The Efficacy of iSTART Extended Practice: Low Ability Students Catch Up

Jackson, G. Tanner; Boonthum, Chutima; McNamara, Danielle S.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13437-1_67

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This trend was expected, based on past research substantiating the positive benefits of iSTART training over time (Jackson, Boonthum, et al, 2010;McNamara, O'Reilly, Rowe, Boonthum, & Levinstein, 2007). The trajectories for self-explanation quality within the game-based system allow us to address the primary hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Motivation and performance in a game-based intelligent tutoring system.

Jackson

McNamara

2013

Journal of Educational Psychology

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143

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One strength of educational games stems from their potential to increase students' motivation and engagement during educational tasks. However, game features may also detract from principle learning goals and interfere with students' ability to master the target material. To assess the potential impact of game-based learning environments, in this study we examined motivation and learning for 84 high-school students across eight 1-hr sessions comparing 2 versions of a reading strategy tutoring system, an intelligent tutoring system (iSTART) and its game-based version (iSTART-ME). The results demonstrate equivalent target task performance (i.e., learning) across environments at pretest, posttest, and retention, but significantly higher levels of enjoyment and motivation for the game-based system. Analyses of performance across sessions reveal an initial decrease in performance followed by improvement within the game-based training condition. These results suggest possible constraints and benefits of game-based training, including time-scale effects. The findings from this study offer a potential explanation for some of the mixed findings within the literature and support the integration of game-based features within intelligent tutoring environments that require long-term interactions for students to develop skill mastery.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Motivation and performance in a game-based intelligent tutoring system.

Jackson

McNamara

2013

Journal of Educational Psychology

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143

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“…It would be desirable if less skilled readers also benefitted from training. However, iSTART requires considerably more practice than afforded in the version used in this study before less skilled readers benefit from it (Jackson, Boonthum, & McNamara, 2010;Jackson et al, in press). Moreover, it may be the case that training should be tailored to the needs of students, which is the work of future studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Changing How Students Process and Comprehend Texts with Computer-Based Self-Explanation Training

Kurby

Magliano

Dandotkar

et al. 2012

Journal of Educational Computing Research

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This study assessed whether and how self-explanation reading training, provided by iSTART (Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking), improves the effectiveness of comprehension processes. iSTART teaches students how to self-explain and which strategies will most effectively aid comprehension from moment-to-moment. We used RSAT (Reading Strategy Assessment Tool) to assess how iSTART changes the relation between important selfexplanation reading strategies-bridging and elaboration-and online comprehension, and how often they are produced. College and high school students received iSTART and were administered RSAT prior to and post-training. Results from three experiments showed that iSTART primarily benefits bridging inferences when self explaining. The frequency of bridging inferences was higher post training than prior to training, but only in the experiments involving college students. Additionally, prior to exposure to iSTART, RSAT bridging scores did not predict comprehension performance, whereas they did after iSTART, suggesting that iSTART may improve comprehension processes by teaching students how to appropriately use selfexplanation to address comprehension difficulties. Finally, the results from this study suggest that RSAT may provide a valuable computer-based assessment of the effectiveness of selfexplanations that could be used in conjunction with iSTART and in future research on selfexplanation.

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“…Prior research has examined how students, of varying abilities, performed differently during interactions within the iSTART system (Jackson, Boonthum, & McNamara, 2010;Jackson, Boonthum-Denecke, & McNamara, 2012;Jackson, Varner, Boonthum-Denecke, & McNamara, 2013). Specifically, results from these studies have revealed that students with low prior reading ability improve performance across time, catch up, and become indistinguishable from high reading ability students in terms of performance.…”

Section: Learning Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 94%