The forward effect of testing occurs when testing on previously studied information facilitates subsequent learning. The present research investigated whether interim testing on initially studied materials enhances the learning of new materials in category learning and examined the metacognitive judgments of such learning. Across the 4…

The goal of the present study is to determine how to incorporate social cues such as gesturing in animated pedagogical agents (PAs) for online multimedia lessons in ways that promote student learning. In 3 experiments, college students learned about synaptic transmission from a multimedia narrated presentation while their eye movements were…

In spite of its potential for learning, and in particular knowledge revision, argumentation on science concepts is neither easily elicited nor easily sustained. Students may feel uneasy critiquing and being critiqued, especially on complex science topics. We report on a controlled study that tested the role of 2 potential factors that may either…

The present study tests whether presenting video modeling examples from the learner's (first-person) perspective promotes learning of an assembly task, compared to presenting video examples from a third-person perspective. Across 2 experiments conducted in different labs, university students viewed a video showing how to assemble an 8-component…

In the course of tutoring, tutors have the opportunity to formatively assess a tutee's understanding. The information gathered by engaging in formative assessment can be used by tutors not only to adapt instruction in order to enhance learning but also to form a summative judgment in order to document a tutee's learning after tutoring.…

Students typically create concept maps while they view the material they are trying to learn. In these circumstances, concept mapping serves as an elaborative study activity--students are not required to retrieve the material they are learning. In 2 experiments, we examined the effectiveness of concept mapping when it is used as a retrieval…

The effects of imagery instructions on fifth-graders with differing abilities were examined through within-class analysis and analysis in which class effects were allowed to have influence. In the latter analysis there were significant Aptitude X Treatment interactions with subscores derived from paired-associate tasks. Interactions were…