Fluency
Deconstructing the Process Benefits of Note-taking
- Primary Investigator: Aaron Bauer
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Ken Koedinger
Cluster(s): Coordinative Learning, Fluency
Course(s): Unknown
We are investigating the role note-taking plays in encouraging active processing. The process of taking a note has been shown to improve long-term retention of learning material, irregardless of whether the note is reviewed. The source of these process benefits is unclear. Note-taking applications provide the ability to exert a level of control over the note-taking process that was previously unavailable to traditional pencil-and-paper note-taking research. Our project takes advantage of this control to experimentally evaluate note-taking and learning.
Our research currently explores two hypotheses regarding the process benefits of note-taking. First, we believe that note-taking facilitates long-term retention when it encourages students to focus on the critical components of the ideas they are recording. Second, we believe that when note-taking applications require students to generate, rather than passively select, their own notes, they will improve learning. We have designed experiments to evaluate these hypotheses. The results of these experiments will not only result in a further understanding of the note-taking process effect, but will also influence the design of applications that support the retention component of robust learning.
Most recent project report:
(2006-11-28) bauer-notetakingfall06.doc
Most recent project poster:
(2006-05-01) bauer - notetaking2006spring.ppt
Intelligent Writing Tutor
- Primary Investigator: Teruko Mitamura
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): English
As part of contributing to the PSLC's underlying goal of developing a theory of robust learning, the Intelligent Writing Tutor (IWT) project explores the issue of transfer and long-term retention of acquired knowledge. Through a series of in vivo learning experiments, we will look at both positive and negative transfer from a student's native language (L1) to English, the effects of an informed knowledge tracer on learning, and the role of level-appropriate feedback in achieving competency. We hope that these transfer effects can then be applied to other domains.
Project Runs: 2006-03-01 to 2007-02-28Most recent project report:
(2006-11-29) project-report-iwt-dec2006-submitted.doc
Most recent project poster:
(2006-04-18) iwtposter-v2-41706.ppt
Robust learning of vocabulary
- Primary Investigator: Alan Juffs
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Maxine Eskenazi
Cluster(s): Enabling Technology, Fluency
Course(s): English
A good knowledge of vocabulary lies at the very heart of success in second language development. Classroom-based second language acquisition research on the acquisition of vocabulary has for some time focused on (a) whether dictionaries and glosses of words are helpful in long-term vocabulary building or (b) whether faster reading of more text using strategies such as ‘guessing from context’ in incidental learning is better (e.g. Hulsijn, Hollander, & Greidnaus, 1996). This research is directly linked to a large literature in second language acquisition on the relative contributions of implicit and explicit learning (see DeKeyser and Juffs, 2005, for review).
The proposed project will employ classes from the University of Pittsburgh English Language Institute. The initial linguistic/learning phase of the project will focus on an experiment that aims at determining when explicit learning is useful in a vocabulary learning task. It will test whether drawing attention to a new word and offering information about it, such as definition and example of use, afford better learning than implicit or incidental learning. It will also test whether, if some of the above information is offered as optional hints, the students choose to use the hints. Experience with the Cognitive Algebra tutor has shown that students do not usually avail themselves of this option.
The project will progress to develop a picture of whether knowledge of the relationship between a verb’s meaning and its syntactic privileges can be acquired in a similar way (Juffs 1996, 2000). The project has an important technological component. It will employ the REAP software developed at Carnegie Mellon and will select texts based on a specific set of vocabulary items and searches based on Collins-Thompson and Callan (2004) and Brown and Eskenazi (2004). It will track how students use hypertext to seek assistance with new words and explore how student behavior in seeking help affects long-term learning outcomes. It is believed that students who actively engage and can explain their behavior in language learning can be more accurate and that such interaction created robust learning (e.g. Donato, 1994; N. Ellis, 2005); however it is not clear that explicit knowledge is possible or helpful in all contexts (Schwartz, 1999; White, 2003). Evidence exists that a CALL environment with explanation helps students with mathematics (e.g. Aleven and Koedinger, 2002), but it remains to be seen how such behavior affects learning outcomes with language and cognitive tutoring.
