The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments and educational institutions around the world to look for viable alternatives to campus-based education. However, pedagogical methods such as Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) might need to be adapted to low-interactivity distance learning environments, such as datacasting. This paper describes VTS+, a…

Classroom experiments that evaluate the effectiveness of educational technologies do not typically examine the effects of classroom contextual variables (e.g., out-of-software help-giving and external distractions). Yet these variables may influence students' instructional outcomes. In this paper, we introduce the Spatial Classroom Log Explorer…

A study tested the theory that an item that stands out from its background is better remembered than one that is similar to the background (the isolation effect). Specifically, the study examined whether the isolation effect would be greater when there was a larger and more confusing mass of background items, whether position of the isolated item…

The purpose of the eight studies reported in this paper was two-fold: to identify some of the relationships that exist between the unique properties of diagrams and various aspects of cognitive processes and learning, and, subsequently, to derive principles from these relationships that would direct the design and use of diagrams in the classroom.…

This report uses mental model theory to create a taxonomy of picture functions in order to relate these functions to learning theories. A rough outline of picture functions is presented, consisting of a retrieval function, a focus function, a construction function, and a supplantation function. It is suggested that this taxonomy could be helpful…

This paper proposes that three properties of graphic materials can be manipulated by instructional designers to model cognitive processes and thus help students learn. These properties are: the distance of elements in the graphic display from each other, the orientation of the elements to each other, and the sequence in which the elements are…

An experiment was conducted in which the relationships of basic television and film codes to particular literacy mental skills were examined. Different versions of the same film, each focusing on a different code, were produced and shown to fifth graders. It was found that children with initially better mastery of the relevant skills extract more…

Analogous auditory and visual central-incidental learning tasks were administered to 24 students from each of the second, fourth, and sixth grades. The visual tasks served as another modification of Hagen's central-incidental learning paradigm, with the interpretation that focal attention processes continue to develop until the age of 12 or 13…

Thirty-three second graders participated in a study to discover the value of teaching concepts using picture attribute chunking (PAC). It was hypothesized that PAC would yield superior concept learning performances compared to a picture attribute list (PAL) treatment and a word-alone treatment. The children, selected on the basis of a pretest that…

Incidental learning research with mentally retarded children has produced findings inconsistent with those reported for the intellectually normal population. This study was designed to further investigate the efficacy of incidental semantic classification instructions relative to taxonomic classification instructions or superficial color…

The hypothesis that reading difficulty of learning disabled (LD) children is attributable to deficiencies in verbal encoding was investigated with 60 LD and normal children (mean CA=9.1, mean IQ=103.5). Ss were compared on recall of a serial short-term memory task after pre-training of named and unnamed stimulus conditions. Data suggested that…

A battery of memory tests was administered to 243 male university students. Factor analysis with oblique rotation of factors revealed five factors: (1) associative memory (particularly important in paired-associate tests), (2) short-term visual memory (the ability to derive information from briefly presented visual displays), (3) meaningful memory…

Modern means that can be used in the framework of teaching substantially extend the possibilities of schoolmasters, but they also complicate the pedagogical process. Can we make really effective use of them? Have we, at their application, really greater pedagogical effect? How do we include the possibilities of audiovisual techniques into the…

The interactions of three factors that may be involved with the memory for pattern or sequence in visual materials were investigated in this study: (1) arbitrariness of representation; (2) task; and (3) ability of students. The subjects, who were 29 graduate students in education, were pretested for general ability and randomly assigned to four…

A study was conducted to explore the process of learning from television news and the relationship between audio and visual channels. The subjects, 82 undergraduate journalism majors enrolled in five newswriting classes, were randomly assigned to experimental conditions. Newscasts were recorded from evening newscasts aired by networks, and scripts…