Children’s Macro-Level Navigation Patterns in Hypermedia and their Relation with Task Structure and Learning Outcomes

This study investigated macro-level navigation patterns in children’s hypermedia learning, and how they related to task structure and learning outcomes. For this purpose, 5th and 6th grade learners performed a hypermedia assignment in which a high (n=57) versus a low (n=54) level of structure was provided. By means of qualitative analyses of their navigation activities, 6 macro-level navigation patterns were distinguished: linear reading, selective reading, video viewing, massed writing, late onset writing, and unpredictable reading. Results showed that the linear reading pattern was more frequent in the high structure environment, and that both the high structure environment and the linear reading pattern were associated with the highest quality of the children’s written assignments. Navigation patterns and task structure did not clearly predict children’s declarative knowledge gains or knowledge transfer. These findings show that there are multiple ways to navigate through a hypermedia environment, but that these are not all equally successful for learning. Moreover, the provided task structure in the environment may affect the occurrence of successful navigation patterns

Understanding variation in prospective poor decoders : A person-centred approach from Kindergarten to Grade 2

In the present study, we aimed to clarify variation in prospective poor decoders by studying the development of their word decoding skills during the first 1½ years of formal reading education and their unique pre-reading profiles before the onset of formal reading education. Using structural equation modelling and a factorial mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA), we found autoregression and growth in the word decoding efficiency of prospective poor decoders (n = 90) and matched prospective adequate decoders (n = 90) in first and second grade. However, the gap between the two groups widened over time. Next, we zoomed in on the group of poor decoders by retrospectively studying their individual variation regarding cognitive and linguistic pre-reading skills. Using latent profile analysis, we found three distinct pre-reading profiles: (1) Poor PA, Letter Knowledge, RAN, and Verbal STM; (2) Poor PA and Letter Knowledge; and (3) Poor RAN. Together, these findings suggest that reading difficulties emerge at the intersection of multiple risk factors which can be detected in kindergarten, and that these reading problems persist throughout early reading education

Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe

This open access book provides teachers with approaches to strengthen reading comprehension instruction based on scientific research and evidence-based didactic principles. In this volume, the Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) framework is used to inform teachers about the skills and knowledge that students need to comprehend certain texts. The book gives practical guidance on how a teacher can help students to learn these skills, specifically, when teaching reading to multilingual students. Good practices from schools in five participating PIRLS countries—Chile, Chinese Taipei, England, Georgia, and Spain—are shared. A description of the schools’ education in reading comprehension is provided with practical tips and example lessons. These insights into daily reading education in multilingual classrooms across the globe can be an inspiration to teachers all over the world

Sequential implicit learning ability predicts growth in reading skills in typical readers and children with dyslexia

This study investigated in a longitudinal design how 74 Dutch children with dyslexia and 39 typically developing peers differed in sequential versus spatial implicit learning and overnight consolidation, and it examined whether implicit learning related to (pseudo)word reading development in Grades 5 and 6. The results showed that sequential, but not spatial, learning predicted growth in reading skills in children with and without dyslexia. Sequential implicit learning was also related to growth in pseudoword reading skills during an intervention in children with dyslexia, retrospectively. Furthermore, children with dyslexia had longer reaction times in general but did not differ from typical readers in how well or how quickly they learned either on an implicit learning task or in their overnight consolidation

Integrating a WebQuest in the Primary School Curriculum Using Anchored Instruction. CORELL: Computer Resources for

Abstract. Based on a literature review, a means for integrating WebQuests in day-to-day school activities is introduced using principles of Anchored Instruction. Following these ideas in an effect study, including 109 children in 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grade, significant learning gains were found, with a large effect size. Differences in learning gain were found between groups of children from different teachers, and reading comprehension was an important predictor of learning gain. The study gives strong support for a more integrated approach in which learning to search for meaningful information and processing this information is part of the more general educational curriculum

Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe

This open access book provides teachers with approaches to strengthen reading comprehension instruction based on scientific research and evidence-based didactic principles. In this volume, the Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) framework is used to inform teachers about the skills and knowledge that students need to comprehend certain texts. The book gives practical guidance on how a teacher can help students to learn these skills, specifically, when teaching reading to multilingual students. Good practices from schools in five participating PIRLS countries—Chile, Chinese Taipei, England, Georgia, and Spain—are shared. A description of the schools’ education in reading comprehension is provided with practical tips and example lessons. These insights into daily reading education in multilingual classrooms across the globe can be an inspiration to teachers all over the world

Understanding variation in prospective poor decoders: A person-centred approach from kindergarten to Grade 2

In the present study, we aimed to clarify variation in prospective poor decoders by studying the development of their word decoding skills during the first 1½ years of formal reading education and their unique pre-reading profiles before the onset of formal reading education. Using structural equation modelling and a factorial mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA), we found autoregression and growth in the word decoding efficiency of prospective poor decoders (n = 90) and matched prospective adequate decoders (n = 90) in first and second grade. However, the gap between the two groups widened over time. Next, we zoomed in on the group of poor decoders by retrospectively studying their individual variation regarding cognitive and linguistic pre-reading skills. Using latent profile analysis, we found three distinct pre-reading profiles: (1) Poor PA, Letter Knowledge, RAN, and Verbal STM; (2) Poor PA and Letter Knowledge; and (3) Poor RAN. Together, these findings suggest that reading difficulties emerge at the intersection of multiple risk factors which can be detected in kindergarten, and that these reading problems persist throughout early reading education

Effects of Elaborate Feedback During Practice Tests:Costs and Benefits of Retrieval Prompts

This study explores the effect of feedback with hints on students’ recall of words. In three classroom experiments, high school students individually practiced vocabulary words through computerized retrieval practice with either standard show-answer feedback (display of answer) or hints feedback after incorrect responses. Hints feedback gave students a second chance to find the correct response using orthographic (Experiment 1), mnemonic (Experiment 2), or cross-language hints (Experiment 3). During practice, hints led to a shift of practice time from further repetitions to longer feedback processing but did not reduce (repeated) errors. There was no effect of feedback on later recall except when the hints from practice were also available on the test, indicating limited transfer of practice with hints to later recall without hints (in Experiments 1 and 2). Overall, hints feedback was not preferable over show-answer feedback. The common notion that hints are beneficial may not hold when the total practice time is limited