ERIC Number: EJ854611
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Dec
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0360-1315
EISSN: N/A
Not Everybody Needs Help to Seek Help: Surprising Effects of Metacognitive Instructions to Foster Help-Seeking in an Online-Learning Environment
Stahl, Elmar; Bromme, Rainer
Computers & Education, v53 n4 p1020-1028 Dec 2009
Offering help functions is a standard feature of computer-based interactive learning environments (ILE). Nevertheless, a number of recent studies indicate that learners are not using such help facilities effectively. We compared the effects of different metacognitive supports to foster learners' help-seeking behavior in an ILE for plant identification. Four groups of university students (n=51), each receiving a different metacognitive instruction, had to determine living plants. They had to think-aloud and were video recorded during the experiment. At the end of the session they completed a knowledge test. The surprising effect was that students in all groups were effective help-seekers. They adapted their help-seeking behavior to the complexity of the plants in an effective way. The results indicate that for students on university level effective help-seeking seems to depend largely on motivational factors. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Plants (Botany), Help Seeking, Protocol Analysis, Metacognition, Cognitive Style, Electronic Learning, Search Strategies, Scaffolding (Teaching Technique), Learning Strategies, Computer Assisted Instruction, Online Courses
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A