Learning Reading Strategies for Science Texts in a Gaming Environment: iSTART vs iTG

众所周知，许多学生发现理科课文很难理解。学生的阅读能力是造成这一现象的部分原因。当学生面对一篇他们缺乏知识的具有挑战性的课文时，阅读问题变得最为明显。尤其是科学课本，有许多术语很难在日常经验中站稳脚跟。因此，有必要对阅读理解进行干预以提高科学理解能力。本项目比较了两种辅导环境在提高高中生理解具有挑战性的科学课文能力方面的有效性。这两个环境包含相同的教学内容，但呈现方式不同：作为课程或游戏。第一个环境是在过去5年中开发和测试的，是一个名为iStart(积极阅读和思维的互动策略培训)的自动化阅读策略导师，它使用动画教学代理来提供关于自我解释和阅读策略(理解监控、释义、生成推理)的互动指导。教学分三个阶段进行，每个阶段都需要学习者增加互动。广泛研究的结果表明，iStart在提高学生理解具有挑战性的科学文本的能力方面非常有效。虽然iStart很有效，但在长期练习的情况下，对于普通高中生来说，iStart可能没有多少吸引力。虽然学生需要长期练习才能掌握这些策略，但随着时间的推移，iStart变得单调乏味。为了增加学生的参与度，将开发另一个版本的iStart练习，允许学生在游戏环境中练习iStart策略。IStart-the Game(ITG)将向学生呈现相同的阅读策略练习，但将结合基于游戏的原则来提高参与度。本研究旨在探讨科学文本理解学习策略的游戏环境是否能更有效地维持学生在训练过程中的注意力和参与度，从而提高对这些策略的习得和掌握。在资助的第一年，将开发一个在游戏环境中构建的自动阅读策略辅导系统。在第二年，当局会进行试验研究，以改善这项制度。在第三年，将在三种情况下对使用这些策略的练习进行比较：ITG、iStart和控制条件。在最初的培训之后，学生们将在五个额外的课程中练习这些策略。本实验将提供有关ITG随时间推移的潜在价值的信息，具体地说，ITG是否会让学生参与重复的练习课程。研究还将考察个体差异的潜在交互作用，如先前的科学知识、阅读技能和动机水平。这项研究将有助于更好地理解参与作为学习收获的一个因素。调查人员预测，许多认为标准辅导环境不够吸引人的学生将从替代方法中受益匪浅。最重要的是，这种教育干预对于那些由于对科学的能力和兴趣较低而处于风险最大的学生来说尤其有价值。这项研究将实现创建试验台学习环境的目标，旨在提高读者的参与度，并增进我们对此类环境潜在教学收益的理解。该项目将有助于我们理解游戏功能和参与度之间的关系。它将为学生提供工具，帮助他们更有效地应对从困难的科学课本中学习的挑战。此外，这项研究将有助于我们理解认知和情绪在促进学习中的作用，从科学课文中学习的具体过程，以及阅读策略、知识、阅读技能、兴趣和动机等因素之间的复杂相互作用。

It is well known that many students find science text challenging to comprehend. Students' reading ability is partly to blame. Reading problems become most apparent when the student is faced with a challenging text for which they have knowledge deficits. Science text, in particular, has many technical terms that are difficult to ground in everyday experience. Thus, there is a need for reading comprehension interventions to improve science comprehension. This project compares the effectiveness of two types of tutoring environments in improving high-school students' ability to understand challenging science text. Both environments contain the same pedagogical content, but present it differently: as a lesson or as a game. The first environment, developed and tested over the past 5 years, is an automated reading strategies tutor called iSTART (Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking) that uses animated pedagogical agents to deliver interactive instruction on self-explanation and reading strategies (comprehension monitoring, paraphrasing, generating inferences). Instruction occurs in three stages with each stage requiring increased interaction on the part of the learner. Results across a wide range of studies indicate that iSTART is highly effective in improving students' ability to understand challenging science text. While effective, iSTART can be somewhat unappealing to an average high-school student in extended practice situations. While students need extended practice to master the strategies, iSTART becomes monotonous over time. To increase students' engagement, an alternative version of iSTART practice will be developed that allows students to practice iSTART strategies in a game environment. iSTART-The Game (iTG) will present the same reading strategy practice to students, but will incorporate game-based principles to enhance engagement. This project examines whether a gaming environment for learning strategies for science text comprehension more effectively sustains students' attention and engagement during training, and thereby results in improved acquisition and mastery of these strategies. In the first year of funding, an automated reading strategy tutoring system that is framed in a gaming environment will be developed. In Year 2, pilot studies will be conducted to refine the system. In Year 3, practice using the strategies will be compared in three conditions: iTG, iSTART, and a control condition. Students will practice the strategies over a period of five additional sessions after the initial training. This experiment will provide information on the potential value of iTG over time and specifically, whether iTG engages students over repeated practice sessions. The potential interactive effects of individual differences such as prior science knowledge, reading skill, and motivational levels will also be examined.This research will contribute to better understanding of engagement as a factor in learning gains. It is predicted by the investigators that many students who do not find the standard tutoring environment sufficiently engaging will significantly benefit from the alternative approach. Most importantly, this instructional intervention should be especially valuable for those students most at risk due to having lower ability and interest in science. This research will accomplish the goal of creating a test-bed learning environment intended to improve reader engagement and advance our understanding of the potential instructional gains from such environments. The project will contribute to our understanding of the relationship between game features and engagement. It will provide students with tools that help them more effectively meet the challenges of learning from difficult science texts. In addition, this research will contribute to our understanding of the roles that cognition and emotion play in fostering learning, the specific processes involved with learning from science texts, and the complex interplay of factors such as reading strategies, knowledge, reading skill, interest, and motivation.