Showing papers by "Martha W. Alibali published in 2016"

Gesture in Instruction: Evidence from Live and Video Lessons

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that teachers’ gestures are beneficial for student learning. In this research, we investigate whether teachers’ gestures have comparable effects in face-to-face live instruction and video-based instruction. We provided sixty-three 7–10 year old students with instruction about mathematical equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = __ + 5). Students were assigned to one of four experimental conditions in a 2 × 2 factorial design that varied (1) instruction medium (video vs. live), and (2) instruction modality (speech vs. speech + gesture). There was no main effect of medium: The same amount of learning occurred whether instruction was done live or on video. There was a main effect of modality: Speech instruction accompanied by gesture resulted in significantly more learning and transfer than instruction conveyed through speech only. Gesture’s effect on instruction was stronger for video instruction than live instruction. These findings suggest that there may be a limit to gesture’s role in communication that results in student learning.

Does Comparing Informal and Formal Procedures Promote Mathematics Learning? The Benefits of Bridging Depend on Attitudes toward Mathematics.

Abstract: 1 Temple University, 2 University of Wisconsin—Madison Students benefit from learning multiple procedures for solving the same or related problems. However, past research on comparison instruction has focused on comparing multiple formal procedures. This study investigated whether the benefits of comparing procedures extend to comparisons that involve informal and formal procedures. We also examined how learner characteristics, including prior knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics, affect learning from comparing procedures. We addressed these issues in college students’ learning procedures for solving systems of equations problems in algebra. Learners who liked mathematics learned equally well whether they received comparison or sequential instruction. However, among learners who did not like mathematics, instruction that included support for comparisons between the formal and informal procedures led to greater gains in conceptual knowledge than did sequential instruction of the procedures. Correspondence: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Shanta Hattikudur, via email to shanta.hattikudur@temple.edu.

Learning about Posterior Probability: Do Diagrams and Elaborative Interrogation Help?.

Abstract: To learn from a text, students must make meaningful connections among related ideas in that text. This study examined the effectiveness of two methods of improving connections—elaborative interrogation and diagrams—in written lessons about posterior probability. Undergraduate students (N = 198) read a lesson in one of three questioning conditions (read twice, embedded questioning, and elaborative interrogation) and one of three diagram conditions (text only, diagram without redundant text, and diagram with redundant text). Elaborative interrogation negatively affected learning from the lesson, relative to reading the lesson twice. One possible explanation for this finding is that the quality of answers to the elaborative interrogations was poor. When the lesson was read twice, diagrams helped learning from the lesson relative to text only. Implications of these findings for instruction in probabilistic reasoning are discussed.

Learning about Posterior Probability: Do Diagrams and Elaborative Interrogation Help?.

Abstract: To learn from a text, students must make meaningful connections among related ideas in that text. This study examined the effectiveness of two methods of improving connections—elaborative interrogation and diagrams—in written lessons about posterior probability. Undergraduate students (N = 198) read a lesson in one of three questioning conditions (read twice, embedded questioning, and elaborative interrogation) and one of three diagram conditions (text only, diagram without redundant text, and diagram with redundant text). Elaborative interrogation negatively affected learning from the lesson, relative to reading the lesson twice. One possible explanation for this finding is that the quality of answers to the elaborative interrogations was poor. When the lesson was read twice, diagrams helped learning from the lesson relative to text only. Implications of these findings for instruction in probabilistic reasoning are discussed.

Learning about Probability from Text and Tables: Do Color Coding and Labeling through an Interactive-User Interface Help?.

Abstract: Summary Learning from visual representations is enhanced when learners appropriately integrate corresponding visual and verbal information. This study examined the effects of two methods of promoting integration, color coding and labeling, on learning about probabilistic reasoning from a table and text. Undergraduate students (N = 98) were randomly assigned to learn about probabilistic reasoning from one of 4 computer-based lessons generated from a 2 (color coding/no color coding) by 2 (labeling/no labeling) between-subjects design. Learners added the labels or color coding at their own pace by clicking buttons in a computer-based lesson. Participants' eye movements were recorded while viewing the lesson. Labeling was beneficial for learning, but color coding was not. In addition, labeling, but not color coding, increased attention to important information in the table and time with the lesson. Both labeling and color coding increased looks between the text and corresponding information in the table. The findings provide support for the multimedia principle, and they suggest that providing labeling enhances learning about probabilistic reasoning from text and tables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Digital learning activities delivered by eloquent instructor avatars: scaling with problem instance

