Search

Dynamic subject matter can be portrayed to learners in the form of either static or dynamic depictions. Two plausible bases for choosing a depiction format are alignment with the subject matter's dynamics, or the specific affordances a depiction provides for performing a particular learning output task. Experimental participants viewed an ordered set of eight images depicting key stages of a kangaroo hop presented in a dynamic, successive or simultaneous format. Control participants viewed no presentation. The output task required participants to rearrange a random sequence of the eight kangaroo images into the correct order of a kangaroo hop. Those who viewed the successive presentation were most successful in placing the images in their correct order while those in the dynamic condition were least successful. The results contradict the prevailing instructional design orthodoxy that the dynamic properties of a depiction should be aligned with the dynamic nature of the referent content. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles in this special issue present data, theory and applications of the field of Discourse Processes. This commentary identifies some of the challenges this field has faced in its attempt to understand the mechanisms of discourse comprehension and production to scale up the research to applications. The prevailing models emphasize the interaction between data-driven and conceptually driven processes and the importance of representational constraints in guiding discourse processing. The field embraces a wide range of methodologies that are illustrated in this special issue, including brain imaging, eye tracking, thing aloud protocols, reading times, recall, summarization and question answering. The tasks include text comprehension, search through large repositories of electronic texts and learning from advanced multimedia environments. The major claim in the commentary is that researchers need to conduct deeper analyses of the information in the materials (texts, tasks) and world knowledge before they can offer defensible generalizations about cognitive processes and real world applications. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]