Structured reflection breaks embedded in an online course – Effects on learning experience, time on task and performance

peer reviewedThe purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the effects of practicing short, frequent and structured reflection breaks interspersed with the learning material in a computer-based course. To that end, the study sets up a standardised control trial with 2 groups of secondary-school pupils. The study shows that, while performance is not affected by these embedded “reflection rituals”, they significantly impact time on task and perceived learning. The study also suggests that the exposure to such built-in opportunities for reflection modifies the engagement with the content and fosters the claimed readiness for application of a similar reflective approach to learning in other occasions

Research, writing, and computer technology: A reconsideration of invention and process

This thesis argues for a more open and active research process and approach toward the teaching of researched writing. A hypertext-based research environment may enrich student learning and writing by reinforcing recursivity throughout the writing process, at the same time as it encourages reflection on both cognitive and social processes of knowledge construction. Further argument is for a more vigorous student engagement in knowledge-making activities by encouraging active research further along the writing process

The Think-Aloud approach: A Promising Tool for Online Reading Comprehension

Despite its unquestionable interest from a theoretical and practical point of view, so far there has been little research on online reading and there is a lack of attention paid to this topic in most European educational institutions. In particular, primary and secondary school teachers are not adequately trained on how and when to intervene to support students’ proficiency in the online reading comprehension. After presenting a rationale demonstrating why students may struggle with online reading comprehension and the importance to adopt a self-regulated reading, this study proposes a Teacher’s Guide that could support late primary and secondary school teachers in planning online reading lessons with the Think-Aloud (TA) metacognitive technique

Investigation and Analysis of Online Reading Strategies

This study represents a two-part, sequential order mixed-methods project which identified and comparatively analyzed the reading strategies of high school seniors. In order to determine the use of online reading strategies, students were surveyed regarding their use of online reading strategies, print reading strategies, and internet use habits. Standardized reading comprehension scores were also used in the analysis. It was hypothesized that readers who were highly strategic when reading print texts would also be highly strategic when reading online texts and that students who spent more time per week online and who scored higher on measures of reading comprehension would be more strategic and utilize more strategies while reading online texts. A subset of students was selected to participate in think-aloud protocols, giving voice to both strategy and thought as they navigated and read online texts. These verbal reports were qualitatively analyzed and compared to the framework of 'during reading' strategiesSchool of Teaching and Curriculum Leadershi

Assessing the metacognitive awareness of online reading strategies among pre-university students

To achieve successful comprehension, a student has to be fully responsible of their own reading. However, being able to read proficiently carries a greater meaning now as more online materials are involved. Many students have been discovered to have difficulties mastering these non-linear readings as it requires more sophisticated strategies compared to conventional linear readings. It is believed that being aware of one’s strategies could improve the quality of their comprehension and due to that, it is the objective of this study to find out the metacognitive online reading strategy awareness of the participants involved by using Survey of Online Reading Strategies (OSORS) established by Anderson (2003). 495 pre-university students in a Malaysian public university were chosen to be the participants of this study. At the time of the study, they were taking English Language course and English is their second language. From the study, it was discovered that all the participants were aware of most of the online reading strategies but with a very different level of awareness. The strategies under the Problem Solving (PROB) strategy was the highest and this category involves the use of specific techniques when readers encounter problems while reading online. The students involved portrayed their least involvement with the strategies under Support Strategy (SUP) where tools such as live chatting, note taking, and using pictures and graphs are used in assisting their online reading. Due to the inconsistency in the level of awareness discovered in the findings, it is concluded that metacognitive online reading strategies need to be included in the teaching curriculum and teachers too need to be aware and be an expert in utilising the strategies

Hypnotised by Gutenberg? A report on the reading habits of some learners in academia

Against a background of poor levels of literacy throughout the education system, the dual purpose of this study was to identify reading practices of successful students at tertiary level and to report on sound reading practices that need to be implemented to improve the comprehension of learners in academia. The article reports on the culture of reading of some undergraduate Linguistics students at Unisa, an Open Distance Learning (ODL) institution. Specific text-processing skills were examined within the sociocultural context in which reading takes place. To fully understandreading behaviour at tertiary level, reading practices at primary school in South Africa, as reported on in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Baer et al., 2007), are also mentioned. To provide background to the literacy problem in South Africa, reading practices observed at schools in South Africa are reported on. The findings indicate that individuals, who read more and are aware of what they do when they read, perform better academically

How do students read on the Internet in the new technological era?

