To investigate the cognitive validity of scientific and quantitative reasoning items, "think-alouds" (verbal solutions) were elicited for a general education instrument. Several items were not aligned in terms of anticipated versus actual content, and the instrument's accuracy is questioned. We discuss study weaknesses and merits of this framework…

In the present study, we examined the reading activities of young readers, while reading an expository text. A total of 24 third-graders was administered a think-aloud task on two occasions. Their protocols were analysed by a coding system that captured two levels of the reading process: the word identification level and the reading comprehension…

In this article we report on a study in which verbal protocol data were used to explore English as a foreign language writers' planning behavior while engaged in academic writing tasks. The analysis was approached from a temporal perspective (i.e., time spent on planning operations) in relation to three independent variables: (a) the participants'…

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a district-wide professional development effort based on a modified Ramp-Up Program, designed to help high school teachers improve the reading skills of their students. Ramp-Up is a two-year course that seeks to accelerate the learning progress of entering high school students who…

Two small studies, one an "eye-tracking" study and the other a "remote observation" study, have been conducted to investigate ways to identify two kinds of online learner interactions: users flicking through the web pages in "browsing" action, and users engaging with the content of a page in "learning"…

A study examined the commonalities that "voracious" readers share, and how their experiences can guide parents, teachers, and librarians in assisting children to become self-actualized readers. Subjects, 25 adults ranging in age from 20 to 67 years, completed a questionnaire concerning their reading histories and habits. Respondents…

Four papers from a project concerning information-processing characterizations of the knowledge and processes involved in design are presented. The project collected and analyzed verbal protocols from instructional designers, architects, and mechanical engineers. A framework was developed for characterizing the problem spaces of design that…

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…

Discussed are research methods used to measure developmental changes in children's reasoning about ability. While adults generally differentiate ability, effort, luck, and task difficulty as causes for success and failure, children progressively think that effort or outcome is ability (level 1), that effort is the cause of performance outcomes…

A study examined in detail the initial encoding of worked-out examples of mechanics problems by "good" and "poor" students, and their subsequent reliance on examples during problem solving. The subjects, three males and five females, were selected from responses to a university campus advertisement. Six of them were working…

Contends that composition studies risks a detrimental borrowing of prestige from science, a borrowing that is not only potentially misleading but also too limiting if it draws attention away from the broad spectrum of considerations inherent in composition studies. (RAE)

Replies to Steinberg's article on protocol analysis in this issue and argues that even if the writing process is a problem-solving process, it is too complex to analyze sufficiently using protocols. (SRT)

This paper reports the results of a think-aloud study that investigated the comprehension processes of 10 Chinese English as a Second Language college students as they read texts in English. All participants were asked to read two English passages and think aloud as they read them. After reading each passage, the students answered 20…

This paper addresses how rereading can improve comprehension of second language college texts, describing a pilot study that examined what happens when people reread. The study involved two female Japanese college students enrolled in a U.S. university. The women were asked to do think-aloud protocols while individually reading a section of an…

The purpose of this paper was to investigate how young (second grade) L2 readers constructed intertextual meaning and how to relate their conceptions or beliefs about reading to their intertextuality. L2 readers who moved to America might be influenced by their cultural background which might further affect their reading processes. Though current…