger for students with a higher level of grit.

Conclusion

This study enriches the literature on whether and how the presence knowledge of MOOC courses affects college students' learning engagement, and the complexity of MOOC environments determines that grit plays an indispensable role in the learning process.

Fostering childbirth education on upright positions and mobility during labor in nulliparous women

BACKGROUND

Upright labor positions and movement during labor have a positive effect on childbirth, yet the predominant labor positions are still horizontal. Therefore, it is important to explore how it is possible to improve childbirth education, particularly its instructional design, to strengthen women's self-efficacy toward the use of upright positions and mobility during labor. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of an instructional approach based on a cognitive engagement ICAP (Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive) framework on the development of knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy expectations toward upright positions and mobility during labor.

METHODS

A prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted among nulliparous women from the ultra-orthodox Jewish community (n = 74). While the control group (n = 34) participated in routine childbirth education, the intervention group (n = 36) learned with childbirth education that included interactive and constructive cognitive engagement activities. Participants in both groups completed a set of questionnaires regarding knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy.

RESULTS

The post-test analysis revealed that women in the intervention group compared to the control group gained significantly higher knowledge scores (p < 0.05), more positive attitudes (p < 0.001), and stronger self-efficacy expectations toward upright positions and mobility during labor (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that by fostering women's cognitive engagement levels during childbirth education toward the interactive and constructive modes of the ICAP framework, women's self-efficacy to move during labor and to use upright positions can be induced. These results can serve as a foundation to improve the overall effectiveness of childbirth instruction.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was registered retrospectively.

Listening, reading, writing - which method leads to the best learning outcome?

OBJECTIVE

Innovative teaching strategies such as case-based learning and hands-on training are more and more integrated into undergraduate veterinary teaching. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that lectures still play an important role in many vet schools. Nowadays, however, lectures are questioned to be motivating and engaging enough for a long-lasting learning retention. In this context, we compared acceptance and learning outcome of the teaching methods reading, writing, and listening to a presentation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In structured settings based on a cross-over design, 151 students in their fifth year attending a 2-weeks clinical rotation at the Clinic for Animal Reproduction were asked to read papers, listen to a presentation by a lecturer, and to write a summary in group work. Each task dealt with 1 of 3 topics from the field of animal reproduction. A week later, the students were asked to complete a multiple-choice test and an evaluation form. The test contained questions about each of the covered topics as well as a fourth topic, which was not taught in context of this project to assess the students' prior knowledge.

RESULTS

The results revealed that writing a summary in group work led to the best learning outcome, but it cannot be ruled out that learning success may have depended to a large extent on group work. Furthermore, the results did not differ significantly from the second-best teaching method listening to a presentation. The teaching method students preferred most was the lecture, followed by reading papers and writing a summary.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that presentations by lecturers are still an important teaching method but can be complemented by writing tasks, which may be used in specific settings as a possible way to improve learning outcome in veterinary education.

CONCLUSION FOR PRACTICE

Our project supports the assumption that more active, student-centered learning approaches such as writing summaries can lead to more engagement and a better learning retention. In addition, training writing skills is important because clinical reports and other written communication are relevant parts of daily veterinary routine.

Effects of finger and mouse pointing on learning from online split-attention examples

BACKGROUND

Self-management of cognitive load is a recent development in cognitive load theory. Finger pointing has been shown to be a potential self-management strategy to support learning from spatially separated, but mutually referring text and pictures (i.e., split-attention examples).

AIMS

The present study aimed to extend the prior research on the pointing strategy and investigated the effects of finger pointing on learning from online split-attention examples. Moreover, we examined an alternative pointing strategy using the computer mouse, and a combination of finger pointing and computer-mouse pointing.

SAMPLE

One-hundred and forty-five university students participated in the present study.

METHOD

All participants studied an online split-attention example about the human nervous system and were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: (1) pointing with the index finger, (2) pointing with the computer mouse, (3) pointing with the index finger and the computer mouse and (4) no pointing.

