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Computer programming provides a framework for interdisciplinary learning in sciences, arts and languages. However, increasing integration of programming in K–12 shows that the block-based and text-based dichotomy of programming environments does not reflect the spectrum of their affordance. Hence, educators are confronted with a fundamental hurdle of matching programming environments with learners' cognitive abilities and learning objectives. This study addresses this challenge by analyzing 111 articles evaluating the affordances of programming environments to identify both structural and theoretical models to support educators' choice of programming environments. The following dimensions of programming environments were identified: connectivity mode, interface natural language, language inheritance, age appropriateness, cost of environment, output interface, input interface, and project types. For each of these dimensions, the synthesis of the literature ranged from examining its nature and effect on learning programming to the implications of choosing an environment and the critical gaps that future studies should address. The findings offer instructors useful parameters to compare and assess programming environments' suitability and alignment with learning objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experience with instances that vary in their surface features helps individuals to form abstract task knowledge, leading to transfer of that knowledge to novel contexts. The current study sought to examine the role of this variability effect in how adults and school-aged children learn to engage cognitive control. We focused on the engagement of cognitive control in advance (proactive control) and in response to conflicts (reactive control) in a cued task-switching paradigm, and conducted four preregistered online experiments with adults (Experiment 1A: N = 100, Experiment 1B: N = 105) and 9- to 10-year-olds (Experiment 2A: N = 98, Experiment 2B: N = 97). It was shown that prior task experience of engaging reactive control makes both adults and 9- to 10-year-olds respond more slowly in a subsequent similar-structured condition with different stimuli in which proactive control could have been engaged. 9- to 10-year-olds (Experiment 2B) exhibited more negative transfer of a reactive control mode when uninformative cue and pre-target stimuli, which do not convey task-relevant information, were changed in each block, compared with when they were fixed. Furthermore, adults showed suggestive evidence of the variability effect both when cue and target stimuli were varied (Experiment 1A) and when uninformative cue and pre-target stimuli were varied (Experiment 1B). The collective findings of these experiments provide important insights into the contribution of stimulus variability to the engagement of cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of AI-assisted language learning (AIAL) strategies on cognitive load and learning outcomes in the context of language acquisition. Specifically, the study explores three distinct AIAL strategies: personalized feedback and adaptive learning, interactive exercises with speech recognition, and intelligent tutoring with data-driven insights. The research employs a pretest-posttest random assignment experimental design, utilizing three experimental groups and a control group, with a total of 484 EFL students specializing in teaching English as a foreign language participating in the study. Data collection involves pre- and post-tests, questionnaires, and interviews to assess the influence of AIAL strategies on cognitive load and learning outcomes. Cognitive load is measured using the Cognitive Load Scale, while pretest-posttest assessments evaluate the efficacy of AIAL interventions across various language skills. These results contribute to the existing body of AIAL research by offering empirical evidence for the effectiveness of specific strategies in optimizing language learning experiences. The implications of this study extend to educators, researchers, and developers in the field of AIAL, emphasizing the potential of AIAL to enhance language acquisition processes and inform instructional design practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' knowledge of the socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) process of learners, which consists of the task analysis, planning, elaboration, and monitoring, can help teachers intervene when students face difficulties during the collaborative learning. Students' academic emotions have major effects on their learning motivation, cognition, and performance. This study investigated the changes in SSRL, academic emotions, and product performance of high-, medium-, and low-level groups students after they visited an educational technology center and collaboratively designed a learning environment. We recruited 36 juniors majoring in educational technology. Online group discussions were recorded using online chat tools, and a heuristic mining algorithm was employed on this chat data to determine SSRL processes. The participants were asked to express opinions on their major, and this feedback was used to obtain academic emotion information. Additionally, a scoring was employed to measure the participants' product performance. The high-level group was discovered to exhibit all four SSRL phases and exhibit positive emotions, with activating emotions more common than deactivating emotions. SSRL was discovered to be related to academic performance; higher academic performance correlated with a more standardized SSRL process. Additionally, the higher a participants' academic performance, the more frequently the participant had positive academic emotions. Overall, the learners in the high-level group paid more attention to the collaborative learning task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual learning strategies evoke (meta-)cognitive processes that enable effective goal-directed learning. Peer-directed academic help-seeking may provide new information, but related interaction processes are challenging. Applying learning strategies during help-seeking may enhance academic success. Competence in using social resources requires conditional knowledge about which strategy fits best for achieving a pursued goal. In this paper, a Situational Judgment Instrument to assess this competence and empirical data regarding the instrument's subscales are presented. A first study with 38 undergraduates showed that organization and rehearsal were the easiest to identify correctly. Elaboration, evaluation, and argumentation on the other hand were more difficult to distinguish. In a second study with 120 first-semester students a hypothesized moderating effect of the competence on the link between help-seeking and academic success was not found. However, competence degree showed to be positively associated with students' satisfaction but not with academic achievement. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of embedded questions in pre-class instructional videos on learner perceptions (cognitive load, emotional engagement, satisfaction, judgement of learning), video engagement (total views, total viewing time), and learning performance (retention, transfer). The research occurred in a real flipped classroom environment. We designed a quasi-experiment in which 86 university students from two natural classes watched pre-class instructional videos featuring procedural knowledge with or without interpolated true or false questions. Students were asked to practice the operation steps introduced in the videos. While they practiced operations, they could either pause the videos or let the videos continue playing. Face-to-face contact time was utilised to consolidate and extend previewed content with student-centred, instructor-facilitated problem-solving activities. Results revealed no discernible effects from embedded questions in pre-class videos on cognitive load, emotional engagement, satisfaction, judgement of learning, total views, knowledge retention or knowledge transfer. We speculate that the various in-class practice activities and frequent access to procedural knowledge videos offset the cognitive benefits derived from question-embedded videos. Learners who viewed question-embedded videos presented significantly reduced total viewing time, likely because the embedded questions scaffolded them in sustaining attention and efficiently pinpointing the exact