An introductory physics course may be run like a video game, where students have an almost unlimited number of attempts to demonstrate their competencies through a sequence of zero-penalty assessments until the end of a semester. Each checkpoint is conducted as a 10-minute, one-on-one oral interview with the instructor, and students are not…

Learners make a number of decisions when attempting to study efficiently: they must choose which information to study, for how long to study it, and whether to restudy it later. The current experiments examine whether documented impairments to self-regulated learning when studying information sequentially, as opposed to simultaneously, extend to…

A course design question for self-paced courses includes whether or not technological measures should be used in course design to force students to follow the sequence intended by the course author. This study examined learner behavior to understand whether the sequence of student assignment submissions in a self-paced distance course is related…

This study investigated the influence of cognitive support for learning computer-based tasks using animated demonstration (AD) on instructional efficiency. Cognitive support included (1) segmentation and learner control introducing interactive devices that allow content sequencing through a navigational menu, and content pacing through stop and…

Learning with instructional animations may overstretch limited working memory resources due to intense processing demands associated with transient information. The authors investigated whether explicit instructional advice coupled with a task-specific learner control mechanism (such as a timeline scrollbar) could facilitate the successful…

In two H[subscript 2] [superscript 15]O PET scan experiments, we investigated the cerebral correlates of explicit and implicit knowledge in a serial reaction time (SRT) task. To do so, we used a novel application of the Process Dissociation Procedure, a behavioral paradigm that makes it possible to separately assess conscious and unconscious…

Discusses and reviews learner control research and presents three theoretical bases to help provide a framework for past research as well as to assist in designing future studies: (1) motivation, (2) attribution, and (3) information processing. Three types of learner control are discussed in relation to the theoretical perspectives: pacing,…

Discussion of learner control in instructional management describes six learner control methods: (1) content control; (2) sequence control; (3) pace control; (4) display or strategy control; (5) internal processing control; and (6) advisor strategies. Relevant literature, both theoretical and empirical, is reviewed, and learner control and…

Measures children's attention to television programs varying in pace and continuity and assesses recall of the temporal sequence of program events. Attention and comprehension covaried more in animated than in live shows. Age, continuity, and pace effects on recall were not fully accounted for by their effects on attention. (Author/AS)

For college students learning concepts, the advisement condition resulted in better performance than the learner control condition and needed less instructional time than the adaptive control condition. Results also indicated that students given concepts simultaneously performed better and needed less instruction than those who received concepts…

Senior high students who were given concepts simultaneously learned more than those who received concepts successively. A second variable, instructional control strategy, contrasted an adaptive (computer-assisted) control strategy with learner control. Performance was above the criterion level for the adaptive condition, but below it for learner…

Discusses research on learner control, pacing, and sequence, and describes a study of undergraduates that was conducted to determine the effects of learner versus program control of pacing and sequence in an interactive video lesson on photography. Results are analyzed, and suggestions for further research are given. (38 references) (LRW)