RESULTS

Results confirmed our main hypothesis, indicating that finger pointing led to higher retention performance than no pointing. However, the mouse pointing strategy and the combined finger and mouse pointing strategy did not show supportive effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Finger pointing can be used as a simple and convenient self-management strategy in online learning environments. Mouse pointing may not be as effective as finger pointing.

Effectiveness of H5P in improving student learning outcomes in an online tertiary education setting

Innovative, pedagogically informed instructional design is instrumental in increasing student engagement and improving learning outcomes in online learning environments. Interactive learning resources provide students with the opportunity to engage with content in a more personalised manner. H5P (HTML 5 Package) is a collaborative platform that allows developers to create interactive content and has been regularly used in education settings. Some evidence suggests using interactive H5P resources in online education courses could lead to greater student engagement. However, to date, there has been little investigation into whether H5P resources can improve student learning outcomes. The current study aimed to assess whether using interactive H5P resources improved assessed learning outcomes in an online undergraduate psychology course. A randomized cross-over design was utilized to test whether students exposed to H5P interactive videos had improved assessment results when compared to a control group. This study found no meaningful differences in assessment scores between students exposed to H5P versus those that were not. There was low overall engagement with the interactive content. However, students who did engage with the resources reported a positive experience and indicated a preference for more interactive elements in future courses. Future research should extend on the instructional design obstacles identified in this study, for example, by examining whether improved accessibility and education on the benefits of interactive resources would increase engagement and grades.

The linguistic differences in concept conveying in English and Chinese xMOOC forums

Recent studies have found that comments from teaching assistants may encourage interactions in edX-like Massive Open Online Course (xMOOC) forums. However, how concepts from these interactions are conveyed to other xMOOC participants has not received much attention. Therefore, this study focuses on a unidirectional teaching assistant-student xMOOC interaction (TS interaction), a content-related pair including one question from a student and one immediate answer from a teaching assistant. The authors particularly investigate the linguistic features (i.e., concept connectivity, concept concreteness, readability and semantic overlap) of concept conveying in TS interactions with many responses (mTS) and with few responses (fTS). In addition, a language factor (English and Chinese) is also considered. Additionally, the interaction transcripts from science lectures (SL) and political briefings (PB) were used as control groups as two opposite cases of concept conveying. At the concept level, the concept conveying in transcripts were modelled as a graph, and measured by common indicators in graph theory. At the overall level, the concept conveying in transcripts were measured by regular linguistic measuring tools. The results show that interactions with mTS and fTS demonstrate different concept conveying tendencies toward SL and PB in terms of linguistic features in both languages. The results suggest that in both languages, teaching assistants may use mixed concept-conveying strategies to stimulate more follow-up responses in xMOOC forums. These conclusions drawn from TS interactions can be even partially generalized in a larger student-student (SS) interaction dataset.

A Framework for a Seamless Transformation to Online Education

Online education is now widely used in schools and universities as a result of COVID-19. More than 1.6 billion children, or 80% of all school-aged children worldwide, have missed school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak has been a significant concern for educational institutions since 2020 and has interfered with regular academic and evaluation practices. Organizational preparedness for online education must be assessed by institutions. To assist them, we present a case study carried out at an Indian educational institution that highlights the drawbacks and advantages of online education and that outlines a framework for its change. Additionally, we assessed the system and offered suggestions to improve the online instruction provided by institutions. We think that the proposed methodology will assist organizations in identifying challenges prior to launching online learning.

Work station learning activities (WSLA) through the ICAP framework: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Engaging, student-centered active learning activities, such as team-based learning (TBL) and laboratory practices, is beneficial to integrate knowledge, particularly in Medicine degree. Previously, we designed and implemented workstation learning activities (WSLA) inspired by TBL, which proved effective for learning requiring higher-order thinking skills. We now hypothesize that WSLA may also have the potential to be framed into a theoretical model that stratifies learning into interactive, constructive, active and passive modes (ICAP hypothesis).

