Vocabulary knowledge is one of the most important elements of reading comprehension. Text coverage is the proportion of known words in a given text. We hypothesize that text comprehension increases exponentially with text coverage due to network effects and activation of prior knowledge. In addition, the lexical threshold hypothesis states that…

Both generative learning tasks and retrieval practice tasks can serve as a beneficial follow-up to an initial study phase in which learners have studied new learning material. However, research that compares the effects of these 2 types of learning tasks is scarce. Therefore, it is widely unknown whether, and if so under which conditions, the one…

Studying with digital media, learners often struggle because of inadequate self-regulation. Previous research presented clear evidence of metacognitive prompts being effective in supporting learning with digital media. This study examines the potential of motivational regulation prompts, which are assumed to additionally support self-regulated…

In 2 experiments we examined the role of (a) specificity, (b) the type of targeted learning activities, and (c) learners' prior knowledge for the effects of relevance instructions on learning from instructional explanations. In Experiment 1, we recruited novices regarding the topic of atomic structure (N = 80) and found that "specific"…

When teachers or instructors create computer-based learning environments, they often solely consider technical aspects of interactivity. As a consequence, learners' main role is to respond to requests of the learning environment (e.g. by answering multiple-choice questions). This aspect of interactivity is, however, not sufficient to understand…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…