Student questioning : a componential analysis

This article reviews the literature on student questioning, organized through a modified version of Dillon's (1988a, 1990) componential model of questioning. Special attention is given to the properties of assumptions, questions, and answers. Each of these main elements are the result of certain actions of the questioner, which are described. Within this framework a variety of aspects of questioning are highlighted. One focus of the article is individual differences in question asking. The complex interactions between students' personal characteristics, social factors, and questioning are examined. In addition, a number of important but neglected topics for research are identified. Together, the views that are presented should deepen our understanding of student questioning

Screen captures to support switching attention

The study set out to validate the supportive role of screen captures for switching attention. Forty-two participants learned how to work with Microsoft Excel with a paper manual. There were three types of manuals: a textual manual, a visual manual with full-screen captures, and a visual manual with a mixture of partial- and full-screen captures. The findings show that participants in all conditions looked up from the manual to the screen on about 97% of the cases in which such a switch was called for rank order analyses showed that users of the visual manuals switched attention significantly more often than did users of the textual manual. No differences were found between conditions on learning effects and training time

Designing and evaluating procedural instructions with the four components model.

Procedures form the heart of user instructions, tutorials, reference guides, job-aids, online help, way-finding instructions, medicine prescriptions, and so on. This paper summarizes the four component model, which is intended to integrate best practices and research outcomes

Assessment of the minimalist approach to computer user documentation

The minimalist approach (Carroll, 1990a) advocates the development of a radically different type of manual when compared to a conventional one. For example, the manual should proceed almost directly to procedural skills development rather than building a conceptual model first. It ought to focus on authentic tasks practised in context, as opposed to mock exercises and isolated practice. In addition, it should stimulate users to exploit their knowledge and thinking, as opposed to imposing the writer's view and discussing everything that users should see or know.\ud \ud In the first part of the paper the construction of a tutorial based on the minimalist principles is described. A parallel is drawn with constructivism with which minimalism shares important notions of instruction. In the second part, an experiment is described in which the minimal manual was tested against a conventional one. The outcome favoured the new manual. For example, minimal manual users completed about 50% more tasks successfully on a performance test and displayed significantly more self-reliance (e.g. more self-initiated error-recoveries, and fewer manual consultations)

QuikScan Formatting as a Means to Improve Text Recall

Purpose – QuikScan is an innovative text format that employs three prominent signaling devices – summaries, headings, and access cues – to make the reading of medium-to-long texts more productive. The experiments reported in this paper aim to examine the claim that QuikScan contributes to text recall. Design/methodology/approach – In two consecutive experiments a QuikScanned text (experimental condition) was compared to a non-QuickScanned text (control condition). In Experiment one, 41 university students read the text and then answered ten open recall questions. In Experiment two, 58 university students read the text and then wrote a summary and answered four recall questions. Findings – In Experiment one, a statistically significant overall effect on text recall favoring QuikScan was found. Detailed analyses revealed that QuikScan mainly affected the readers' responses to higher-order questions (d = 1.24). Experiment two showed that QuikScan led to significantly higher recall scores for the summaries. Just as in the first experiment, a strong effect on the higher-order questions was found (d = 1.27)

Effects of practice with videos for software training

This study investigated the contribution of practice in learning from Demonstration-Based Training (DBT) videos for software training. An experiment with three conditions is reported: practice followed by video (practice-video), video followed by practice (videopractice), and video only. The combination of practice and video was expected to enhance learning more than the video only condition. Also, practice-after was expected to be more effective than practice-before. The 82 participants, elementary students (mean age 11.2), achieved significant learning gains, reaching moderate to high levels of success on the immediate and delayed post-tests, and the transfer test. No practice effect was found. Also, there was no difference in test performance between practice conditions. The discussion advances several options for enhancing the effectiveness of the DBT-videos

Ten misconceptions about minimalism

We describe ten common misconceptions about the minimalist approach to documentation design. For each, we analyze how the misconception arises from plausible interpretations of minimalist principles and heuristics. We then clarify how each misconception deviates from minimalism, as we understand it. Analysis and discussion of creative elaborations of minimalism-including "misconceptions"-can promote a sharper concept of what minimalism is

The effects of screen captures in manuals: A textual and two visual manuals compared.

The study examines the use of screen captures in manuals. Three designs of manuals were compared, one textual and two visual manuals. The two visual manuals differed in the type of screen capture that was used. One had screen captures that showed only the relevant part of the screen, whereas the other consisted of captures of the full screen. All manuals contained exactly the same textual information. We examined the time used on carrying out procedures (manual used as a job aid) and the results on retention tests (manual used for learning). We expected to find a trade-off between gain in time and learning effects. That is, we expected that higher scores on the retention tests involved an increase in time used and, vice versa, that gains in time would lead to lower retention test scores. We also explored the influence of manual design on user motivation. For job-aid purposes, there were no differences between manuals. For learning, the full-screen captures manual and the textual manual were significantly better than the partial-screen captures manual. There was no proof for the expected trade-off. More learning was not caused by an increase in time used. We found no effects on user motivation. This study does not yield convincing evidence to support the presence of screen captures in manuals. However, if one wants to include screen captures, this study gives clarity for the type of screen capture to choose. The use of full-screen captures is preferable to partial ones. Finally, we conclude that documentation designed to expedite the execution of tasks does not necessarily hamper the learning that may resul

"Do screen captures in manuals make a difference?": a comparison between textual and visual manuals

Examines the use of screen captures in manuals. Three types of manuals were compared: one textual and two visual. The two visual manuals differed in the type of screen capture that was used. One had screen captures that showed only the relevant part of the screen, whereas the other consisted of captures of the full screen. All manuals contained exactly the same textual information. We examined immediate use on time (use as a job aid) and on learning (use as a teacher). For job-aid purposes, there was no difference between the manuals. The visual manual with full-screen captures and the textual manual were both better for learning than the visual manual with partial screen captures. We found no effect on user motivation. The tentative conclusion of this study is that screen captures seem not to be vital for learning or immediate use. If one opts for including screen captures, then the conclusion is that full-screen captures are better than partial one