Various theories and models have implicitly discussed the role of interaction when using learning technologies. Indeed, interaction is described as being important as it relates to technology adoption, cognitive load, and usability. While each of these perspectives describe elements of interaction, they fail to comprehensively detail how educators…

We propose a model delineating the role of control, value, and cognitive disequilibrium in elementary students' experience of emotions during mathematics problem solving. We tested this model across 2 studies. In Study 1, using an explanatory mixed-methods design, 136 students from Grades 3 to 6 worked on a complex mathematics problem appropriate…

The genre of persuasive writing requires writers to independently probe their long-term memory to generate pertinent ideas that support their opinion on a given topic. However, many students with high-incidence disabilities struggle with the complex synergy of tasks involved in writing, and in particular generating ideas. A qualitatively dominant…

To identify expert poets' cognitive processes as they compose poetry, we asked 10 expert poets and 10 novice writers of poetry to think aloud as they composed a poem. Compared to the novices, expert poets revealed an associative playfulness and surrendering of consciousness, similar to that shown in research on general creativity in domains such…

While school performance suggests students with learning disabilities require intervention to demonstrate mathematics proficiency, little is known about how they approach problem solving in secondary geometry. Think aloud protocols highlight the higher order thinking skills underlying complex academic tasks. We conducted an exploratory descriptive…

Models for diagnostic reasoning in radiology have been based on the observed behaviors of experienced radiologists but have not directly focused on the thought processes of novices as they improve their accuracy of image interpretation. By collecting think-aloud verbal reports, the current study was designed to investigate differences in specific…

This methodological review highlights the trends in empirical studies where a methodological construct (i.e. verbal reports) intersects with content (i.e. literacy research). Specifically, we synthesise research on language learners' reading in which verbal reports were deployed as a methodological tool. Questioning the long-standing assumption…

One of the characteristics of the twenty-first century is the increase in the information sources available to designers to make their design decisions. However, current verbal protocol analysis methods and theoretical frameworks do not explain how internal and external information sources contribute to novice designers' moment-to-moment thought…

This article illustrates and differentiates the unique role cognitive interviews and think-aloud interviews play in developing and validating assessments. Specifically, we describe the use of (a) cognitive interviews to gather empirical evidence to support claims about the intended construct being measured and (b) think-aloud interviews to gather…

This article documents differences between novice and experienced undergraduate students' processes of reading mathematical proofs as revealed by moment-by-moment, think-aloud protocols. We found three key reading behaviors that describe how novices' reading differed from that of their experienced peers: alternative task models, accrual of…

The purpose of this study is to develop a thinking process model that reveals cognitive bias through analyzing students' cognitive biases in processing experimental manuals. Twenty-two college students participated in the study. During the "making electromagnets" experimental activity, we collected students' concurrent verbal protocols,…

Background and Aims: In educational measurement, performance assessments occupy a niche for offering a true-to-life format that affords the measurement of high-level cognitive competencies and the evidence to draw inferences about intellectual capital. However, true-to-life formats also introduce myriad complexities and can skew if not outright…

Proponents of problem-based learning suggest that learners should solve problems that are representative of the types of issues that practitioners face. However, this is challenging because novices lack the essential experiences that inform solutions. According to case-based reasoning, one way to overcome this gap is by providing a set of cases…

This research focused on first-year university students' visuospatial cognition in terms of producing three-dimensional (3D) representations of objects from two-dimensional (2D) views. The research was important since students often had difficulty with 2D to 3D transition activities. A synthesis from the literature established a 2D to 3D…

The use of concurrent data elicitation procedures (e.g. think-alouds, eye-tracking, response time) to investigate learners' cognitive processing and processes is becoming more prominent in research designs as researchers seek to acquire a better understanding of how second language (L2) learners process L2 data (e.g. Martin et al., 2019; Rogers,…