METHODS

An interpretive qualitative research study was conducted to evaluate this idea. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students enrolled in health science programs after WSLA sessions, consisting of a series of activities accompanying a traditional lecture. Interviews were analyzed according to a deductive approach. Theoretical themes and subthemes driving the analysis were organized around the ICAP modes: passive, active, constructive, and interactive. An inductive approach was applied to provide additional insights.

RESULTS

Students valued preparatory lectures as well as corresponding WSLA activities as highly motivating, especially for the ability to integrate concepts. Although previous research shows that not all activities require high levels of cognitive engagement, students appreciated the opportunity the WSLA provided to discuss and clarify concepts as a group. Furthermore, feedback from professors and peers was highly appreciated, and helped students to construct new knowledge.

CONCLUSION

In this work, by focusing in understanding the student's experience, we have evaluated for the first time the WSLA approach in relation to the ICAP model. We found that not only the activity type determines the learning mode, but also the environment accompanying WSLA is a determining factor. Our findings can guide future development of the WSLA approach, which represents an interactive learning methodology with strong potential within the ICAP framework.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Not applicable.

Effect of prior knowledge and peer evaluation ratings on final exam performance in a team-based learning chemistry course

INTRODUCTION

Various reports have been published regarding adoption of team-based learning (TBL) in pharmacy education. However, there is insufficient published evidence on the effect of student characteristics on student learning outcomes in a TBL curriculum. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of pre-study examination results and peer evaluation ratings on learning outcomes.

METHODS

The TBL strategy was adopted for a basic chemistry exercise for first-year students at a private pharmacy school in Japan (2012-2019). For the analysis, students were divided into four analytical groups according to quartiles of pre-study examination results. The students were further divided into the high-peer evaluation rating group and low-peer evaluation rating group. We compared the final exam performance results between these groups.

RESULTS

In all four groups by quartiles of pre-study examination results, the course final exam performance was higher for the high-peer evaluation rating students than for the low-peer evaluation rating students.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the TBL framework, students with higher peer evaluation scores performed better on the final exam, regardless of the pre-study examination results.

The two envelopes method for active learning

PURPOSE

Active learning improves knowledge acquisition and provides medical students with learning habits that become an integral part of their behavior. As an integral element of our institution's transition from a lecture hall teaching culture to active learning, the current project, conducted with fourth year students, aimed to examine the effects of the two envelopes method of teaching on students' knowledge.

METHOD

The class of 120 students was divided into 12 groups of 10 students each. Six experienced senior cardiologists were assigned to teach the 12 groups. When the students arrived at the classroom, they received two envelopes. Students were instructed to open the first envelope and answer a 10-question test in 15 minutes. After completing the test, they returned the tests to the envelope, sealed it, and then opened the second envelope which included the same test and relevant patient information. They then spent the next 30 minutes discussing the test as a group and familiarizing themselves with the patients' case histories and clinical data. After completion of the group discussion, the tutor entered the room for a two-hour discussion of the patients' disease entities including the anatomy, physiology, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnostic measures, and potential therapies.

RESULTS

We compared grades and standard deviations of grades between two classes: one learned in the lecture hall format (2018) and the other learned employing the two-envelopes method (2019). There was a non-statistically significant trend toward better grades with reduced dispersion of grades in the class that learned with the two-envelope method.

CONCLUSIONS

We describe a novel method for active learning that enhances self-learning and peer learning, and we observed better knowledge acquisition and reduced knowledge dispersion that were not statistically significant.

Facing Disruptive Changes With Informal Workplace Learning Strategies: The Experience of European Companies

