Research on the instructional quality of private tutoring is scarce. Meanwhile, poor instructional quality may be a reason for the minimal or null effects of private tutoring on academic achievement reported in many studies. It is also not clear what makes a good private tutor. To fill in these gaps, the study examined whether the structure of…

The current study examined children's spontaneous private speech during the vertical and the horizontal Tube Task to shed light on the cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes underlying tool innovation. Tool innovation is defined as solving a novel problem by using or modifying objects in a new and useful way without prior instructions.…

Many (digital) learning materials are often based on a combination of text and pictures, whereby pictures often only serve a decorative (learning-irrelevant) function. Such decorative pictures were proven as detrimental for learning success. In contrast, research on retrieval cues (also known as "memory cues") showed that a…

The study presented in this paper investigates the potential effects of including non-speech audio such as sound effects into multimedia-based instruction taking into account Sweller's cognitive load theory (Sweller, 2005) and applied frameworks such as the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (Mayer, 2005) and the cognitive affective theory of…

The personalisation principle is a design recommendation and states that multimedia presentations using personalised language promote learning better than those using formal language (e.g., using "your" instead of "the"). It is often assumed that this design recommendation affects motivation and therefore allocation of…

How can illustrations motivate learners in multimedia learning? Which features make illustrations interesting? Beside the theoretical relevance of addressing these questions, these issues are practically relevant when instructional designers are to decide which features of illustrations can trigger situational interest irrespective of individual…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…