information needed. Future research should identify boundary conditions for embedding questions in instructional videos (e.g. learning mode, type of knowledge) rather than indiscriminately applying this design strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research study was to examine the overall effect of adaptive learning systems deployed using artificial intelligence technology across a range of relevant variables (e.g., duration, student level, etc.). Following a systematic procedure, this meta-analysis examined literature from 18 academic databases and identified N = 45 independent studies utilizing AI-enabled adaptive learning. This meta-analysis examined the overall effect of AI-enabled adaptive learning systems on students' cognitive learning outcomes when compared with non-adaptive learning interventions and found that they have a medium to large positive effect size (g = 0.70). The effect was significantly moderated by publication type, origin of study, student classification level, student discipline, duration, and research design. In addition, all three adaptive sources (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) and adaptive targets (navigation and assessment) were significant moderators. The type of AI used in the adaptive engine did not moderate the effects. Implications for both practice and research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experiential learning environments are beneficial for the development of generic learning outcomes, such as critical thinking, communication, and self-regulation. However, research about the variation in experiential learning activities and their benefits is scattered across several bodies of discipline-specific literature. Purpose: The aim is to map the design elements of experiential learning environments across domains and to uncover their relation with generic learning outcomes. Methodology/Approach: Using a scoping review study, 22 studies were subjected to qualitative analysis. Findings/Conclusions: The design elements were related to authenticity, structure, and agency, and learning outcomes in the cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and socio-communicative domain. Confidence and communication skills were the most often included learning outcomes, followed by teamwork and problem-solving. The design elements that were most prominently present across learning outcomes were related to individual agency within group work during the activity and authenticity represented in interactions with peers. Further, we identified seven patterns about how design elements relate to generic learning outcomes. Implications: Addressing the design of experiential learning environments on a more fine-grained level is needed to increase insights of which generic learning outcomes are being fostered, and to enhance comparability of research findings within and between types of experiential learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical learning is a powerful mechanism that enables the rapid extraction of regularities from sensory inputs. Although numerous studies have established that statistical learning serves a wide range of cognitive functions, it remains unknown whether statistical learning impacts conscious access. To address this question, we applied multiple paradigms in a series of experiments (A= 153 adults): Two reaction-time-based breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) experiments showed that probable objects break through suppression faster than improbable objects. A preregistered accuracy-based b-CFS experiment showed higher localization accuracy for suppressed probable (versus improbable) objects under identical presentation durations, thereby excluding the possibility of processing differences emerging after conscious access (e.g., criterion shifts). Consistent with these findings, a supplemental visual-masking experiment reaffirmed higher localization sensitivity to probable objects over improbable objects. Together, these findings demonstrate that statistical learning alters the competition for scarce conscious resources, thereby potentially contributing to established effects of statistical learning on higher-level cognitive processes that require consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality mathematics learning is more than just the acquisition of mastery in different topical themes; rather, it involves successful acquisition of mathematical proficiency, which espouses a number of cognitive attributes—for example, a student's critical insight of a mathematical concept (e.g., productive disposition). Despite the pivotal role of mathematical proficiency in mathematics curriculum, syllabus requirements fall short of highlighting the design of appropriate instructional approaches that could specifically facilitate the acquisition of different mathematical proficiency strands. The present conceptual analysis article discusses the design of comparative instructional approaches that are based on two well-documented learning theories: (1) learning by comparison theory, such as the active comparison of isomorphic example pairs, and (2) cognitive load theory, such as the use of worked examples to reduce the negative impact of cognitive load imposition on learning. We premise that appropriate instructional approaches, informed by the use of both learning by comparison theory and cognitive load theory, may help to facilitate successful acquisition of multifaceted proficiency strands in mathematics learning. As revealed in the latter sections of the article, our proposed theoretical contention is significant, potentially establishing grounding for future research development and to help complement constructivist learning in the acquisition of mathematical proficiency strands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every learning process is an affective experience. Affect is central in experiencing learning as uncertainty. This article proposes an internal integration of affect into the learning process. The main concepts of learning are articulated with a take on the reflection framework and a dynamic and social understanding of affection, emotions, and aesthetic experiences, helping to integrate concepts like edge-emotions and liminal experiences into the learning process. These concepts support the idea that complex emotions play a central part in learning dynamics, while arguing for reflection as a self-regulatory movement of the learning process. It is argued that there would be no such thing as a merely cognitive learning process. Every time that people learn, they experience edge-emotions and liminal experiences. Furthermore, if the learning process occurs in educational settings, it is possible to think about learning experiences as being mediated by liminal affective techniques and so, open to transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) interventions can be superior to traditional instruction methods for learning, but previous meta-analyses covered a huge period and included a variety of different target groups, limiting the results' transfer on specific target groups. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis is a theory-based examination of DGBL interventions' effects on different learning outcomes (cognitive, metacognitive, affective-motivational) in the school context, using studies published between 2015 and 2020 and meta-analytic techniques (including moderator analyses) to examine the effectiveness of DGBL interventions compared to traditional instruction methods. Results from random-effects models revealed a significant medium effect for overall learning (g =.54) and cognitive learning outcomes (g =.67). Also found were a small effect for affective-motivational learning outcomes (g =.32) and no significant effect for metacognitive learning outcomes. Additionally, there was no evidence of publication bias. Further meta-regression models did not reveal evidence of moderating personal, environmental, or confounding factors. The findings partially support the positive impact of DGBL interventions in school, and the study addresses its practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in strict social distancing and lockdown measures to contain the spread of the disease. These measures significantly impacted experiential pedagogies, including service-learning. Many teachers pivoted to e-service-learning. While past literature suggests that e-service-learning is as, or even more effective than, traditional