Largely due to technological advances, methods for analyzing readability have increased significantly in recent years. While past researchers designed hundreds of formulas to estimate the difficulty of texts for readers, controversy has surrounded their use for decades, with criticism stemming largely from their application in creating new texts…

Recent literature in second language (L2) perceived fluency has focused on English as a second language, with a primary reliance on impressions from native-speaker judges, leaving learners' self-perceptions of speech production unexplored. This study investigates the relationship between learners' and judges' perceptions of French fluency under…

Synesthesia is a neurological disorder that has to do with the "union of the senses." The literature reveals that students with synesthesia are affected with various degrees of severity. Students may hear a bell ring. Their brain is wired to take that sound and interpret it differently, through color, texture, taste, sound or temperature among…

The study examined the effects of two different instructional interventions as support for scientific discovery learning using computer simulations. In two well-known categories of difficulty, data interpretation and self-regulation, instructional interventions for learning with computer simulations on the topic "ecosystem water" were developed…

Learning algebra is difficult for many students in part because of an emphasis on the memorization of abstract rules. Algebraic reasoners across expertise levels often rely on perceptual-motor strategies to make these rules meaningful and memorable. However, in many cases, rules are provided as patterns to be memorized verbally, with little overt…

Mathematics is an important school subject but one which often poses problems for learners. It has been found that learners do not possess the cognitive capacity to handle understanding procedures, representations, concepts, and applications at the same time. while the extent of field dependency may hold the key to one way by which the working…

The study examined how student control over metacognitive prompts in a multimedia environment affects students' ability to solve mathematical problems in immediate comprehension tasks using a multimedia program and a delayed-transfer test. It also examined the effect on metacognitive discourse, mental effort, and engagement with multimedia-based…

The present study investigated (a) whether the perceived cognitive load was different when geometry problems with various levels of configuration comprehension were solved and (b) whether eye movements in comprehending geometry problems showed sources of cognitive loads. In the first investigation, three characteristics of geometry configurations…

Although exploratory (inquiry-based, discovery, problem-based) learning environments have been effective for certain categories of learners and instructional situations, they could also be very cognitively demanding, especially for novice learners. Such forms of instruction may generate a heavy working memory load caused by intensive unguided…

The present study compared the impact of different categories of graphics used within a complex learning task. One hundred eighty five native English speaking undergraduates participated in a task that required learning 18 Chinese radicals and their English equivalent translations. A post-test only control group design compared performance…

This study proposes a new instrument to measure cognitive load types related to user interface and demonstrates theoretical assumptions about different load types. In reconsidering established cognitive load theory, the inadequacies of the theory are criticized in terms of the adaption of learning efficiency score and distinction of cognitive load…

The purpose of the following study was to examine the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Science classrooms of students with Learning Disabilities. Teachers were positive about the learning benefits and design of the Science curriculum. Students were more critical but still positive about these features. Learning Science…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive load during practice on university wind students' learning. Cognitive load was manipulated through instrument family (woodwind or brass) and the amount of repetition used in practice (highly repetitive or random). University woodwind and valved-brass students (N = 46)…

Research on haptic feedback has demonstrated limited empirical evidence of its positive learning effects. This research contrasts supportive anecdotal evidence and reports of increased motivation. In an attempt to unify these contrasting results we attempted to identify empirical evidence supporting haptic feedback's effect on learning by…

Do girls have more competition anxiety and exogenous cognitive load than equally able boys during the playing of stressful competitive on-line games? This question led to the adoption of a technology acceptance model to compare the influence factors of competitors in sequential and synchronous games. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data on 220…