This dissertation presents an innovative approach to the development and empirical evaluation of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) technology used for teaching and learning. It introduces IADE (Intelligent Academic Discourse Evaluator), a new web-based AWE program that analyzes research article Introduction sections and generates immediate,…

This document reports on research related to large-scale assessments for students with learning disabilities in the area of reading. As part of a process of making assessments more universally designed the authors examined the role of "readable and comprehensible" test items (Thompson, Johnstone, & Thurlow, 2002). In this research, they used think…

Grounded within constructivist theory, the purpose of this investigation was to investigate knowledge acquisition and developing conceptions of high school-aged students during a unit of instruction in badminton. Six different qualitative methods were utilized: (a) observations, (b) formal interviews, (c) informal interviews, (d) think aloud…

Little research has been done examining the role of errors in learning computer software. It is argued, though, that understanding the errors that people make while learning new software is important to improving instruction. The purpose of the current study was to (a) develop a meaningful and practical system for classifying computer software…

Findings from this study of how two pairs of eighth-grade students each transacted with a website during think-aloud sessions at the conclusion of a curricular unit on Mexico and migration highlight the ways the students engaged in three interrelated tasks: (1) Identifying and making sense of "new" information; (2) Evaluating claims and evidence;…

A study examined the revision strategies of basic writers. Subjects, one female from Guyana, one from Belize, and one African-American student from New York, were identified as "basic writers" based on performance on minimum competency writing tests. Subjects had their think-aloud protocols recorded as they read and revised a text.…

Discusses intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), one application of artificial intelligence to computers used in education. Basic designs of ITSs are described; examples are given including PROUST, GREATERP, and the use of simulation with ITSs; protocol analysis is discussed; and 38 prototype ITSs are listed. (LRW)

Defends the use of verbal reports, or protocol analysis, as a valid means of understanding cognitive processes and writing processes. (SRT)

Investigates four developing readers' text processing by asking them to think aloud as they read five narratives and five expository texts over the course of a school year. Identifies five general categories of processing. Finds that while reading narratives, students hypothesized most of the time; and while reading expository texts, they…

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…

Argues that significant improvement in high school students' spelling can result from direct diagnostic teaching that helps disabled spellers analyze and overcome their problems. Presents a cognitively based error-analysis protocol which has the promise for providing the insights needed to enhance the effectiveness of spelling instruction for…

Reviews the history of verbal data in a variety of fields, places protocol analysis in its historical context, and examines more recent claims and criticisms regarding protocol analysis. Concludes that protocol analysis, when conducted according to certain principles, can be an important tool for researching the composing process. (MG)

Uses a think-aloud protocol to investigate how a professional actor analyzes a script to discern the plans his assigned character is following. Shows that the actor attends not only to the meaning but also to such elements of the text as structure, punctuation, and linguistic devices to determine the character's internal states and specific…

Discussion of indexing as a problem-solving activity focuses on an experiment that applied theories and methods from cognitive psychology to study interindexer consistency. Eight indexers (four novice and four experts) used two thesauri to index the same four documents. Three kinds of verbal reports were used to assess cognitive processes. (LRW)

Analysis of the think-aloud protocols used by advanced-level (n=9) English-as-a-Second-Language writers used in completing sentence-combining tasks showed that they engaged in such strategies as restating content, constructing meaning, higher- and lower-level planning, and evaluating the appropriateness of constructions, but not attending to…