Improving Online Learning with Interpolated Retrieval

在线学习是高等教育快速发展的一个特点。根据美国国家教育统计中心最近的一份报告，尽管COVID-19迫使大多数教育至少暂时在网上进行，但据估计，七分之一的学生完全在线注册，三分之一的学生至少参加过一门在线课程。在在线学习的背景下，视频讲座代表了信息传递的主要模式，但是从在线讲座中学习经常受到注意力不集中的困扰，从而阻碍了有效的学习。这个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、更易于管理的部分，并要求学生在这些休息时间表达他们学到的东西，可以可靠地提高注意力和学习能力。更具体地说，研究人员将致力于(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，包括公立大学和社区学院的学生；(3)围绕在视频讲座中穿插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采用在线授课方式，与面对面授课相比，学生容易注意力不集中，学习效果也差。一种支持注意力和学习的技术是内插检索——将简短的测试问题插入到长时间的学习序列中。虽然大量的经验数据为其有效性提供了支持，但现有的研究是在缺乏指导理论框架的情况下取得进展的，如果没有指导理论框架，未来的研究可能会在范围上受到限制。在本文中，研究者介绍并评价了一个内插检索实践的注意-整合理论框架。根据该框架，内插检索通过两条途径增强学习。首先，内插检索增加了学习者对材料的参与和测试预期，这改善了与注意力相关的过程。第二，内插检索诱导学习者策略的改变，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成分；研究3和研究4旨在测试该框架的集成部分。所有四项研究都将使用相同的材料和相似的参与者样本，这使得研究者能够在所有研究的数据收集结束时进行大规模的中介-调节分析。这一分析将有助于改进和澄清注意-整合框架的各个组成部分之间的相互关系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

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.