service-learning, there are few large-scale comparative studies that support this claim. Purpose: Our study fills the research gap via a large-scale study into student e-service-learning experiences and outcomes during COVID-19. Methodology/Approach: The study examines learning outcomes of students taking e-service-learning subjects during the early stage of the pandemic, i.e., the 2020/21 academic year, in a Hong Kong university, and compares their learning experiences and gains with a similar group of students who studied the same subjects from 2014/15 to 2018/19. Findings/Conclusions: Results indicate that while e-service-learning is effective in enhancing students' cognitive and civic learning, it is less effective than traditional service-learning in facilitating civic learning outcomes. Implications: Investigating students' learning experiences suggests that the quality of reflection and interaction with the community, which are critical learning experience components, may have been impacted by online communication. These factors may have played a key role in influencing the effectiveness of e-service-learning compared to traditional service-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of material design as a form of institutional power within contemporary school settings. Drawing on concepts of 'coercive design' and 'hostile architecture' from design studies, the paper examines three 'innovative' designs for classroom chairs – relatively mundane but integral elements of the regulation and disciplining of school space. It is argued that the design intentions of these material objects reveal a number of constrained, conservative intentions to maintain the traditional ordered notion of the classroom as a place where students stay in their seats and engage in work. Tellingly, however, this corporeal manipulation and moderation is now couched in claims around desirable physiological and cognitive conditions for learning – with students' bodies seen as objects to arrange and constrain in ways deemed conducive for learning. The paper problematises this de-socialised view of classrooms, alongside the underpinning sense of design solutionism and (mis)appropriation of 'learning science' by product designers to justify their products' capacities to somehow cause learning to take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life-long acquisition of knowledge is a major research topic in educational psychology. Many approaches based on the idea of learning as information processing treat learning primarily as the expansion of knowledge and the enrichment of existing knowledge structures with new information. In this article, we argue for a slightly different conceptualization of learning as an epistemic activity. Our proposal builds on the classical cognitive view of learning as information processing but relies on a stronger notion of knowledge, according to which knowledge is construed as justified true belief. Understanding and evaluating arguments is central to learning as an epistemic activity, particularly as many learning materials are structured around arguments. Furthermore, learning as an epistemic activity requires using source information for credibility evaluations, and the avoidance of belief biases in the selection, comprehension and evaluation of information during learning. We discuss examples of learning as an epistemic activity within the framework of the Two-Step Model of Validation and outline how this perspective on learning can guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While prior research has established a link between the attention an organization allocates to the external environment and its adaptations to environmental change, the nature of the cognitive processes that underlie this link remains underexamined. In this study, we explore how patterns of attentional engagement—that is, the extent to which attention allocation is focused and/or consistent over time—influence the organization's formulation of strategic responses to discontinuous change. We advance a situated perspective on attentional engagement by suggesting how the type of learning and cognitive processes are situated in different attentional-engagement structures, and can, in turn, lead to heterogeneous strategic responses to the same discontinuous change. Specifically, we formulate a theoretical model elaborating how varied levels of attentional focus and attentional consistency affect whether organizations respond by breaking, reinforcing, hedging, or maintaining the status quo. Subsequently, we develop and test our arguments using a dataset covering US banking firms from 2002 to 2010—a period that includes the US housing crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey data quality suffers when respondents have difficulty completing complex tasks in questionnaires. Cognitive load theory informed the development of strategies for educators to reduce the cognitive load of learning tasks. We investigate whether these cognitive load reduction strategies can be used in questionnaire design to reduce task difficulty and, in so doing, improve survey data quality. We find that this is not the case and conclude that some of the traditional survey answer formats, such as grid questions, which have been criticized in the past lead to equally good data and do not frustrate respondents more than alternative formats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reintroducing computer science (CS) education in K–12 schools to promote computational thinking (CT) has attracted significant attention among scholars and educators. Among the several essential components included in CS and CT education, program debugging is an indispensable skill. However, debugging teaching has often been overlooked in K–12 contexts, and relevant empirical studies are lacking in the literature. Moreover, novices generally have poor performance in domain knowledge and strategic knowledge concerning debugging. They also consistently experience a high cognitive burden in debugging learning. To address these gaps, we developed a flipped systematic debugging approach combined with a systematic debugging process (SDP) and the modeling method. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of this flipped systematic debugging approach, in which 83 fifth-grade students attended the flipped debugging training lessons with the SDP–modeling method, and 75 fifth-grade students attended the unassisted flipped debugging training lessons without the SDP–modeling method. The results indicated that flipped debugging training using the SDP–modeling method improved students' debugging skills. The results from the questionnaire showed that the proposed teaching approach increased the students' investment in germane cognitive load by promoting schema construction. It also helped reduce students' intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Can learning additional languages affect what we perceive to be similar events? The current study explores the impact of learning a second language (L2) and a third language (L3) on how motion is categorized in functional Cantonese–English–Japanese multilinguals. Specifically, it examines the extent to which L1 speakers of Cantonese (equipollent-framed) with an L2-English (satellite-framed) and an L3-Japanese (verb-framed) restructure their lexicalization and conceptualization of voluntary motion through audiovisual media exposure to the target language. