Computer-supported aids to making sense of scientific articles: cognitive, motivational, and attitudinal effects

Abstract

High school students can access original scientific research articles on the Internet, but may have trouble understanding them. To address this problem of online literacy, the authors developed a computer-based prototype for guiding students' comprehension of scientific articles. High school students were asked to read an original scientific research article about the effects of drug or alcohol abuse, which was presented on a computer screen either with computer-based comprehension aids or without aids. The aids provided background text and animations including answers given by the article authors. Across two experiments involving different schools and different research articles, the comprehension aids group performed better than the control group on a comprehension test concerning the article (d = +0.79 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.82 in Experiment 2) and rated the content of article as less difficult to read (d = +0.96 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.69 in Experiment 2). In addition, the comprehension aids group reported more positive motivational beliefs than the control group concerning understanding what scientists do (d = +0.51 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.56 in Experiment 2), appraising the article as worthwhile (d = +0.80 for Experiment 1 and d = +0.70 for Experiment 2), and being interested in reading another research article (d = +0.19 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.58 in Experiment 2). The groups did not differ on their attitudes concerning a career as a scientist or about alcohol and drug abuse. Overall, computer-based comprehension aids can help guide students' comprehension processes for an original scientific research article, which in turn can improve their appreciation of what scientists do.

Teaching energy metabolism using scientific articles

“…The analysis of the results indicate that the use of scientific articles as learning resources allowed the students to analyze the experimental data and to go as deeply into the content as they wanted, and possibly improved students' problem-solving skills, as already reported by other studies in the literature [8,9,15,24]. The use of these articles seems to have helped to improve students' ability to gain command of biochemical concepts that are fundamental to the understanding of metabolism.…”

“…In this regard, series of questions were designed in such a way that students were oriented to read/consult specific parts of the articles, either the article data or specific parts of the text. Gegner et al [15] showed that highlighting specific parts of the text to guide students' attention was effective for enhancing students' comprehension of research literature and also for guiding cognitive processing, which is required for meaningful learning. We found that this 4 (5%) ''The site was out a few times'' (P.32).…”

“…Teaching mediated by the computer can make use of the internet for storing, recovering, and organizing information, and also for accompanying the students' progress in their assignments [14]. In the specific context of science teaching, Gegner et al [15] made use of ICT tools to develop a computer-based online reading environment, which included hyperlinks to comprehension aids to guide students' in the reading of scientific articles. The authors report significant improvement in the understanding of research articles presented to the students.…”

Supporting secondary school students' reading comprehension in computer environments: A systematic review

“…Of the five studies found in this review, only one (Gegner et al, 2009) Another explanation concerns the predominant focus on struggling readers in most articles reporting reading comprehension interventions. Of the five studies found in this review, only one (Gegner et al, 2009) Another explanation concerns the predominant focus on struggling readers in most articles reporting reading comprehension interventions.…”

Educational Game Design for Improving the Children with Number Sense

“…previous reports and studies have strongly suggested that technologies and mobile games should be integrated into mathematics teaching and learning, since these technologies are a promising means for providing conceptual understanding [11]. Integration of technologies into mathematics classroom settings can enhance student"s mathematics learning, since the technologies can provide dynamic visualization and interactivity that can help student learn mathematics effectively [12].…”