This study examines the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) in facilitating students' shifts to more sophisticated mental models of the circulatory system as indicated by both performance and process data. We began with Winne and colleagues' information processing model of SRL (Winne, 2001; Winne & Hadwin, 1998) and used it to examine how…

This article discusses the effectiveness of a theoretical-based integrated learning environment (ILE) for training non-traditional learners to perform the skills required to be successful in entry-level jobs. The ILE places instruction in a real-world, workplace context with realistic settings, characters, and storylines. The multimedia interface…

The potential of on-line discussions to prompt greater reflection of course material is often stymied by a tendency of students to agree with one another rather than to formulate counter-arguments. This article describes an experiment using note starters and elaborated cases to encourage counter-argumentation and examines interactions with…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how text formats affect readers' recall and feeling of disorientation based on their working memory capacities and past experience with hypertext. A post-test only experiment was conducted. A new hybrid hypertext, expanding hypertext, was proposed and tested with 201 college students. Among the…

Most educators increasingly regard ill-structured problem solving as an important objective of learning and have sought various means to achieve it. In this article, we describe a learning environment to help pre-service teachers in Singapore solve ill-structured problems. There are four key dimensions in our learning environment: tutor-led…

Direct observation of student study behavior is possible when students use computer-based learning materials. Data recorded on the self-directed studying of more than 100,000 students using a Web-based tool to prepare for U.S. college admissions tests reveal several non-optimal behaviors. Students had a tendency to begin studying within days of…

One of the psychological states that can be monitored and influenced during learning in order to improve its various aspects is the state of anxiety, and one possible index of this state is frontal EEG beta. However, frontal EEG beta has also been associated with mental activities. This may imply that frontal EEG beta would not be a reliable index…

This study investigated the statistical and practical significance of context effects for items randomized within testlets for administration during a series of computerized non-adaptive tests. One hundred and twenty-five items from four primary school reading tests were studied. Logistic regression analyses identified from one to four items for…

This study compares teaching and learning activities in 4th and 5th grade classrooms that were permanently equipped with one laptop for each student and classrooms that share a cart of laptops that create a 1:1 laptop environment on a temporary basis. The study originated from a question posed to us by Andover Public Schools (MA): "How does…

Increasing numbers of states, districts, and schools provide every student with a computing device; for example, the middle schools in Maine maintain wireless Internet access and the students receive laptops. Research can provide policymakers with better evidence of the benefits and costs of 1:1 computing and establish which factors make 1:1…

One definition of design is "creating something new that fits with reality" (Stults, 1985). This article describes a project in which the researchers started with the intuition that new handheld-based wireless technologies held the promise of creating something new and highly desirable for K-12 education. We saw the potential for handheld-based…

Handheld devices have the potential to make a large impact on K-12 educational settings, due to their relative low cost, high mobility, and interactive learning capabilities. This article, the outcome of a large-scale project examining the use of handheld computers, examines how handheld computers can improve teaching and learning, what…

While appropriate as an initial focus, it is time that the educational community move beyond an emphasis on 1:1 computing (each child having his/her own personal computer) to a vision of a handheld-centric classroom, where each child not only has his/her own personal, handheld computer, but also has access to networked PCs, probeware, digital…

The most recent advances in information technology have brought wireless communication and mobile devices to education. The wireless technology enhanced classroom (WiTEC) integrates a wireless local area network, mobile learning devices, and client-server architecture to support instruction and learning activities. This article introduces a…

The concern with a "digital divide" has been transformed from one defined by technological access to technological prowess--employing technologies for more empowered and generative uses such as learning and innovation. Participation in technological fluency-building activities among high school students in a community heavily involved in the…