The complicated cognitive processes involved in natural (primary) bilingualism lead to significant cognitive development. Executive functions as a fundamental component of human cognition are deemed to be affected by language learning. To date, a large number of studies have investigated how natural (primary) bilingualism influences executive…

This study incorporated the problem-based learning (PBL) approach into a web-based English reading course. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of PBL on the participants' English reading comprehension (RC) and to explore the participants' perceptions of PBL. The present study conducted a comparison of two teaching methods. Two…

Background: We tested the effects of an intervention on the learning of introductory thermodynamics principles. This intervention, OEM-Thermo, is designed to prompt the cognitive operations of meaningful learning: organization, elaboration, and monitoring. We also sought evidence to show that execution of these operations was associated with…

Poor student engagement with academic readings has been frequently reported in college classrooms. As an effort to improve college students' reading engagement, researchers have developed a virtual environment in which students take on the role of tutor and teach a virtual tutee, the virtual tutee system (VTS). This research examined the…

For skill learning processes to be effective, they must encode associations that are inherent to the current task and avoid those that are spurious or particular to training conditions so that learning can transfer to novel situations. Some everyday contexts even require grouped responding to simultaneously presented stimuli. Here we test whether…

This study investigated the joint effects of online student question-generation and cooperative learning strategies with regard to learning anxiety and student perceptions of the value of the related activity for enhancing self-perceived competence. A 2 (question generation vs non-question generation) × 2 (cooperative learning vs individual…

The purpose of this study was to partially replicate the "Historical Problem Solving: A Study of the Cognitive Process Using Historical Evidence" study conducted by Sam Wineburg in 1991. The Historical Problem Solving study conducted by Wineburg (1991) sought to compare the ability of historians and top level students, as they analyzed…

Objective: College students face a significant number of stressors, increasing risk for internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. The current study examines two promising avenues of intervention aimed to reduce stress and prevent psychopathology in this population: a coping skills group and a cognitive training program. Participants: 62…

Understanding methods for effectively instructing STEM education concepts is essential in the current climate of education (Freeman, Marginson, & Tyler 2014). Kolb's experiential learning theory (ELT) outlines four specific modes of learning, based on preferences for grasping and transforming information. This quasi-experimental study was…

This paper presents results from an experimental study that examined embedded strategy prompts in digital text and their effects on calibration and metacomprehension accuracies. A sample population of 80 college undergraduates read a digital expository text on the basics of photography. The most robust treatment (mixed) read the text, generated a…

Virtual worlds have affordances to enhance collaborative learning in authentic contexts. Despite the potential of collaborative learning with a virtual world, few studies investigated whether it is more effective in student achievements than teacher-directed instruction. This study investigated the effectiveness of collaborative problem solving…

Mathematics curricula are frequently rich with visuals, but these visuals are often not designed for optimal use of students' limited cognitive resources. The authors of this study revised the visuals in a mathematics lesson based on instructional design principles. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of these revised visuals on…

We compared the effects of item-specific versus relational encoding on recognition memory in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. In Experiment 1, we directly compared item-specific and relational encoding instructions, whereas in Experiments 2 and 3 we biased pleasantness and generation tasks, respectively, toward one or the other type of…

Even though digital learning games have become common in education, relatively little is known about the usefulness of game-based assessment. This paper aims to explore if a game-based math test can provide added value to math education with respect to cognitive and affective outcomes. We used in-game measures, embedded in the game called Semideus…

This study investigated visual statistical learning (VSL) in 24 deaf signers and 24 hearing non-signers. Previous research with hearing individuals suggests that SL mechanisms support literacy. Our first goal was to assess whether VSL was associated with reading ability in deaf individuals, and whether this relation was sustained by a link between…