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The purpose of this study was to determine how graphic organizer completeness (complete, partial, or no organizer) and note-taking medium (longhand or computer) affect note-taking quantity and quality and affect computer-based learning. College students were presented with a computer-based PowerPoint lesson accompanied by complete, partial, or no graphic organizers. Throughout the lesson, students recorded notes using either longhand or computer mediums. Students were tested immediately following the lesson and again two days later following a review period during which graphic organizers and notes were studied. Finally, students completed a survey. Results revealed that organizer completeness affected achievement. Those given complete organizers generally achieved more than those with partial or no organizers across fact-, relationship-, concept-, and skill-based test items. Note-taking medium did not affect achievement differentially, but there were important note-taking findings. Longhand note takers recorded more lesson ideas in notes and had fewer verbatim strings in notes (reflective of more generative processing) compared to computer note takers. Moreover, longhand note takers reported more positive attitudes about their note-taking medium than did computer note takers. Results suggested that complete organizers aid germane load more than partial organizers and that longhand note taking results in deeper processing than does computer note taking. Therefore, instructors should provide complete organizers to promote student learning and should encourage students to take longhand notes when they learn in a computer-based learning environment.

The present study was intended to deepen current knowledge about the impact of graphic organizers (GOs) on students' learning in a computer-based learning environment, by evaluating the effects of successive versus simultaneous presentation of a GO and an explanatory text. Based on the previous studies, we hypothesized that simultaneous display of a GO improves learning performances for the information it highlights (represented elements), but impairs those for nonrepresented elements, owing to a focused processing effect during text reading. We predicted that staggering the display of the document and the GO would avoid this effect and enhance the learning of both represented and nonrepresented elements. We compared three groups: students who studied a multimedia document without a GO (control group); students who viewed the same multimedia document accompanied by a GO that was displayed simultaneously (simultaneous GO group); and students who viewed the document and were then shown the GO (successive GO group). In line with previous research on GOs, results showed that adding a GO to the multimedia document increased students' memorization of the represented elements and their comprehension. Interestingly, students in the successive GO group exhibited enhanced memorization of the nonrepresented elements and had the highest comprehension scores. These original results indicate that delaying the display of the GO can lead students to process the overall information more deeply and, in turn, improve their learning.

We investigated the effects of readymade versus self-generated graphic organizers (GOs) on learning, comparing the performances of undergraduates (N = 81) tasked with learning a multimedia document. This document was either presented on its own ("control group"), with a readymade GO, or with a blank GO that students had to fill in either before or during the learning of the document. In line with previous research, adding a readymade GO increased students' memorization and transfer scores, compared with controls. By displaying the main ideas in the text and their hierarchical relations, GOs act as visual aids to learning. Results showed that self-generating a GO was no more beneficial than viewing a readymade GO when students were placed in a dual-task situation (generation + learning). However, when the students' information processing was guided by sequencing these tasks (generation then learning), they outperformed the control and readymade groups on memorization and comprehension.

This study investigated the added value of real‐time adaptive feedback on seventh graders' performances in tablet‐based geometry learning. To isolate the effects of the medium (ie, tablet) from those of the feedback, three groups were compared: paper‐and‐pencil, pen‐based tablet without feedback and pen‐based tablet with feedback. The feedback was provided by a tutoring system based on an artificial intelligence that automatically interpreted students' pen strokes on the screen. A total of 85 French students drew three geometric shapes, either on paper or on a tablet, and then performed a transfer task on paper. Results showed that using a tablet without feedback did not improve learning but seemed to enhance interest in the task compared to the paper‐and‐pencil group. Students in the tablet with feedback group performed significantly better than the other two groups on learning, as well as on transfer. This study was the first to combine media comparison and added‐value approaches to test the effects on students' geometry performances of using a new educational app on a pen‐based tablet in a naturalistic classroom environment. Results showed that it was not the medium used but the intelligent tutoring system‐based feedback that improved students' performance. Our data therefore indicate that artificial intelligence is a promising way of providing learners with real‐time adaptive feedback in order to improve their performances. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Previous meta‐analyses have investigated the effects of tablet‐based learning.Tablet computers have been proven to increase students' motivation.Yet, the influence of tablet computers on learning outcomes remains inconclusive.Other studies show that certain features of environments, such as feedback, have positive effects on learning.What this paper adds Most of the previous studies adopted a media comparison approach (paper‐ vs. tablet‐based instruction).We combine this approach with an added‐value approach by adding or not real‐time AI‐based feedback.Results showed that tablet use increased children's interest but not their learning outcomes.Feedback improved children's performance in a training task and a later transfer paper task.Implications for practice and/or policy Tablet computers can promote students' interest in the task during geometry instruction.App features play a critical role in improving students' learning.Specifically, IA‐based adaptive feedback helps children to perform better on a geometry task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared performances on a learning task in which students (N = 81) viewed a pedagogical multimedia document without (control group) or with a readymade graphic organizer (readymade group) with performances on an active learning task where students self-generated a graphic organizer either totally (total self-generated group) or partially (partial self-generated group) while learning from the same multimedia document. According to the "generative" hypothesis, asking students to actively engage in the construction of a graphic organizer enhances their learning, owing to the generative processes (selection, organization, integration) required to perform the task. However, according to the "cognitive load" hypothesis, generating a graphic organizer can hinder students' learning, owing to the extraneous processing elicited by the task. It can nonetheless be assumed that if scaffolding is provided to students in the shape of an empty graphic organizer to fill in, these negative effects can be avoided. Results confirmed the beneficial effect of providing a graphic organizer on students' retention of the elements contained in the multimedia document (macrostructure information, hierarchical relations). Evidence in favor of the cognitive load hypothesis and against the generative hypothesis was found, as students in the total self-generated group performed more poorly on the retention and transfer tests than those in the readymade group. This negative effect on learning ceased to be observed when scaffolding was provided to students in the partial self-generated group, although they still spent more time on the document than those in the readymade group. Overall, we failed to observe any beneficial effect of generation on learning.

