This article describes a project to apply and validate a conceptual framework of clusters of purposeful learning activity involving ICT tools. The framework, which is based in a socio-cultural perspective, is described as "DECK", and comprises the following major categories of the use of digital technologies to support learning:…

Readers increasingly attempt to understand and learn from information sources they find on the Internet. Doing so highlights the crucial role that evaluative processes play in selecting and making sense of the information. In a prior study, Wiley et al. (2009, Experiment 1) asked undergraduates to perform a web-based inquiry task about volcanoes…

Critics argue that requiring subjects to verbalize their thoughts while completing certain language tasks increases the participants' cognitive load and impairs their final performance (e.g., Jourdenais, 2001). Despite the importance of this claim for language instructors, few studies have produced contradicting evidence after an empirical study…

The decision-making behaviors of 8 raters when scoring 39 persuasive and 39 narrative essays written by second language learners were examined, first using Rasch analysis and then, through think aloud protocols. Results based on Rasch analysis and think aloud protocols recorded by raters as they were scoring holistically and analytically suggested…

This article shares findings of how two third-grade children who have systematically studied history in grades K-3 analyzed historical sources on a topic about which they had no prior knowledge. In think-aloud interviews, the children analyzed written documents on the 1887 Dawes Severalty Act. One of the children, who tested on the third-grade…

Employers in the 21st century seek graduates with a demonstrated ability to be independent, self-managing, lifelong learners. In this paper the authors explore student responses to a tutorial activity designed to promote lifelong learning skills. The activity is framed around situated learning theory, and capitalises on the affordances of video…

Recent scholarship on secondary reading calls for a shift from teaching generic literacy strategies to teaching discipline-specific language and literacy practices (Fang & Schleppegrell, 2008; Moje, 2008; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012). This call for disciplinary literacy instruction (DLI) reflects the growing recognition that literacy…

In the study reported here, we explored writing processes employed by 70 undergraduate learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) through questionnaires and think-aloud protocols. Then we looked for possible differences in the writing processes employed by high- and low-aptitude learners. We observed that learners with higher aptitude scores…

This descriptive study examines when and how students use Russian-English dictionaries while reading informational texts in Russian and what success they have with word lookup. The study uses introspective verbal protocols (i.e., think-alouds) to follow how readers construct meaning from two texts while reading them for a limited time first…

This article describes a pilot study following on from a curriculum development activity with teachers and children in primary school classrooms, using a framework for group discussion developed by Huthwaite International. The Centre for Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University and Huthwaite International worked with teachers from three…

This study investigates how reading ability and personality traits predict the quality of verbal discussions in peer-led literature circles. Third grade literature discussions were recorded, transcribed, and coded. The coded statements and questions were quantified into a quality of engagement score. Through multiple linear regression, the…

Existing research from Western countries has consistently shown that the learning environment is an important factor for academic motivation. Self-determination theory, which serves as a theoretical foundation of the present study, suggests that teachers' involvement is an important element of students' learning, regardless of the cultural…

The Nebraska Early Childhood Coach (ECC) training was a 3 day (8 hours) professional development event sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Education, Office of Child Development in 2009-2010. Sixty-five early childhood teachers and related service providers participated for the purpose of learning the basic principles and behaviors associated…

Extensive studies have been conducted to determine how best to present information in order to enhance usability, but not what information is needed to be presented for effective decision making. Hence, this dissertation addresses the factor structure of the nature of information needed for presentation and proposes a more effective method than…

Knowledge-sharing and resource exchange are the key to the success of collaborative design learning. In an architectural design studio, design knowledge entails learning efforts that need to accumulate and recombine dispersed and complementary pieces of knowledge. In this research, firstly, "Knowledge Trading Game" is proposed to be a way for…