Abstract: We present an approach for achieving scalable authoring of digital learning activities, without sacrificing delivery eloquence. A computer animation character serves as an instructor avatar that not only speaks but also makes deictic, iconic and charisma gestures. The avatar is controlled via a text script, without the prerequisites of computer programming or animation expertise. Given a script for a problem, the system automatically generates scripts for additional instances of the problem, by adapting the targets of the deictic gestures, the speech, and the synchronization between speech and gestures. Starting from initial learning activities of a few minutes, the system can automatically generate hours of quality on-line learning activities. An evaluation by computer graphics, computer animation, and education research experts reveals that the automatically generated learning activities have animation quality that is comparable to that of the original activities.

Children’s and Adults’ Interpretation of Covariation Data: Does Symmetry of Variables Matter?

Abstract: In a series of 3 experiments, the authors investigated the influence of symmetry of variables on children’s and adults’ data interpretation. They hypothesized that symmetrical (i.e., present/present) variables would support correct interpretations more than asymmetrical (i.e., present/absent) variables. Participants were asked to judge covariation in a series of data sets presented in contingency tables and to justify their judgments. Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 were elementary school children (Experiment 1: n = 52 second graders, n = 44 fourth graders; Experiment 2: n = 50 second graders). Participants in Experiment 3 were adults (n = 62). In Experiment 1, children in the symmetrical variables condition performed better than those in the asymmetrical variables condition. Children in the symmetrical variables condition judged more data patterns correctly and they more frequently justified their choices by referring to the complete table. Experiment 2 ruled out the possibility that this effect was caused by differences in question format. Even when question format was held constant, second graders performed better with symmetrical variables. Experiment 3 showed that adults’ data interpretation is also affected by symmetry of variables. Collectively, these results indicate that symmetry of variables affects interpretation of covariation data. The authors argue that symmetrical variables provide a context for meaningful comparison. With asymmetrical variables, the importance of the comparison is less salient. Thus, the symmetry of variables should be considered by researchers as well as educators.

Learning about Probability from Text and Tables: Do Color Coding and Labeling through an Interactive‐user Interface Help?

Abstract: Summary Learning from visual representations is enhanced when learners appropriately integrate corresponding visual and verbal information. This study examined the effects of two methods of promoting integration, color coding and labeling, on learning about probabilistic reasoning from a table and text. Undergraduate students (N = 98) were randomly assigned to learn about probabilistic reasoning from one of 4 computer-based lessons generated from a 2 (color coding/no color coding) by 2 (labeling/no labeling) between-subjects design. Learners added the labels or color coding at their own pace by clicking buttons in a computer-based lesson. Participants' eye movements were recorded while viewing the lesson. Labeling was beneficial for learning, but color coding was not. In addition, labeling, but not color coding, increased attention to important information in the table and time with the lesson. Both labeling and color coding increased looks between the text and corresponding information in the table. The findings provide support for the multimedia principle, and they suggest that providing labeling enhances learning about probabilistic reasoning from text and tables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The temporal relationship between speech and manual communicative gesture in children with specific language impairment

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between word frequency and timing of communicative gestures in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically-developing (TD) children. Nine children with SLI and twelve age-matched TD children produced a narrative after watching an animated cartoon. Redundant gesture-speech pairs were identified and coded for temporal alignment between gesture and speech onset and gesture duration. Word frequency for the co-occurring words was determined using the SUBTLEXus database. No significant group differences were found for temporal alignment or gesture duration. However, word frequency was associated with temporal alignment and gesture duration in TD children, but not in children with SLI. This finding suggests that the role communicative gestures play in lexical access may be different in children with SLI relative to TD children.

"Relational" Equity: Elementary Students Co-Construct a Social-Mathematical Power Dynamic during Collaborative Engagement on Equivalence Tasks.

Abstract: We report a qualitative analysis of elementary school students engaged in collaborative problem solving involving mathematical equivalence tasks. We build on previous research showing that students often use strategies based on either operational or relational understandings of the equal sign. We closely analyze three cases and identify nuanced aspects of the social interaction that influence whether and how students develop and use operational or relational strategies toward a final solution. Students’ demonstrated understandings of the equal sign during collaboration aligned with those identified in past research. We argue that a social-mathematical power dynamic was coconstructed in each of the dyads, and the ways students navigated that dynamic affected the quality of individual engagement and therefore learning.