Active Learning: Effects of Core Training Design Elements on Self-Regulatory Processes, Learning, and Adaptability

This research describes a comprehensive examination of the cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes underlying active learning approaches, their effects on learning and transfer, and the core training design elements (exploration, training frame, emotion-control) and individual differences (cognitive ability, trait goal orientation, trait anxiety) that shape these processes. Participants (N = 350) were trained to operate a complex computer-based simulation. Exploratory learning and error-encouragement framing had a positive effect on adaptive transfer performance and interacted with cognitive ability and dispositional goal orientation to influence trainees’ metacognition and state goal orientation. Trainees who received the emotion-control strategy had lower levels of state anxiety. Implications for developing an integrated theory of active learning, learner-centered design, and research extensions are discussed

The triple task technique for studying writing processes : on which task is attention focused ?

The triple task technique measures the time and cognitive effort devoted to specific writing processes by combining directed retrospection with secondary task reaction time (RT). Writing a text is the primary task and rapidly detecting auditory probes to index cognitive effort is the secondary task. The third task is retrospecting and categorizing the contents of working memory at the time of each probe. The present paper reviews studies on the reactivity and validity of the technique. Further, one recent criticism of the method's validity is tested here: namely, that the primary task for the experimenter is not the primary task for the writer, thus distorting the time and effort measurements. We found that time and effort allocated to planning, translating, executing, evaluating, and revising was the same when the writer was encouraged by instructions to focus either on the speed of responding or the accuracy of retrospection instead of the text itself. Because writing requires sustained thought and attention to produce a cumulative product, it is apparently difficult to make text production anything but the primary task. The triple task technique offers a useful alternative to pause analysis and verbal protocols for investigating the functional features of writing

ESL and LD students: Diverse Populations, Common Concerns

The university writing center serves students with a diverse range of skill levels, learning styles, and linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The two most diverse groups of students who visit our offices regularly are students for whom English is a second language (ESL) and students with learning disabilities (LD). This diversity presents itself both in the scope of their needs at all stages of the writing process (brainstorming, fluency, sentence structure, organization, grammar, etc.) and the varying degree to which they need assistance in these and other areas. Although ESL and LD students’ writing concerns are often different from one another, these two groups nonetheless encounter common difficulties in language fluency, comprehension, organization, and familiarity with the rhetorical patterns of academic writing in English.University Writing Cente

Writing Assignments with a Metacognitive Component Enhance Learning in a Large Introductory Biology Course

Writing assignments, including note taking and written recall, should enhance retention of knowledge, whereas analytical writing tasks with metacognitive aspects should enhance higher-order thinking. In this study, we assessed how certain writing-intensive “interventions,” such as written exam corrections and peer-reviewed writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review and including a metacognitive component, improve student learning. We designed and tested the possible benefits of these approaches using control and experimental variables across and between our three-section introductory biology course. Based on assessment, students who corrected exam questions showed significant improvement on postexam assessment compared with their nonparticipating peers. Differences were also observed between students participating in written and discussion-based exercises. Students with low ACT scores benefited equally from written and discussion-based exam corrections, whereas students with midrange to high ACT scores benefited more from written than discussion-based exam corrections. Students scored higher on topics learned via peer-reviewed writing assignments relative to learning in an active classroom discussion or traditional lecture. However, students with low ACT scores (17–23) did not show the same benefit from peer-reviewed written essays as the other students. These changes offer significant student learning benefits with minimal additional effort by the instructors

A case study on how language learning strategies are fostered in an EFL chilean classroom context

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)This mixed-methods case study attempted to explore how Language Learning Strategies (LLS) are fostered within a secondary level Chilean EFL public school context, based on a teacher’s pedagogical actions. Through empirical observation, task analysis, and an interview, this thesis intended to unveil the rationale behind the predominance of certain LLS at expense of others. Previous studies and literature served as a reference to later on determine potential cohesion between background records and first-hand evidence, which proved to be in relative alignment. Accordingly, this paper looked forward to extrapolating thoughts and assumptions the teacher had about that strategy-fostering bias with objective information evidenced through the development of the tasks carried out during the observation period. The results drew a tendency placing Memory strategies among the rest as the most fostered category, whereas Compensation befell to be the least favored LLS category overall.El propósito de este estudio de caso con un enfoque de investigación mixto fue explorar el desarrollo de la promoción de Estrategias del Estudio de la Lengua (Language Learning Strategies) dentro de una clase de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera (EFL) en un curso/nivel de educación secundaria inmerso en el contexto de un establecimiento educacional público chileno basado en las acciones pedagógicas del profesor a cargo. A través de observaciones empíricas, análisis de actividades y una entrevista, la intención de esta tesis fue develar la lógica tras la predominancia de ciertas Estratégias del Estudio de la Lengua en desmedro de otras. Varios artículos, tesis y otros tipos de documentos literarios sirvieron como referencia para posteriormente determinar la cohesión entre estos precedentes y la evidencia empírica recolectada, la cual ha probado estar en relativa concordancia. Por consiguiente, este documento buscó extrapolar la subjetividad de las reflexiones y suposiciones que el profesor-muestra del caso en cuestión fue capaz de dilucidar respecto a la tendencia a parcializar la promoción de ciertas estrategias con información objetiva obtenida a través del análisis de las instrucciones y actividades desarrolladas por el profesor durante el periodo de observación. Los resultados arrojaron tendencias favoreciendo a las estrategias de Memoria por encima del resto como la categoría más fomentada, mientras que las estrategias de Compensación resultaron ser aquellas con menos rodaje

Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum

The field of specialization known as the science of learning is not, in fact, one field. Science of learning is a term that serves as an umbrella for many lines of research, theory, and application. A term with an even wider reach is Learning Sciences (Sawyer, 2006). The present book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings (Science of Instruction, Mayer 2011). Although much, but not all, of what is presented in this book is focused on learning in college and university settings, teachers of all academic levels may find the recommendations made by chapter authors of service. The overarching theme of this book is on the interplay between the science of learning, the science of instruction, and the science of assessment (Mayer, 2011). The science of learning is a systematic and empirical approach to understanding how people learn. More formally, Mayer (2011) defined the science of learning as the “scientific study of how people learn” (p. 3). The science of instruction (Mayer 2011), informed in part by the science of learning, is also on display throughout the book. Mayer defined the science of instruction as the “scientific study of how to help people learn” (p. 3). Finally, the assessment of student learning (e.g., learning, remembering, transferring knowledge) during and after instruction helps us determine the effectiveness of our instructional methods. Mayer defined the science of assessment as the “scientific study of how to determine what people know” (p.3). Most of the research and applications presented in this book are completed within a science of learning framework. Researchers first conducted research to understand how people learn in certain controlled contexts (i.e., in the laboratory) and then they, or others, began to consider how these understandings could be applied in educational settings. Work on the cognitive load theory of learning, which is discussed in depth in several chapters of this book (e.g., Chew; Lee and Kalyuga; Mayer; Renkl), provides an excellent example that documents how science of learning has led to valuable work on the science of instruction. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology. We might have selected other topics (and, thus, other authors) that have their research base in behavior analysis, computational modeling and computer science, neuroscience, etc. We made the selections we did because the work of our authors ties together nicely and seemed to us to have direct applicability in academic settings

Metacognitive instruction does improve listening comprehension

This paper reports on a small-scale study, which looked into the impact of metacognitive instruction on listeners’ comprehension. Twenty-eight adult, Iranian, high-intermediate level EFL listeners participated in a “strategy-based” approach of advance organisation, directed attention, selective attention, and self-management in each of four listening lessons focused on improving listeners’ comprehension of IELTS listening texts. A comparison of pretest and posttest scores showed that the “less-skilled” listeners improved more than “more-skilled” listeners in the IELTS listening tests. Findings also supported the view that metacognitive instruction assisted listeners in considering the process of listening input and promoting listening comprehension ability

Toward a Theory of Learner-Centered Training Design: An Integrative Framework of Active Learning

[Excerpt] The goal of this chapter, therefore, is to develop an integrative conceptual framework of active learning, and we do this by focusing on three primary issues. First, we define the active learning approach and contrast it to more traditional, passive instructional approaches. We argue that the active learning approach can be distinguished from not only more passive approaches to instruction but also other forms of experiential learning based on its use of formal training components to systematically influence trainees\u27 cognitive, motivational, and emotion self-regulatory processes. Second, we examine how specific training components can be used to influence each of these process domains. Through a review of prior research, we extract core training components that cut across different active learning interventions, map these components onto specific process domains, and consider the role of individual differences in shaping the effects of these components (aptitude-treatment interactions [ATIs]). A final issue examined in this chapter concerns the outcomes associated with the active learning approach. Despite its considerable versatility, the active learning approach is not the most efficient or effective means of responding to all training needs. Thus, we discuss the impact of the active learning approach on different types of learning outcomes in order to identify the situations under which it is likely to demonstrate the greatest utility. We conclude the chapter by highlighting research and practical implications of our integrated framework, and we outline an agenda for future research on active learning