Industries are currently experiencing several kinds of disruptive changes, including digital transformation and environmental and health emergencies. Despite intense discussion about disruptive changes in companies, the impact of such changes on workplace learning is still underexplored. In this study, we investigated the impact of disruptive changes on informal learning practices according to the perspectives of employers, employees and adult educators. Informal learning was operationalised along a continuum between organised informal learning (led by an instructor and intentional) and everyday informal learning (led by contextual factors, accidental, and unintentional). Fifty-five companies’ representatives (average age = 43.2 years; SD = 11) from three European countries (Finland, Switzerland, and Italy) and four industrial fields (bioeconomy, tourism, textile and building sectors) were interviewed. The interviews were further triangulated with questionnaires collected by employees from the same companies (N = 141; average age = 40.2 years, SD = 17.8). Questionnaire data were used to collect detailed information on individual informal workplace learning (IWL) strategies and digital technologies adopted in organised informal learning. The interview data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. A coding scheme was developed with five macro-categories organised into 23 sub-categories. Occurrence and co-occurrence analysis were performed to identify which individual and organisational factors and approaches support most learning, according to interviewees. Interviewees reported the possibility of interacting with colleagues and being autonomous as the main sources of everyday informal learning processes. Employees from the same companies reported model learning, vicarious feedback, and applying someone’s own ideas as the most frequent IWL strategies. Organised informal learning was mainly based on knowledge transfer, which reflects passive cognitive engagement by employees. Specifically, digital technologies in organised informal learning were poorly used for supporting reflection, constructive processes, and collaborative knowledge construction. The results suggest that participants believed that higher forms of cognitive engagement are possible only within face-to-face organised informal training or in everyday informal learning. Possible explanations of the results and practical implications are discussed.

Scalable Science Education via Online Cooperative Questioning

A critical goal for science education is to design and implement learning activities that develop a deep conceptual understanding, are engaging for students, and are scalable for large classes or those with few resources. Approaches based on peer learning and online technologies show promise for scalability but often lack a grounding in cognitive learning principles relating to conceptual understanding. Here, we present a novel design for combining these elements in a principled way. The design centers on having students author multiple-choice questions for their peers using the online platform PeerWise, where beneficial forms of cognitive engagement are encouraged via a series of supporting activities. We evaluated an implementation of this design within a cohort of 632 students in an undergraduate biochemistry course. Our results show a robust relationship between the quality of question authoring and relevant learning outcomes, even after controlling for the confounding influence of prior grades. We conclude by discussing practical and theoretical implications.

Cognitive Loading and Knowledge Hiding in Art Design Education: Cognitive Engagement as Mediator and Supervisor Support as Moderator

The aim of the study is to document a new predictor of knowledge hiding from the perspective of Art design trainers and Art design trainees in virtual training’s and this study tends to add new theoretical insights into the body of literature. For this purpose, this study approached a sample of 500 respondents under a cross-sectional research design and respondents who have participated in virtual trainings or their trainings were at the final stage were recruited through the snowball sampling technique. The useable responses remained at 406 and these have been analyzed through SPSS for demographic analysis and Smart-PLS has been used to test the structural model, while a process macro has been used to test the moderation. Results indicate that cognitive loading has the potency to reduce the knowledge hiding behavior of the trainees. Similarly, it has been observed that cognitive loading increases the cognitive engagement of the trainees, and it moreover reduces the knowledge hiding tendency of trainees. In case of mediation, a partial mediation has been documented through the variance accounted for (VAF) approach while testing moderation. The role of supervisor support has not been found to be statistically significant.

Highly Engaged Video-Watching Pattern in Asynchronous Online Pharmacology Course in Pre-clinical 4th-Year Medical Students Was Associated With a Good Self-Expectation, Understanding, and Performance

Background

Online video-based learning is more common in higher education. Investigating students' viewing behaviors while watching online video lectures is essential for instructors to understand their learning status so that the course content, structure, and media selection can be improved continuously. The current study identified the engagement level of the learners based on their online video-watching behaviors, and tested the correlation between the engagement level and learning outcome.

Methods

The action logs of watching online video lectures in 2020 Spring Pharmacology of the 4th-year medical students of the 6-year course and their feedbacks by questionnaires after each exam during the semester were provided anonymously. The data were analyzed and visualized for an efficient way to comprehend and interpret. To define the student's engagement level in his or her video-based learning journey, three viewing criteria, “Completion,” “Pausing,” and “Repeated watching” were identified. We evaluated the association between the engagement level and the students' learning outcomes, including their learning satisfaction, knowledge acquisition progresses based on assessment results, and the grades measured by the instructors.

