This article argues for the establishment of a usability process that incorporates the study of "words" and "word phrases." It demonstrates how semantically mapping a navigational taxonomy can help the developers of digital environments establish a more focused sense of functional meaning for the users of their digital designs.

This study investigates the capacity of children to develop map-based skills in spatial orientation in an urban environment unknown to them. In this quantitative study, a total of 328 pupils of grades 3-5 had to achieve specific skills with regard to map-based skills in spatial orientation (such as turning-off skills, transformation from map to…

How do readers who are able to post responses on a political blog ("interactive readers") differ in their navigation and comprehension from "noninteractive" readers who are not empowered to post? In this study, a nonpartisan political blog was populated with news content about the then-upcoming 2012 U.S. presidential election.…

Graphic novels in the K-12 classroom are most often used to motivate marginalized readers because of the lower text load and assumption of easy reading. This assumption has thus far been unexplored by reading research. This qualitative multiple-case study utilized think-aloud protocols in a new attention-mapping activity to better understand how…

This curriculum and instruction paper describes initial implementation and evaluation of remote-sensing exercises designed to promote post-secondary climate literacy in the geosciences. Tutorials developed by the first author engaged students in the analysis of climate change data obtained from NASA satellite missions, including the LANDSAT,…

In the last decade e-lecturing has become more and more popular. The amount of lecture video data on the "World Wide Web" (WWW) is growing rapidly. Therefore, a more efficient method for video retrieval in WWW or within large lecture video archives is urgently needed. This paper presents an approach for automated video indexing and video…

If you love taking mathematics lessons outdoors, then you will love this article. Leicha Bragg describes geocaching, which combines technology, treasure hunting and mathematics, and results in purposeful, authentic and engaging mathematics.

There are marked individual differences in the formation of cognitive maps both in the real world and in virtual environments (VE; e.g., Blajenkova, Motes, & Kozhevnikov, 2005; Chai & Jacobs, 2010; Ishikawa & Montello, 2006; Wen, Ishikawa, & Sato, 2011). These differences, however, are poorly understood and can be difficult to…

Learning to navigate toward a goal is an essential skill. Place learning is thought to rely on the ability of animals to associate the location of a goal with surrounding environmental cues. Using the Morris water maze, a task popularly used to examine place learning, we demonstrate that distal cues provide animals with distance and directional…

An application was created to encourage students' practical knowledge of gravitational fields, the law of conservation of energy and other phenomena, such as gravitational slingshots. The educational software simulates the flight of a solar sail spacecraft between two planets of the Solar System using the laws of gravity and radiation…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the question of whether the interaction effects of hypervideo navigation variables (navigation control and navigation links) would affect college students' self-regulated learning just after their learning from instructional hypervideo programs. Navigation control (free navigation or free navigation with…

Today's graduate students are highly skilled in using technology, so university websites are often the most influential resource students access for gathering information about university programs. Graduate students in special education reviewed select university and special education doctoral program websites across the United States. An…

This report describes the pilot conducted in the final phase of a project, Expanding Audio Access to Mathematics Expressions by Students With Visual Impairments via MathML, to provide easy-to-use tools for authoring and rendering secondary-school algebra-level math expressions in synthesized speech that is useful for students with blindness or low…

This study tested the effects of the modality of reading formats (electronic vs. print), online reading habits (engagement in different online reading activities), use of cognitive strategies, metacognitive knowledge, and navigation skills on printed and electronic reading literacy across regions. Participants were 31,784 fifteen-year-old students…

Over the past decade, there has been greater recognition by educators, employers, and policymakers of the importance of behavioral skills and navigation factors (e.g., dependability, cooperation, interests, and goals) for education and career success. A growing body of research shows that these factors contribute to diverse positive outcomes in…