The present study investigated the effects on students' learning experience of adding a video of a teacher to an e-learning module. A total of 43 undergraduates were asked to learn the content of a pedagogical document either with or without a teacher video on the screen. Although video captures of teachers are increasingly being integrated into online courses, few studies have investigated their impact and the best way of optimizing them. According to the social-cue hypothesis, the presence of a teacher (face and gestures) positively influences learners' motivation and engagement in their learning. By contrast, the interference hypothesis holds that the teacher's presence can lead to poor performances, as it acts as a source of visual interference that diverts students' attention away from the relevant information. By assessing subjective ratings and learning outcomes, the present study tended to support the social-cue hypothesis, as it showed that adding a teacher video on screen significantly improved students' retention of the spoken explanations, without disturbing either their performances on diagram and transfer problems or the time needed to process the document. Eye-tracking data showed that students spent 25% of their time watching the teacher video. Adding this video had no significant observable effects on the subjective ratings (i.e., social presence, evaluation of the teacher's motivational skills, situational interest, cognitive load). These results suggest that videos of teachers can be used to improve social cues in multimedia learning without creating interference effects.

Background: Previous studies have shown that dynamic illustrations, as compared to their static counterparts, lead to higher achievement levels, especially for hand‐based procedures. Other researchers have investigated how the presence of seductive details (i.e., appealing but irrelevant adjunct displays) influences students' interest positively but their learning negatively. Objectives: The purpose of the two present studies was to investigate the effects of animated versus static presentations, combined with the presence of seductive details, on student performance on a paper‐folding task (i.e., origami) in a naturalistic school environment. Methods: Fifty‐five children (5–6 years old) participated in the first study and were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The second study was conducted with older children (72 s or third graders) and a more complex origami task. Results and Conclusions: In the first study, results demonstrated negative effects of seductive details on children's performance and time on task, but no effects of presentation format. In the second study, no negative effects of seductive details on student achievement were found, but animated illustrations significantly improved children's performance and reduced time on task. However, seductive details tended to impair learning more greatly given the presence of static, as compared to animated, presentations. Task difficulties and pupils' ability to inhibit irrelevant information may explain these results. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Seductive details negatively influence young children's performance.Animated illustrations have been shown to improve students' learning for dynamic procedure. What this paper adds: This is the first study investigating the influence of animated vs. static illustrations combined with seductive details on children's learning performance.Animated illustrations improve children's performance for a challenging dynamic procedure.Seductive details tended to impair more learning from static than from animated presentations.Results are discussed in relation to the task's difficulty as well as students' ability to inhibit irrelevant information. Implications for practitioners: Animated illustrations should be used when presenting dynamic procedures.Instructors should use seductive details cautiously in pedagogical documents particularly when the task is difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was intended to deepen current knowledge about the impact of graphic organizers (GOs) on students' learning in a computer‐based learning environment, by evaluating the effects of successive versus simultaneous presentation of a GO and an explanatory text. Based on the previous studies, we hypothesized that simultaneous display of a GO improves learning performances for the information it highlights (represented elements), but impairs those for nonrepresented elements, owing to a focused processing effect during text reading. We predicted that staggering the display of the document and the GO would avoid this effect and enhance the learning of both represented and nonrepresented elements. We compared three groups: students who studied a multimedia document without a GO (control group); students who viewed the same multimedia document accompanied by a GO that was displayed simultaneously (simultaneous GO group); and students who viewed the document and were then shown the GO (successive GO group). In line with previous research on GOs, results showed that adding a GO to the multimedia document increased students' memorization of the represented elements and their comprehension. Interestingly, students in the successive GO group exhibited enhanced memorization of the nonrepresented elements and had the highest comprehension scores. These original results indicate that delaying the display of the GO can lead students to process the overall information more deeply and, in turn, improve their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]