Results

The graphs and the charts demonstrate whether the students allocated enough time to finish the video lectures (completion), paused for a while, then resumed the video (pausing), or replayed the specific sections of video content (repeated watching). The engagement level with video lectures, evaluated by pre-defined thresholds for “Completion,” “Pausing,” and “Repeated watching” had a positive correlation with the learning outcomes.

Conclusions

We suggested that an engagement dashboard containing real-time visualized information on students' online video-watching behaviors can be developed to help instructors to monitor students' learning progress and improve teaching in a timely fashion. It can also help each student to re-feel the stimulation of peers, prompt self-monitoring, improve their learning attitudes and disciplines for better learning outcomes. This innovative way of assessing student's engagement during online video-based learning can also be used for quality assurance purposes.

Dyadic explanations during preparatory self-study enhance learning: A randomised controlled study

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the present study was to investigate to which extent preparatory self-study can be improved by encouraging students to engage in individual self-explanations or dyadic explanations (ie in pairs). Individual self-explanations refer to an act of metacognition in which students, after having processed a certain amount of information, attempt to explain their understanding to themselves of what was just learned. Dyadic explanations refer to the same process, but instead of explaining to oneself, the student explains his/her understanding to another student.

METHOD

An experiment was conducted in which 120 medical students studied a video-recorded lecture on the role of protein synthesis inhibition on memory reconsolidation. Participants were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: (1) a control condition in which they listened to the lecture once; (2) a control condition in which they listened to the lecture twice; (3) an experimental condition in which they had to listen to the lecture and provide self-explanations individually; and (4) an experimental condition in which they had to listen to the lecture and provide dyadic explanations. Participants' knowledge regarding the topic was measured three times: at the start and end of the experiment, and one week after the experiment to determine knowledge retention. Data were analysed by means of a 2 × 2 and 4 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA.

RESULTS

The results suggest that participants who engaged in individual self- or dyadic explanations significantly outperformed participants in the two control conditions in terms of learning and retention (F = 5.67, Wilks Λ = 0.94, P = .019, η²  = 0.05). Moreover, the results suggest that dyadic explanations were more effective than individual self-explanations (F = 3.70, Wilks Λ = 0.83, P = .002, η²  = 0.09).

CONCLUSIONS

These outcomes suggest that encouraging students to work in pairs or in small teams to prepare for a learning event results in superior preparation and learning.

Lowering barriers to active learning: a novel approach for online instructional environments

The value of active learning for increasing student comprehension and retention of science, technology, e,ngineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts within undergraduate courses has proven to be beneficial many times over; however, barriers still exist for both instructors and students. For example, instructors are often left to decide what type of active learning activities to incorporate and how to implement them yet receive little to no formal training about how to do this effectively. Additionally, student resistance to active learning persists, which adds to the pressure faced by some instructors. Compounding these issues is the absence of high-speed Internet in some regions, which makes accessing active learning activities, many of which are offered through online commercial programs, impractical if not impossible for some students. This problem was highlighted during the pandemic when courses transitioned to being partially or fully online. In this article, I describe a novel active learning method that encourages students to cognitively engage with physiology concepts by using digital images to build structures and processes using an approach that is more accessible to everyone, regardless of Internet capabilities. This approach also provides instructors an option for creating their own active learning activity that may be more suitable for their specific level of students or learning outcomes.

Evaluation of a Practice System Supporting Distributed Practice for Novice Programming Students

Programming is an important skill in the 21st century, but it is difficult for novices to learn. To help students practice and learn efficiently, the authors developed a mobile platform called Daily Quiz, which incorporated distributed practice theory. To evaluate the impact of distributed practice in programming learning facilitated by Daily Quiz, the authors conducted a between-subject experiment with 200 freshmen divided into two groups. Both groups received the same number of multiple-choice questions via Daily Quiz. However, the control group was encouraged to practice every 7 days, whereas the experimental group was encouraged to practice every 3 days. The results showed that this simple manipulation significantly improved the experimental group’s performance on final exams. Further analysis revealed that the experimental group of students achieved a higher rate of first-check correctness and tended to be more engaged in academic social interaction. Finally, a behavioral sequence analysis was adopted to compare the behavioral patterns of the two groups to investigate how distributed practice helped the students learn more efficiently.