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 150 participants were recruited and divided into five groups: three groups of monolinguals in Cantonese, English, and Japanese as well as Cantonese–English bilinguals and Cantonese–English–Japanese multilinguals. Participants were given a linguistic encoding task and a non-linguistic similarity judgement task. Data and analysis: Mixed-effects modelling was used to compute participants' encoding patterns and categorical preferences, as well as the correlation between audiovisual media exposure and the degree of cognitive restructuring. Findings/conclusions: Multilinguals' L1-based verbalization and categorization showed reverse transfer from both L2 and L3. The degree of cognitive restructuring was modulated by audiovisual media exposure to TV watching in English and Japanese. Originality: This study extends the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis from bilingualism to multilingualism and explores the language–thought interface through reverse cross-linguistic influence. It focuses on how functional Cantonese–English–Japanese multilinguals with partially overlapping language systems encode and gauge similarity of voluntary motion in their L1, which is a rarely studied language combination. Significance/implications: Looking at the cognitive effects of additional language learning can shed light on the mechanism of cognitive restructuring in the thinking-for-speaking perspective, and inform the language learning question of how learners integrate both linguistic and non-linguistic experience to recalibrate their cognitive dispositions when given sufficient multimodal input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed to maximize learning performance, learning analytics dashboards (LAD) are becoming increasingly commonplace in education. An LAD's effectiveness depends on how it is used and varies according to users' academic levels. In this study, two LADs and a learning support system were used in a higher education course to support students' cognitive and selfregulated learning (SRL) strategies. A total of 54 students' learning logs on three systems and their learning performance scores were collected; descriptive statistics of learning behaviors, Mann-Whitney U test, and lag sequential analysis were used to explore how students with different learning performances used LADs to support their learning. Compared to low-performers, high-performers used the LADs more frequently during preview and review phases and conducted more monitoring and reflection strategies to support their learning. Finally, some practical implications for improving the design and use of LADs were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to examine the learning effects of integrating various game elements into game-based learning materials to enhance learning for learners of different age groups. Two sets of game-based music learning materials were designed. The version with full game characteristics was developed with a narrative story, diverse game behaviors, and game mechanisms, while the simple design version kept basic game behaviors only for game interaction, and removed other game-based elements. A total of 50 young students and 41 adults were invited to participate in the experiment and separately use the two versions of the game-based materials. In order to understand how their performance changed and their reflections on the use of the game-based learning materials, a pre- and post-test, questionnaire and interview were conducted, and the data were analyzed. Despite learners in various age groups having different preferences regarding the game design, the statistical analysis revealed that the simple version helped the learners of both age groups to achieve better learning performance than the full version. The game-based environments proved to be helpful for promoting students' learning motivation and performance, but the results suggest that instead of designing educational games with as many gamification elements as possible, game developers should take learners' cognitive learning load and information processing ability into consideration when developing games. The game elements could be refined through reducing overly complicated game mechanisms and keeping the basic game-like interaction so as to achieve both the instruction purpose and gameplay engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attentional resources are limited, and resistance to interference plays a critical role during cognitive tasks and learning. Previous studies have shown that participants find it difficult to avoid being distracted by global visual information when processing local details. In this study, we investigated an innovative approach for enhancing the processing of local visual details by middle-school adolescents. Two groups completed a classic global/local visual search task in which a predefined target could appear at the global or local level, either with or without a frame. The results from the no-frame display group provided a direct replication in adolescents of previous findings in adults, with increasing number of interferent stimuli presented in the display adversely affecting detection of local targets. In addition, by varying the numbers of distractors inside and outside the frame, we showed that distractors only interfered with the processing of local information inside the frame, while the deleterious impact of increases in distracting information was prevented when the distractors were outside the frame. These findings suggest that when a frame delimits an attentional area, the influence of an increasing number of distractors present outside the frame is eliminated. We assume that application of a frame allows for efficient delimitation of attention deployment to a restricted topographical visual area in adolescents. These results evidence that processing of local details can be improved without modifying the structure of the stimuli, and provide promising clues for optimising attentional resources during time-absorbing visual searches. Applicable implications in the educational field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many studies have identified multiple benefits and affordances in using virtual reality (VR) technology in language learning, most have been qualitative, with few providing evidence of factors that may impact VR effectiveness for language learning or of the role of learners’ unique psychological, environmental, and emotional experiences in language learning. Against this backdrop, we framed this study within social cognitive theory and surveyed 368 Chinese university students of English who were participating in VR-assisted language instruction to explore whether learners’ foreign language learning enjoyment and boredom related to their learning engagement; we also investigated the mediating role of learning self-efficacy in these relationships. Our results suggested that (a) students learning English through VR-assisted instruction experienced a relatively high level of enjoyment but moderate level boredom; (b) foreign language learning enjoyment significantly (positively) predicted foreign language learning self-efficacy and engagement; and (c) foreign language learning boredom significantly (negatively) predicted foreign language learning self-efficacy, but not engagement; and foreign language learning self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between foreign language learning boredom and engagement, and partially mediated the significant relationship between foreign language learning enjoyment and engagement. Based on these findings, we suggest ways to improve VR-assisted language teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on the relation between learning and cognitive control has assumed that conflict modulates learning, either by increasing arousal and hence improving learning in high-conflict situations, or by inducing control, and hence inhibiting the processing of distracters and their eventual association with the imperative responses. We analyse whether the amount of conflict, manipulated through the proportion of congruency in a set of Stroop inducer trials, affects learning of contingencies established on diagnostic trials composed by neutral words associated with colour responses. The results reproduced the list-wide proportion of congruency effect on the inducer trials, and showed evidence of contingency learning on the diagnostic trials, but provided no indication that this learning was modulated by the level of conflict. Specific analyses conducted to control for the impact of episodic effects on the expression of learning indicated that contingency effects were not driven by the incremental processes that could be expected by associative learning, but rather they were due to the impact of the most recent trial involving the same distracter. Accordingly, these effects disappeared when tested selectively on trials that required a non-matching response with respect to the previous occurrence of the distracter. We interpret this result in the context of the debate on how learning and memory interact with the processes of cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimedia is ubiquitous in 21st-century education. Cognitive load theory and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning both postulate that the quality of multimedia design heavily influences learning. We sought to identify how to best design multimedia and review how well those learning theories held up to meta-analyses. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews that tested the effects of multimedia design on learning or cognitive load. We found 29 reviews including 1,189 studies and 78,177 participants. We found 11 design principles that demonstrated significant, positive, meta-analytic effects on learning and five that significantly improved management of cognitive load. The largest benefits were for captioning second-language videos, temporal/spatial contiguity, and signaling. We also found robust evidence for modality, animation, coherence/removing seductive details, anthropomorphics, segmentation, personalization, pedagogical agents, and verbal redundancy effects. Good design was more important for more complex materials, and in system-paced environments (e.g., lectures) than self-paced ones (e.g., websites). Results supported many tenets of both theories. We highlight a range of evidence-based strategies that could be implemented by educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most democracies, citizens who identify with a political party are more likely than non-partisans to turn out to vote. But why is this the case? Does voting foster partisanship, as prominent models of political learning and cognitive dissonance postulate? Or does partisanship encourage voting, as expressive voting models and social identity theory suggest? I introduce the concept of partisan duty to capture the role of partisan social identities in the turnout decision and present new empirical tests of the relationship between partisanship and voting. I leverage a unique institutional arrangement in Chile to establish the direction of causality with a regression discontinuity, and I implement a novel survey design with behavioral outcomes to identify causal mechanisms. Data from the US confirm that the main findings generalize beyond Chile. Electoral participation does not generate partisanship. Instead, partisanship mobilizes voters: it increases the expressive benefits to voting and generates a sense of duty to support one's partisan group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aim to learn about the cognitive mechanisms governing the decisions of attackers and defenders in cybersecurity involving intrusion detection systems (IDSs). Background: Prior research has experimentally studied the role of the presence and accuracy of IDS alerts on attacker's and defender's decisions using a game-theoretic approach. However, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms that govern these decisions. Method: To investigate the cognitive mechanisms governing the attacker's and defender's decisions in the presence of IDSs of different accuracies, instance-based learning (IBL) models were developed. One model (NIDS) disregarded the IDS alerts and one model (IDS) considered them in the instance structure. Both the IDS and NIDS models were trained in an existing dataset where IDSs were either absent or present and they possessed different accuracies. The calibrated IDS model was tested in a newly collected test dataset where IDSs were present 50% of the time and they possessed different accuracies. Results: Both the IDS and NIDS models were able to account for human decisions in the training dataset, where IDS was absent or present and it possessed different accuracies. However, the IDS model could accurately predict the decision-making in only one of the several IDS accuracy conditions in the test dataset. Conclusions: Cognitive models like IBL may provide some insights regarding the cognitive mechanisms governing the decisions of attackers and defenders in conditions not involving IDSs or IDSs of different accuracies. Application: IBL models may be helpful for penetration testing exercises in scenarios involving IDSs of different accuracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of learning analytics, mining the regularities of social interaction and cognitive processing have drawn increasing attention. Nevertheless, in MOOCs, there is a lack of investigations on the combination of social and cognitive behavioral patterns. To fill in this gap, this study aimed to uncover the relationship between social interaction, cognitive processing, and learning achievements in a MOOC discussion forum. Specifically, we collected the 3925 participants' forum data throughout 16 weeks. Social network analysis and epistemic network analysis were jointly adopted to investigate differences in social interaction, cognitive processing between two achievement groups, and the differences in cognitive processing networks between two types of communities. Finally, moderation analysis was employed to examine the moderating effect of community types between cognitive processing and learning achievements. Results indicated that: (1) the high- and low-achieving groups presented significant differences in terms of degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality; (2) the stronger cognitive connections were found within the high-achieving group and the instructor-led community; (3) the cognitive processing indicators including insight, discrepancy, and tentative were significantly negative predictors of learning achievements, whereas inhibition and exclusive were significantly positive predictors; (4) the community type moderated the relationship between cognitive processing and learning achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The course on cognitive assessment is mandatory for all school psychology programs. However, there have been no published studies that have explored learning objectives for this course. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine content covered and complexity of learning objectives in the cognitive assessment course. Method: Five raters coded 90 syllabi from school psychology cognitive assessment courses across the United States on a sample of six American Psychological Association assessment-related standards and on complexity using the six Bloom's Taxonomy levels. Results: The majority of objectives were addressing lower levels of complexity as measured by Bloom's Taxonomy with few syllabi including learning objectives addressing a wide range of levels. Based on the analysis of objectives by the sample of Standards, learning objectives most frequently addressed administration accuracy and test selection, whereas integrating results and linking to recommendations were often missing. Conclusion: The learning objectives included in syllabi ranged in quantity, complexity, and content but focused on lower complexity skills. Learning objectives in cognitive assessment courses do not reflect the diverse assessment-related practice demands of school psychologists. Teaching Implications: To align training with future practice, instructors are advised to review learning objectives with attention to complexity and content standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the progress and innovation of digital technology, people's knowledge acquisition, information exchange, and communication modes have changed significantly. The universality of emerging technology media enables instructional designers to use digital media to provide different teaching materials and teaching methods to meet the needs of individual learners according to their differences. Accordingly, this study takes the Introduction to Network course as an example, proposes a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process combined with Rule-Space Model to guide and analyze students' learning status, and imports Microsoft Technology Association international certification as empirical analysis. The study revealed that, the experts believe that "understanding protocols and services" is the most important part of the basic knowledge of the Internet, followed by "understanding network infrastructure" and "understanding network hardware." In the section on learning performance, the average progress rates of two class were 69.44% and 62.20%, respectively, the students' scores were significantly improved. In the section on obtaining Microsoft Technology Association certification, the passing rates were 93.44% and 93.10%, which were significant improvements in certification passing rate. In the future, this study can be applied to other fields to improve the relative learning effect and make it broader and more diversified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at providing insights on the role of non-verbal communication (NVC) in classroom by examining the relationship between teacher NVC cues and student behavior. Student behavior is considered in terms of perceptions of the match between the teacher and the student self-concept (i.e. self-image congruence), attention, and learning. