According to the multimedia principle, adding relevant pictures to text is beneficial for learning. This beneficial effect is particularly true for text depicted in pictures (illustrated text information) but not for a text that is not illustrated in pictures (non-illustrated text information). The multimedia principle was examined for…

Intuitive conceptions based on cognitive biases (teleology, anthropomorphism, and essentialism) often prove helpful in everyday life while simultaneously being problematic in scientific contexts. Nonetheless, students often have intuitive conceptions of scientific topics such as evolution. As potential approaches to enable students to…

In the future, learning will be essentially characterized by the ability to regulate the learning process and monitor success independently from a teacher. The technical possibilities offer better access to learning contents, precise and more individualized feedback, and learning phases adapted precisely to the needs of the learner in terms of…

Evolutionary theory explains a wide range of biological phenomena. Proper understanding of evolutionary mechanisms such as natural selection is therefore an essential goal for biology education. Unfortunately, natural selection has time and again proven difficult to teach and learn, and students' resulting understanding is often characterized by…

Early scientific thinking in kindergarten (6-year-olds) was investigated in a large study involving 227 participants. We investigated (1) whether individual differences across 3 scientific-thinking components (experimentation, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science) are stable across children, (2) whether children's increased…

The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of self-generation in inquiry-based learning and to identify the role of feedback. While open-ended inquiry-based learning with a high degree of self-generation requirements has long been considered optimal for facilitating effective learning, its long-run effects have been critically challenged.…

In three experiments, learners used computerized learning material, which consisted of static pictures and on-screen text relating to the physiology of vision in one of two formats. The formats differed in method of access to text. Accessing text by clicking on picture components was hypothesized to produce superior learning to linear access…

This research examined whether the informational advantage of an animation over a static picture (and over no visualizations as a control condition) can be compensated by presenting the information in the text that constitutes this informational advantage. In addition, it was investigated whether learners' spatial abilities acted as a compensator…

Worked examples have proven to be effective for knowledge acquisition compared with problem solving, particularly when prior knowledge is low (e.g., Kalyuga, 2007). However, in addition to prior knowledge, executive functions and fluid intelligence might be potential moderators of the effectiveness of worked examples. The present study examines…

Laypersons and experts believe that wisdom is cultivated through a diverse range of positive and negative life experiences. Yet, not all individuals with life experience are wise. We propose that one possible determinant of growth in wisdom from life experience is self-reflection. In a life span sample of adults (N = 94) ranging from 26 to 92…

The combination of different item formats is found quite often in large scale assessments, and analyses on the dimensionality often indicate multi-dimensionality of tests regarding the task format. In ICILS 2013, three different item types (information-based response tasks, simulation tasks, and authoring tasks) were used to measure computer and…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between elementary school children's mathematical achievement and their conservation abilities, visuospatial skills, and numerosity processing speed. We also assessed differences in these abilities between children with different types of learning problems. In Study 1 (N = 229), we…

Two studies were conducted to investigate effects of domain knowledge on metacognitive monitoring across the life span in materials of different complexity. Participants from 4 age groups (3rd-grade children, adolescents, younger and older adults) were compared using an expert-novice paradigm. In Study 1, soccer experts' and novices'…

Background: Education Standards highlight the importance of conceptual knowledge. Instructional tasks play a key role in biology instruction and offer learning opportunities for students. Tasks contain of a content and a demands part. Therefore, complexity and cognitive level are adequate variables to describe tasks and are assumed effective for…

Despite the general effectiveness of multimedia instruction, students do not always benefit from it. This study examined whether students' learning from multimedia can be improved by teaching them relevant learning strategies. On the basis of current theories and research on multimedia learning, the authors developed a strategy training for…