Interactions between emotional and cognitive engagement with science on YouTube

This study aimed to map and characterize public engagement with science on YouTube. A two-part study was conducted. First, we collected and quantitatively analyzed trending videos on YouTube to evaluate the magnitude of public interaction with science content. Then, we assessed actual, rather than self-reports of, media interactions with science-related YouTube trending videos. We tested associations between behavioral engagement of viewing, liking, disliking or commenting, and emotional and cognitive engagement. Our findings affirm that science content attracts high public interest and that emotional and cognitive engagement with science on social media are distinct, but interrelated. We show that regardless of the valence of emotional engagement, emotion is linked to greater behavioral engagement of posting comments and to greater cognitive engagement of argumentative deliberation. Therefore, our findings suggest that social media interactions, which tend to evoke emotional responses, are a promising means of advancing person-to-person engagement with science.

Online teaching and learning in higher education: Lessons learned in crisis situations

In the year 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic turned both private and public life upside down. Teaching and learning at higher education institutions worldwide had to move online on very short notice. This Special Issue focuses on the academic practice of online teaching and learning in higher education in the current time of crisis. Online teaching and learning has been a prominent research topic for the last three decades, but online study programs at universities are still scarce. In this synthesis article, our considerations about online teaching and learning in higher education are positioned in the broad framework of communities of practice (CoPs). We establish a relationship between CoP-concepts and the integrative framework for learning activities involving technology in higher education (the C♭ model), as proposed by Sailer and colleagues in this Special Issue. We continue with some initial thoughts on online teaching and learning in higher education in general, and emergency online teaching and learning more specifically. After an overview of the international research compiled in this Special Issue, we derive a number of general insights on online teaching and learning in higher education, emphasizing, for instance, scaffolding of regulation processes or communication platforms as potential artifacts of an online teaching and learning CoP.

Development of a Novel Peer-sharing Application to Supplement Learning from Cadaveric Dissection

Gross anatomy dissection in contemporary medical education must balance the traditional value of learning from the cadaver with the possibilities created by the use of digital tools as supplemental resources that personalize and deepen the student learning experience. This study broadly examined the design, implementation, and use of AnatomyShare, a novel iPad application employing learner-generated content that allows students to securely share annotated images of their dissections with each other and take faculty-generated image-based quizzes during their first-year medical school gross anatomy course. Almost all students enrolled in the course used the application (N = 176; 91% use based on analytics). Seventy-five students responded to a survey asking how and when they used the application, along with their perceptions of its usefulness and contribution to learning. More students reported using the application outside of laboratory (97.3%) than during laboratory (85.3%), despite only in-laboratory use being required. Taking quizzes using the "Exam" feature was the highest rated use of AnatomyShare, and students cited that the application exposed them to anatomical variation and motivated them to correctly identify structures during dissection. While steps need to be taken to combat low-quality learner-generated content and to enhance meaningful student interaction and collaboration, AnatomyShare was a feasible and highly rated supplement to dissection that provided valuable assessment opportunities for students. Future research will examine the impact of use on course grades and engagement in gross anatomy dissection.

“I played a song with the help of a magic banana”: assessing short-term making events

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand how learners describe their experiences with short-term, introductory maker experiences and to test a method for assessing learners’ experiences authentic to short-term learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected written responses from participants at a two-day event, STEM Center Learning Days. Through an analysis of 707 unique instances of learner responses to participation in drop-in maker activities, they examined how participants describe their short-term learning experiences.

Findings

The authors found that although some activities appear to onlookers to create passive experiences for learners, these seemingly passive moments have a significant impact on learners. In addition, some learners described themselves as working in tandem with tools to make something work and other learners viewed the tools as working autonomously. They found that the assessment method allowed them to gain an understanding of how learners describe their experiences offering important implications for understanding short-term learning events.