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of students coming from Spain and Italy. Findings indicate that the student self-concept has the strongest relationship with teacher personal appearance, attention with paralinguistics, and learning with kinesics. Some differences are found in the strength of the examined relationships between Spanish and Italian students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sustainable development and sustainability transformations have reached high urgency on national and international agendas and involve new knowledge and learning processes. Transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge as a research approach in combination with the methodological elaboration of theories of change have potential to support transformative learning processes. Both approaches engage with questions about the actors involved, impact pathways, or the role of power and agency in a given context. Intervention: We introduce the THEORY OF CHANGE GAME, which applies theory of change thinking to transdisciplinary projects aiming for sustainable development. A combination of board and card game, it evolves around collaborative discussions. Method: We explain the iterative development rounds of the game through several game sessions in different settings and analyse whether and how the game supports social learning for sustainable development. To assess social learning, we draw on the typology developed by Baird et al. (2014) , which includes cognitive, relational, and normative learning. Results: The iterative development rounds took place first in academic settings and then in a non-academic event. Our observations during the game and the debriefing rounds after the game demonstrate that social learning takes place in the form of cognitive and relational learning. Verified findings on normative learning would need other assessment approaches. Discussion and conclusion: Several development rounds supported the design of a game that is suitable to support social learning for sustainable development. We see the potential of the game mainly in cognitive and relational learning. Further work on gamification elements could help to enhance the entertainment component of the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the United Kingdom, creative dance is classified as part of physical education rather than an important core subject. Purpose: Taking the U.K. National Curriculum as an example, the article's primary aim is to examine literature exploring the benefits of creative dance, for children aged 3 to 11 years in mainstream state education, to evaluate whether creative dance can be categorized as experiential learning. Methodology/Approach: The literature review included key words in several databases and arrived at potential benefits which can be framed within experiential learning. Findings/Conclusions : The findings identify benefits of creative dance in socioemotional, arts-based, transferable, embodied, physical, and cognitive learning. Conceptualizing creative dance as experiential learning could support it filling a more central role in the curriculum. Implications: This article recontextualizes the role of creative dance in children's learning through reviewing related literature. Creative dance might play a more central role in the curriculum when the benefits and its process are framed as experiential learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hospital resources have been stretched to their limits. We introduced an innovative course to rapidly on-board a group of non-intensive care unit (ICU) nurse practitioners as they begin to practice working in a critical care setting. Objective: To assess whether a brief educational course could improve non-ICU practitioners' knowledge and comfort in practicing in an intensive care setting. Methods: We implemented a multi-strategy blended 12-week curriculum composed of bedside teaching, asynchronous online learning and simulation. The course content was a product of data collected from a targeted needs assessment. The cognitive learning objectives were taught through the online modules. Four simulation sessions were used to teach procedural skills. Bedside teaching simultaneously occurred from critical care faculty during daily rounds. We assessed learning through a pre and post knowledge multiple choice question (MCQ) test. Faculty assessed learners by direct observation and review of clinical documentation. We evaluated learner reaction and comfort in critical practice by comparing pre and post surveys. Results: All 7 NPs were satisfied with the course and found the format to work well with their clinical schedules. The course also improved their self-reported comfort in managing critically ill patients in a medical ICU. There was an increase in the mean group score from the pre-to the post-course MCQ (60% vs 73%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 Critical Care Course (CCCC) for NPs was implemented in our ICU to better prepare for an anticipated second surge. It focused on delivering practical knowledge and skills as learners cared for critically ill COVID-19 patients. In a short period of time, it engaged participants in active learning and allowed them to feel more confident in applying their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive task performance is a dynamic process that evolves over time, starting from the first encounters with a task. An important aspect of these task dynamics is the employment of strategies to support successful performance and task acquisition. Focusing on episodic memory performance, we: (1) tested two hypotheses on the effects of novelty and task difficulty on strategy use, (2) replicated our previous results regarding strategy use in a novel memory task, and (3) evaluated whether repeated open-ended strategy queries affect task performance and/or strategy use. The present pre-registered online study comprised 161 adult participants who were recruited through the Prolific crowdsourcing platform. We employed two separate 5-block list learning tasks, one with 10 pseudowords and the other with 18 common nouns, and collected recall performance and strategy reports for each block. Using Bayesian linear mixed effects models, the present findings (1) provide some support for the hypothesis that task-initial strategy development is not triggered only by task novelty, but can appear also in a familiar, moderately demanding task; (2) replicate earlier findings from an adaptive working memory task indicating strategy use from the beginning of a task, associations between strategy use and objective task performance, and only modest agreement between open-ended versus list-based strategy reports; and (3) indicate that repeated open-ended strategy reports do not affect objective recall. We conclude that strategy use is an important aspect of memory performance right from the start of a task, and it undergoes development at the initial stages depending on task characteristics. In a larger perspective, the present results concur with the views of skill learning and adaptivity in cognitive task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instructional humor processing theory has been proposed to explain how the type of humor used by the course instructor can affect student learning. In this study, a cross-sectional design was used to test whether the relation between the instructor's type of humor (related, unrelated, self-disparaging, offensive, and disparaging humor), and learning is mediated by variables assumed by the instructional humor processing theory (emotion, motivation, and information-processing ability). A total of 360 university and junior college students with a mean age of 19.31 years (standard deviation = 0.75) completed a questionnaire concerning their impression on the instructor humor, emotion, motivation, processing ability, and cognitive learning in a specific course. The results revealed that the instructor's-related humor significantly predicted the cognitive learning of students, and their relation can be mediated by all variables assumed by instructional humor processing theory. Our results provided preliminary evidence for the legitimacy of the instructional humor processing theory model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Founded in 1970, Simulation & Gaming has emerged as the leading journal in this field of educational research. Given the centrality the journal's influence, scholars have periodically reflected on the Journal's contributions towards enhancing and refining both research and practice in educational simulation and gaming. Aims. This systematic review aimed to quantitatively document the distinctive contributions of S&G to research and practice on simulations and games over the past 50 years. The review sought to identify the geographic distribution of publications, influential authors and documents published in the Journal, the intellectual structure of the literature, and topics of recent interest. Method. The authors used the Scopus search engine to identify 1,427 research articles and reviews published in Simulation & Gaming from 1970 through the end of 2019. Bibliometric analyses included descriptive statistics, citation and co-citation and keyword co-occurrence analysis. Results. The review found that while the Journal has increased its geographical breadth impressively, the majority of Simulation & Gaming publications continue to be authored by scholars located in Anglo-American-European societies. The review also found that the Journal has become a prime venue for disseminating inter-disciplinary research on simulation and games. Nonetheless, business simulation/gaming surfaced as the dominant focus in the Journal's content. Analysis of the intellectual structure of the knowledge base confirmed that the field is theoretically anchored in theories of social cognitive and experiential learning. Temporal keyword analysis identified active learning, game design, technology-enhanced simulations and games, and sustainability as topical clusters of recent interest to authors in Simulation & Gaming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. An increasing number of studies support a mediating influence of personality on video-game preferences and player experiences, and in particular, traits associated with playfulness, such as extraversion. Educational institutions, however, tend to reward serious personality traits, such as conscientiousness. Aim. To discern how students respond to Game-Based Learning (GBL) in the classroom, and to understand if and how conscientiousness mediates GBL, we performed a field study at a leading university of technology in northeast China. Method. In May 2019, 60 bachelor and executive students in public-administration studies consecutively played two digital serious games, TEAMUP (multiplayer) and DEMOCRACY3 (single player). Data accrued through surveys with pregame measurements of personality (conscientiousness), mediating factors (motivation, player experience), learning effectiveness (cognitive and non-cognitive learning), and GBL acceptance. Results. Analysis showed a strong overall learning effect for both games. Conscientiousness significantly related to cognitive learning in both games and noncognitive learning in the multiplayer game only. Conscientiousness also significantly related to player experiences in the multiplayer game. Furthermore, the conscientiousness facet of perfectionism was a dominant factor in player experience and learning. We discuss the findings in light of several aspects around GBL that require more attention and research, especially that, alongside other factors, conscientiousness may be an important dimension to consider in the design and implementation of GBL in education, and GBL can have a positive role in the modernization of education in non-Western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-enabled active learning environments (TE-ALEs) have attracted considerable research interest, particularly in higher education. However, research shows inconsistent results describing the influence of TE-ALEs toward students' cognitive learning outcomes. This study was designed to identify high-quality empirical research examining college students' cognitive learning outcomes and to utilize meta-analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of TE-ALEs. A systematic literature search identified 31 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that the calculated effect size of TE-ALEs more positively influenced students' cognitive learning than traditional lecture-based environments. Moderator variable analysis suggested that social context, study design, and sample size were significant factors that influence the effectiveness of TE-ALE. TE-ALEs were found more effective when instructors employed individualized learning contexts as well as when bias was reduced in randomized controlled trials. TE-ALEs were also found to be more effective in small courses rather than in large courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a steady increase in the social visibility of video games in all spheres of daily life, persistent preconceived ideas about video games reveal a tendency to focus on either their positive or negative values, especially concerning the place of the player's body. First, this article questions the different degrees of bodily involvement in the practice of video games according to the different types of games and the mechanisms that allow the player to learn the games' gesture patterns. Then, the objective is to study the effects of video gaming on the physical, psychological, and social dimensions of the player and to identify potential correlations between bodily involvement and health benefit. Indeed, bodily involvement translates into physical engagement, and sometimes motor expertise as required by the game, but also into the mobilization of the player's cognitive and interactive resources with the video game devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among Taiwanese high school students' learning style, sense of presence, cognitive load, and affective and cognitive learning outcomes in an immersive virtual reality-based learning environment. This study used a teaching experiment intervention method. Seventy-seven students participated in the virtual reality-based learning environment and completed related scales and a test. This study found that although the students' learning style does not influence learning outcomes, it may influence the subjective sense of presence and cognitive load in the learning process. Regarding the affective learning outcome, involvement/immersion, sensory fidelity, and mental effort are positive predictors. In addition, involvement/immersion, interface quality, mental load, and mental effort are negative predictors of cognitive learning outcomes. The conclusion from this study is that students with some learning style preferences must bear a greater cognitive load to achieve the same learning outcomes as other students. This study also points out that the components of sense of presence and cognitive load generate inconsistent predictive effects on affective and cognitive learning outcomes, respectively. Therefore, it is important to deeply explore the influence of sense of presence and cognitive load structure on learning in virtual environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working memory allows people to manipulate information in support of ongoing tasks and provides a work space for cognitive processes such as learning, reasoning, and decision making. How well working memory works depends, in part, on effort. Someone who pays attention at the right time and place will have better memory and improved performance on memory tasks. In adult cognitive research, participants' devotion of maximal task-focused effort is often taken for granted, but in infant studies, researchers cannot make that assumption. In this article, we showcase how pupillometry can provide an easy-to-obtain physiological measure of cognitive effort that allows us to better understand infants' emerging abilities. In our work, we use pupillometry to measure trial-by-trial fluctuations of effort, establishing that, just as in adults, such fluctuations influence how well infants can encode information in visual working memory. We hope that by using physiological measures such as pupil dilation, there will be a renewed effort to investigate the interaction between infants' attentive states and cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blogs are useful interaction tools to promote learners' knowledge construction and interaction in online teaching activities. On the other hand, although many studies show that mindtools facilitate learners' cognitive process, little research focus on their effects on learners' higher order cognitive thinking in blogs. This research developed a learning environment by using a mindtool-based blog to promote learners' higher order cognitive thinking in their online discussions and to assess their learning effects. The participants were 276 senior high school students from an information ethics class. