Improving Online Learning with Interpolated Retrieval

在线学习是中学后教育的一个迅速发展的特点。根据国家教育统计中心最近的一份报告，估计每7名学生中就有1名完全在线注册，每3名学生中就有1名至少参加过一门在线课程，尽管COVID-19迫使大多数教育在线，至少暂时如此。在在线学习的背景下，视频记录的讲座代表了信息传递的主要模式，但从在线讲座学习往往受到影响有效学习的注意力不集中的困扰。该奖项将使研究人员能够在他们的初步工作的基础上，证明将长视频分成更短，更易于管理的片段，并要求学生表达他们在这些休息期间学到的东西可以可靠地提高注意力和学习。更具体地说，研究人员的目标是（1）开发和评估一个理论框架，以更好地理解为什么将视频录制的讲座与简短的测验穿插在一起是有效的，（2）测试这种行为干预在多个STEM领域和学生群体中的普遍性，包括在公立大学和社区学院注册的学生，和（3）围绕穿插视频录制讲座与简短测验的最佳参数构建基于证据的指导方针高等教育越来越多地在网上进行，学生们容易注意力不集中，相对于面对面的教学效果较差。内插检索是一种支持注意力和学习的技术，它是将简短的测试问题插入到长时间的学习序列中的行为。虽然大量的经验数据为它的有效性提供了支持，但现有的研究在缺乏指导性理论框架的情况下取得了进展，如果没有指导性理论框架，未来的研究可能仍然局限于范围。在这一建议中，研究者介绍和评价了内插检索实践的注意整合理论框架。根据这个框架，插值检索通过两条路线增强学习。首先，内插提取增加了学习者对材料的参与和测试期望，这改善了与注意力相关的过程。第二，内插提取引起学习者策略的变化，增加了被测信息的可及性，使学习者能够有意义地将学习内容整合到连贯的心理表征中。四项研究将检验这一框架的关键假设。研究1和2旨在测试框架的注意力部分;研究3和4旨在测试框架的整合部分。所有四项研究将使用相同的材料和相似的参与者样本，这使得研究人员能够在所有研究的数据收集结束时进行大规模的中介-适度分析。这项分析将有助于改进和澄清注意力整合框架的各个组成部分之间的相互关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Online learning represents a rapidly growing feature of post-secondary education. According to a recent report from the National Center for Education Statistics, it is estimated that 1 in 7 students enroll exclusively online, and that 1 in 3 students have taken at least one online course, notwithstanding the fact that COVID-19 has forced most education online, at least temporarily. Within the context of online learning, video-recorded lectures represent the primary mode of information delivery, but learning from online lectures is often plagued by bouts of inattention that impede effective learning. This award will allow the researchers to build on their preliminary work demonstrating that breaking long lecture videos into shorter, more manageable segments, and asking students to express what they have learned during these breaks can reliably improve attention and learning. More specifically, the researchers will aim to (1) develop and evaluate a theoretical framework to better understand why it is effective to intersperse video-recorded lectures with brief quizzes, (2) test the generalizability of this behavioral intervention across multiple STEM areas and student populations, including both students who enroll in public universities and in community colleges, and (3) construct evidence-based guidelines around optimal parameters for interspersing video-recorded lectures with brief quizzesHigher education is increasingly being delivered online, where students are prone to inattention and poor learning outcomes relative to in-person instruction. One technique that supports attention and learning is interpolated retrieval—the act of inserting brief test questions into prolonged sequences of learning. Although substantial empirical data have provided support for its effectiveness, existing research has progressed in the absence of a guiding theoretical framework, without which future research would likely remain limited in scope. In this proposal, the investigators introduce and evaluate an Attention-Integration theoretical framework of interpolated retrieval practice. According to this framework, interpolated retrieval enhances learning via two routes. First, interpolated retrieval increases learners’ engagement with and test expectancy for the material, which improves processes associated with attention. Second, interpolated retrieval induces changes in learners’ strategy and increases the accessibility of the tested information, which allows learners to meaningfully integrate the contents of study into a coherent mental representation. Four studies will test the critical assumptions of this framework. Studies 1 and 2 are designed to test the attention component of the framework; Studies 3 and 4 are designed to test the integration component of the framework. All four studies will use the same set of materials and similar participant samples, which allows the investigators to conduct a large-scale mediation-moderation analysis at the conclusion of data collection for all studies. This analysis will be instrumental to the refinement and clarification of the interrelations among the various components of the Attention-Integration framework.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.