Originality/value

The findings provide researchers studying short-term learning in its natural setting a new method to understand how learners make sense of their individual experience. Further, designers of short-term learning experiences may gain insights into their unique activities and indications of where additional guidance and scaffolds will improve small learning moments.

Collaborative Learning Quality Classification Through Physiological Synchrony Recorded by Wearable Biosensors

Interpersonal physiological synchrony has been consistently found during collaborative tasks. However, few studies have applied synchrony to predict collaborative learning quality in real classroom. To explore the relationship between interpersonal physiological synchrony and collaborative learning activities, this study collected electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) during naturalistic class sessions and compared the physiological synchrony between independent task and group discussion task. The students were recruited from a renowned university in China. Since each student learn differently and not everyone prefers collaborative learning, participants were sorted into collaboration and independent dyads based on their collaborative behaviors before data analysis. The result showed that, during group discussions, high collaboration pairs produced significantly higher synchrony than low collaboration dyads (p = 0.010). Given the equivalent engagement level during independent and collaborative tasks, the difference of physiological synchrony between high and low collaboration dyads was triggered by collaboration quality. Building upon this result, the classification analysis was conducted, indicating that EDA synchrony can identify different levels of collaboration quality (AUC = 0.767 and p = 0.015).

QuoVidi: An open-source web application for the organization of large-scale biological treasure hunts

Learning biology, and in particular systematics, requires learning a substantial amount of specific vocabulary, both for botanical and zoological studies. While crucial, the precise identification of structures serving as evolutionary traits and systematic criteria is not per se a highly motivating task for students. Teaching this in a traditional teaching setting is quite challenging especially with a large crowd of students to be kept engaged. This is even more difficult if, as during the COVID-19 crisis, students are not allowed to access laboratories for hands-on observation on fresh specimens and sometimes restricted to short-range movements outside their home. Here, we present QuoVidi, a new open-source web platform for the organization of large-scale treasure hunts. The platform works as follows: students, organized in teams, receive a list of quests that contain morphologic, ecologic, or systematic terms. They have to first understand the meaning of the quests, then go and find them in the environment. Once they find the organism corresponding to a quest, they upload a geotagged picture of their finding and submit this on the platform. The correctness of each submission is evaluated by the staff. During the COVID-19 lockdown, previously validated pictures were also submitted for evaluation to students that were locked in low-biodiversity areas. From a research perspective, the system enables the creation of large image databases by the students, similar to citizen science projects. Beside the enhanced motivation of students to learn the vocabulary and perform observations on self-found specimens, this system allows instructors to remotely follow and assess the work performed by large numbers of students. The interface is freely available, open-source and customizable. Unlike existing naturalist platforms, allows the educators to fully customize the quests of interest. This enables the creation of multiple teaching scenarios, without being bound to a fixed scope. QuoVidi can be used in other disciplines with adapted quests and we expect it to be of interest in many classroom settings.

Benefits of Writing an Explanation During Pauses in Multimedia Lessons

Generative learning theory posits that learners engage more deeply and produce better learning outcomes when they engage in selecting, organizing, and integrating processes during learning. The present experiments examine whether the generative learning activity of generating explanations can be extended to online multimedia lessons and whether prompts to engage in this generative learning activity work better than more passive instruction. Across three experiments, college students learned about greenhouse gasses from a 4-part online lesson involving captioned animations and subsequently took a posttest. After each part, learners were asked to generate an explanation (write-an-explanation), write an explanation using provided terms (write-a-focused-explanation), rewrite a provided explanation (rewrite-an-explanation), read a provided explanation (read-an-explanation), or simply move on to the next part (no-activity). Overall, students in the write-an-explanation group (Experiments 2 and 3), write-a-focused-explanation group (Experiment 2), and rewrite-an-explanation group (Experiment 3) performed significantly better on a delayed posttest than the no-activity group, but the groups did not differ significantly on an immediate posttest (Experiment 1). These results are consistent with generative learning theory and help identify generative learning strategies that improve online multimedia learning, thereby priming active learning with passive media.