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted in this research. The control group used the ordinary blogs. The Experimental Group 1 used the basic mindtools in blogs, which means that learners can use all the mindtool functions except the Knowledge Compilation function. The Experimental Group 2 used the advanced mindtools in blogs, which means that they can use all the mindtool functions, including the Knowledge Compilation function. The results indicated that both experimental groups showed better learning effects and more higher order cognitive thinking than the control group. Moreover, the higher order cognitive thinking category Analyze was found more often in the Experimental Group 2 than in the Experimental Group 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coach confirmation—a behavior that encompasses coaches' recognition, endorsement, and acknowledgment of athletes—has been forwarded as an effective coaching behavior that redresses ineffective and antisocial patterns of coaching. Empirical evidence of its effectiveness, however, has been limited to athlete affect and based on data from retrospective samples of former high school athletes. This study addresses these limitations by exploring the effectiveness of coaches' use of confirmation with collegiate student-athletes and considers its influence on their satisfaction with coaches and sport, competitiveness, and cognitive learning. Data obtained from 177 Division-I student-athletes revealed that coaches' use of challenge increases student-athletes' satisfaction, motivation, competitiveness, and learning, whereas the use of acceptance only determines satisfaction. These findings demonstrate that confirmation is an effective coaching behavior, its dimensions function independently, and challenge best fulfills the multidimensional nature of coaching effectiveness. The implications of this data reveal that confirmation theory functions uniquely within the athletic context, and coach effectiveness is largely determined by the implementation of strategies and efforts to refine skill sets and assist in development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experiential educators face difficulties assessing participants and programs because there are so many measurement tools to choose from, many measures have validity issues such as those based on self-reported data, objective tests may not adequately measure social or psychological outcomes, and tests in content disciplines often assess knowledge rather than skill in synthesis, analysis, or evaluation. Purpose: We hypothesized that an open-ended essay final would reliably measure individual growth, internalization of foundational threshold concepts in our disciplines, and the effectiveness of our outdoor, interdisciplinary program. Methodology/Approach: Student essays contained 36 student-generated concepts spread across our four disciplines (biology, writing, history, and recreation) which we compared with 20 threshold concepts from professional literature. Findings/Conclusions: Individual students identified about half of the concepts generated by the whole group, illustrating that their learning varied significantly. Our group identified 13 of the published threshold concepts. Students demonstrated comprehension of threshold concepts—foundational ways of seeing—as opposed to restatements of information from teachers' lectures. Implications: Writing essays aids permanent cognitive and behavioral learning; coding responses to open-ended essay questions for threshold concepts can be a valuable tool for both individual student and program assessment in experiential education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Right to Information laws have been seen as a critical step in the global movement towards increased transparency of governments. In this article, we empirically analyze the implementation of the RTI law in Punjab, Pakistan by studying the experiences of citizens as they try to access information from different government departments. Our research suggests that the RTI law of Punjab incurs a disproportionate administrative burden in the form of high compliance, learning and cognitive costs on citizens. More importantly, a combination of lack of political interest, bureaucratic inertia and low local demand suggest that the RTI law is merely a ceremonial law with the government having limited interest in its effective implementation. Hence, our research suggests going beyond the mere introduction of RTI laws and calls for increased empirical inquiry of the local demand, policy formulation process, and the implementation of such laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the case for the use of the 'think-aloud protocol' by teachers who engage in action-research as a source of constructive information about their students' cognitive learning processes. This method calls upon learners to talk their thoughts out aloud, during engagement in some learning activity regarding which the researching teachers seek insight to inform them to plan enhancement of the learning and teaching process. The case for 'think-aloud' reporting of particular learning activities is supported by a review of relevant literature. Accounts of diverse experiences in various discipline areas using modified versions of think-aloud protocols in action-researching are presented, with reports of their transformative outcomes. Reasoned reservations regarding the reliability of uncorroborated sources of retrospective data about students' learning are advanced. Refined methodologies are outlined together with general guidelines, for those minded to explore their value in their own contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning and cognitive ability are necessarily connected. Learning occurs when people engage in a series of cognitive processes. In this study, we examined how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' cognitive abilities diffuse (i.e., change) effectively from a basic level (i.e., Remember, Understand) to a more advanced level (i.e., Apply) with the assistance of a peer-tutoring strategy that pairs high-achieving students with lower achieving students and asks them to use the mobile application, ezTranslate, in a familiar, authentic context. The results showed that the experimental students (i.e., the students who received peer tutoring) significantly outperformed the control students (i.e., the students who worked individually) on the posttest. Furthermore, throughout the learning activity, the majority of the experimental students' cognitive abilities transitioned from a basic to a higher level. Given these results, we suggested that peer tutoring is particularly advantageous because it helps students engage in high-level cognitive learning. By including mobile technology support with peer tutoring, teachers can utilize their students' differing abilities to promote collaborative learning, which results in not only successful learning but also encourages positive social interaction and results in high-level cognitive learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that task-irrelevant information impedes learning by creating extraneous cognitive load. But still open is whether such intrusion reflects a purely semantic phenomenon or whether it also stands for sheer perceptual interference. Using Cognitive Load Theory as a framework, this study aimed to answer this question by examining whether and how task-irrelevant colour information modifies extraneous cognitive load in relation to a new code-learning paradigm. For this purpose, university students were asked to learn, based on an example, associations between colour-related and colour-unrelated words and digits presented in black or in a mismatched ink colour. Evident costs in learning efficacy were found in learning the associations between words and digits for colour-related, but not for colour-unrelated, word stimuli. This suggests that interference by task-irrelevant information in learning stands for a mere semantic conflict. Implications of the findings for extraneous cognitive load on learning efficacy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]