The principal focus of this investigation is to discuss how EFL students read on the Internet after completing a Cybertask. Our main concern is to find out how students read on the Internet in the new technological era. Nowadays we are going through a great technological revolution that makes us being concerned about the English Language as a Foreign Language education. For this reason, we deem necessary to apply our knowledge during the reading process (Schmar-Dobler, 2003) and promote the reading capacity of texts (Luzón & Ruiz-Madrid, 2008; Luzón, Ruiz-Madrid & Villanueva, 2010; Girón-García & Gaspar, 2012). Furthermore, this paper focuses on two features: (a) how students handle the great amount of information they find on the Web; and (b) how they select the most appropriate information according to their task objectives. In order to get relevant results, a group of university students of the English Studies degree at ‘Universitat Jaume I’ (Spain) worked on an English task-based activity (i.e. ‘Cybertask’) during their class regular time. They also took into account a number of Websites provided by the teacher and following they completed a Self-Assessment Questionnaire in order to evaluate both their task process and task result. Finally, the main aim is to analyse how students read (‘Reading Modes’) in a digital context when they face task-based activities (Girón-García, 2013). However, our study goes beyond the classification of Internet users (‘Knowledge Seekers’, ‘Feature Explorers’, and ‘Apathetic Hypertext Users’) (Anderson-Inman & Hoerney, 1993; Bowdish et al., 1994; Lawless & Kulikowich, 1996)

THE USE OF A METACOGNITIVE TOOL IN AN ONLINE SOCIAL SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: AN ACTIVITY THEORY ANALYSIS

This investigation is an exploratory study of the use of a metacognitive software tool in a social supportive learning environment. The tool combined metacognitive knowledge and regulation functionality embedded within the content of an eight week online graduate education course. Twenty-three learners, who were practicing teachers, used the tool. Prior knowledge of metacognition, including responses to the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison, 1994), was obtained. Prior knowledge of community instructional approaches was also obtained. Learner interviews focused on the mediational aspects of the metacognitive tool and the social supportive learning environment, as well as an evaluation of the tool. Content analysis, combined with an activity theory framework, was used to analyze data. Findings are organized around three main themes: prior knowledge, the usability of the tool from design and technical perspectives, and the effectiveness of the tool related to its design principles. The practicing teachers were found to be knowledgeable about metacognition and community; however, this knowledge did not often translate into successful instruction. Learners found the metacognitive tool easy to use, but had difficulty with its design for conversation. They found activity theory disconnections between the tool and other course tools, and found the other tools more successful at creating community. The tool was evaluated as equally useful for metacognitive knowledge and regulation, and more useful for more complex domain content than less complex content. Learners also found the tool useful for modeling the design of metacognitive instruction for their own teaching. Conclusions are offered for improvements to metacognitive instruction in general and in particular for the use of cognitive tools in a social supportive online learning environment

Exploring ESL students’ perceptions of their digital reading skills

This study investigates English language learners’ interaction with paper text and web text reading. Four main research questions shape the study: 1) What evidence exists to suggest that ESL learners use different strategies when reading printed text as opposed to reading web text? 2) What metacognitive strategies do ESL students use and report when reading and learning from printed and web-based texts? 3) What issues do ESL learners identify in relation to their use of the Internet? and 4) What are the implications for ESL pedagogy? While research has increasingly been focused on second language reading, it has primarily been centered on how the learner interacts and decodes printed text. However, little research has been conducted on how the English language learner processes web text, navigates the Internet, or evaluates and comprehends what he/she is reading through the use of digital literacy skills and metacognitive strategies. The intention of this study was to gain insight into the online reading strategies of English language learners in order to explore if there was a need for the Teaching of English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL) profession to teach digital literacy in the language classroom. A subjectivist approach was used to examine the metacognitive online reading strategies of intermediate and upper intermediate ESL students. The present writer acted in the role of both workshop facilitator and researcher during the eight-week study between September and November 2011. Data were drawn from the researcher’s observation notes, interviews with the student participants, group discussions, and student participants’ journals. As a result, data generation included both public views (expressed orally through interviews) and private and reflective views (expressed through journal writing). Thus, the data contained both real time and ex post facto viewpoints. The central voices heard were the researcher and the student participants. The research methodology for the study was interpretive and qualitative. Data triangulation was achieved through a series of interviews and text analysis. The findings of this thesis suggest that while students may appear digitally literate enough to randomly surf the Net, they lack sufficient skills to effectively research and evaluate information online. In addition, the study shows that language learners engage in characteristically different reading practices and strategies when reading print and web text. The research also indicates that there is a need for digital literacy skills to be taught in conjunction with the teaching of the target language in the TESOL settings studied. Recommended pedagogical practices include suggestions to teach digital literacies in conjunction with print-based literacy practices; to provide both TESOL teachers-in-training and seasoned TESOL educators the means to develop digital literacy skills through formal instruction or through professional development workshops; to emphasize the need for lifelong learning of digital skills to keep current with the constant changes and development of digital technology; to reshape TESOL curricula to accommodate digital literacy and language teaching practices to meet the needs of the language classroom in the 21st century; to create literacy lesson sequences that will help the language learner develop, strengthen, and apply critical reading strategies; and to promote the wider adoption of more interactive teaching