Virtual humans are on-screen characters that are often embedded in learning technologies to deliver educational content. Little research has investigated how virtual humans can be used to correct common misconceptions. In this study, we explored how different types of narrative structures, refutation text and expository text, influence perceptions…

Computer simulation and animation (CSA) is educational technology in which computer programs are employed to simulate and animate real-world physical phenomena and processes. CSA has attracted growing attention and received an increasing number of applications in the international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education…

We investigated the impact of assistance on learning and affect during problem-solving activities with a computer tutor we built using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools framework. The tutor delivered its primary form of assistance in the form of worked-out examples. We manipulated the level of assistance the examples in the tutor provided, by…

Reading requires appropriate strategies to spark initial interest and sustain engagement. One promising strategy is the pedagogical approach of learning-by-teaching, transforming learners into active participants. Integrating this approach into digitalized and individualized reading contexts has the potential to foster the development of young…

Computers and the Internet are indispensable in modern life. Increasingly useful digital environments and technological developments have reshaped models of knowledge acquisition. Studies on the development of online learning have yielded valuable insights. In the design of online teaching systems that can replicate face-to-face teaching,…

Technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) presents a dynamic framework for describing teachers' knowledge required for designing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum and instruction with technology. TPACK strategic thinking includes knowing when, where, and how to use domain-specific knowledge and strategies for guiding students'…

Up to now, only a few studies in multimedia learning have focused on gender effects. While research has mostly focused on learning success, the effect of gender on instructional efficiency (IE) has not yet been considered. Consequently, we used a quasi-experimental design to examine possible gender differences in the learning success, mental…

The learner-centered paradigm of instruction differs in such fundamental ways from the teacher-centered paradigm that it requires technology to serve very different functions. In 2006, a research team at Indiana University began to work on identifying those functions and published their results in 2008. Subsequently, the team elaborated and…

The reported exploratory study consisted primarily of classroom visits, videotaped sessions, and post-treatment interviews whereby second graders (n = 12) worked on problems in planar geometry, individually and in triads, using physical and virtual manipulatives. The goal of the study was to: 1) characterize the nature of geometric thinking found…

Researchers question how and what students learn from commercial digital games. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, this study examined 30 students' construction of knowledge and skills while playing a commercial off-the-shelf game for 7 weeks. Quantitative data included students' background survey and pre- and post-assessments for…

University education often suffers from a lack of an explicit and adaptable didactic design. Students complain about the insufficient adaptability to the learners' needs. Learning content and services need to reach their audience according to their different prerequisites, needs, and different learning styles and conditions. A way to overcome such…

The study of student error, important across many fields of educational research, has begun to attract interest in the field of e-learning, particularly in relation to usability. However, it remains unclear when errors should be avoided (as usability failures) or embraced (as learning opportunities). Many domains have benefited from taxonomies of…

The aim of this survey is to provide an overview of the various components of "computer aided affective learning systems." The research is classified into 3 main scientific areas that are integral parts of the development of these kinds of systems. The three main scientific areas are: i) emotions and their connection to learning; ii) affect…

When visualization tools utilized in computer programming education have been evaluated empirically, the results have remained controversial. To address this problem, we have developed a model of short-term effects of program animation, and used it in a series of experiments. In the current experiment, we varied visual representation of an…

The process of developing concepts of time continues from age 5 to 11 years (Zakay, 1998). This study sought the representation mode in which children could best express time concepts, especially the proper arrangement of events in a logical and temporal order. Usually, temporal order is examined and taught by 2D (2-dimensional) pictorial scripts.…