This study employed an eye-tracking technique to examine students' visual attention when solving a multiple-choice science problem. Six university students participated in a problem-solving task to predict occurrences of landslide hazards from four images representing four combinations of four factors. Participants' responses and visual attention…

Protocol analysis, a technique that uses people's verbal reports about their cognitions as they engage in an assigned task, has been used in a number of applications to provide insight into how people mentally plan, assess, and carry out those assignments. Using a system of networked computers where actors communicate with each other over…

This think-aloud study examined the process seven academics used in reasoning through a colleague's biochemistry course portfolio. Interview data indicated that participants used a normative, case-based reasoning approach, comparing reviewees' practices to their own experiences, their colleagues, and prototypical or traditional practices. They…

College students (n=24) read passages marked for think-aloud (TA) procedure, not marked for TA, and control (no TA). The marked procedure elicited more veridical protocols, and students who scored high on the comprehension test were more likely to have made many TA comments reflecting a knowledge-transforming approach to the text. (SLD)

Investigates conscious understanding during narrative comprehension as revealed through use of think-aloud methodology. Presents an analytical model of conscious understanding. Identifies three working memory operations in the protocols--operations which are functionally necessary to inferences in the protocols. Discusses data and current models…

This book examines the "think aloud method," which asks people to think aloud while solving a problem so that the resulting protocol can then be analyzed to answer questions about problem solving behavior. The method is presented in detail in the book, along with examples. The book finds that the method is useful both for psychological…

This study examined the self-regulated strategies college students used as they read their textbooks in preparation for examinations, noting whether they adapted these strategies across the semester. Eight students completed three think aloud sessions across the course of a college class. Each think aloud involved participants studying their…

Describes research techniques in chemistry education that are based on listening to learners. Gives a brief history of think-aloud techniques and works through an example study to show considerations that must be made when doing this kind of research. Issues raised include conceptualization of research studies, preparation for their…

The focus of this project was on characterizing and assessing design problem solving in the area of digital circuit design. Think-aloud protocols and computer traces of subject problem-solving behavior were used to elucidate the cognitive processes involved in designing combinational and complex sequential circuits by: (1) studying the differences…

The cognitive levels of instruction of professors from the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Agricultural Sciences (PGSAS) and the cognitive levels of thought among students were studied. The classes of 4 of 16 PGSAS professors were selected for analysis, and researchers recorded the frequency of observable teacher behaviors from each level…

By using ill-structured problems and examining problem- solving processes, this study was conducted to explore the nature of solving complex, multistep problems, focusing on how prior knowledge, problem-solving process utilization, and analogical problem solving are related to success. Twenty-four college students qualified to participate by…

The role of planning in the design of digital circuits was studied in two experiments. One compared the planning-related activities of expert designers and beginning students of design, and the other looked at the effect on circuit-design processes of forcing students to construct a global plan. In experiment 1, five undergraduate students…

Studies what inferences test-takers make as they struggle to match their expectations for an answer with the choices offered in a multiple-choice question. Finds that the 27 types of inferences observed within the metacognitive, cognitive, and affective interactions displayed during these protocols suggested a wealth of activity and thought. (MG)

Making the case that the human achievement of reading has few if any equals, this book uses protocol analysis data related to reading to develop a rich description and understanding of cognitive and affective processes during reading. The book concludes that reading is "constructively responsive"--that is, good readers are always…

Outlines procedures used in an investigation of college students' thinking aloud protocols and discusses the framework developed for differentiating student-text interactions and identifying the common problems of less able comprehenders. Suggests ways to use protocols to look into the ways students comprehend texts, to identify comprehension…