Most recent project report:
(2008-04-20) activitytheorypaper.doc
Most recent project poster:
None
Online learning of basic skills in French
- Primary Investigator: Brian MacWhinney
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): Chinese, French
None
Project Runs: 2004-12-01 to 2007-03-01Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Learning a tonal language-Chinese
- Primary Investigator: Min Wang
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Charles Perfetti
Cluster(s): Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): Chinese
The tonal feature of Chinese language poses a particular challenge for a beginning learner of Chinese as a second language. In this project, we test learning hypotheses based on the assumption that attending to the critical features of the tonal contour facilitates learning.
We designed three training conditions in which we trained students to perceive tones using: 1) visual waveforms that depict the acoustic information of the tones, together with Pinyin spelling of the spoken syllable; 2) numerical numbers that represent the tones in traditional classroom instruction, together with Pinyin spelling of the spoken syllable; 3) visual wave forms, without Pinyin spelling. In each condition, there were hints available and the students always received feedbacks for their performance.
By comparing these three training conditions, we will test two hypotheses: 1) using visual information of the tone waveform facilitates students’ perception of auditory tones; 2) providing Pinyin spelling allows the students to focus on the tone, therefore yields better training performance (learning curve).
Most recent project report:
(2006-11-30) wang_perfetti_liu_report.doc
Most recent project poster:
(2006-04-19) poster_chinese_tone_4-13.ppt
Knowledge Tracking
- Primary Investigator: Philip Pavlik
Cluster(s): Coordinative Learning, Fluency
Course(s): Algebra
None
Project Runs: 2005-09-01 to 2008-08-31Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Bridging the gap between comprehension and production in second language learning
- Primary Investigator: Nel de Jong
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Charles Perfetti, Robert DeKeyser
Cluster(s): Coordinative Learning, Fluency
Course(s): English, French
None
Project Runs: 2005-09-01 to 2006-08-31Most recent project report:
(2006-04-13) report_ndj_april2006.doc
Most recent project poster:
(2006-04-13) pslc-poster_ndj_april06.ppt
Robust Vocabulary Learning and Sentence Processing in French
- Primary Investigator: Natasha Tokowicz
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): French
The proposed research will examine whether several methods for teaching second language (L2) vocabulary will lead to robust learning, which includes long-term retention, transfer to novel situations and contexts, and acceleration of future learning. This study focuses on testing whether several vocabulary instruction methods lead to robust learning. Several factors are of interest including category learning, and noncanonical picture training. The instructional methods include:
• Training vocabulary in randomly-mixed rather than semantically-categorized lists
• Associating new L2 words to line drawings in noncanonical orientations (e.g., upside down) rather than to line drawings in canonical orientations or to their L1 translations
Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Training oral production in learning second language grammar
- Primary Investigator: Nel de Jong
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Charles Perfetti, Robert DeKeyser
Cluster(s): Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): French
None
Project Runs: 2006-09-01 to 2007-08-31Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Bridging Principles and Examples through Analogy and Explanation
- Primary Investigator: Timothy Nokes
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Kurt VanLehn
Cluster(s): Coordinative Learning, Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): Physics
None
Project Runs: 2007-01-01 to 2008-06-01Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Fiez Project Plan
- Primary Investigator: Julie Fiez
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): Algebra
None
Project Runs: 2006-10-01 to 2007-08-30Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Fostering fluency in second language learning: Testing two types of instruction
- Primary Investigator: Nel de Jong
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Charles Perfetti
Cluster(s): Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): English
None
Project Runs: 2006-09-01 to 2007-08-31Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Providing Optimal Support for Robust Learning of Syntactic Constructions in ESL
- Primary Investigator: Lori Levin
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): GwenF Frishkoff, Nel de Jong, Philip Pavlik
Cluster(s): Coordinative Learning, Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): English
This project addresses a problem of language use in second language learners, the appropriate use of a syntactic construction in response to subtle features of the communicative situation. In some cases, using a syntactic construction may be straightforward: use an imperative (Drop it!) to issue a command; use You should…to give advice, etc. In other cases, use of a syntactic construction may not be mastered even by advanced students. Use of the articles the and a, and use of tenses like the present perfect tense (They have lived here for two years) fall into this category. This project focuses on the use of the dative alternation (I gave him a book/I gave a book to him) by ESL students. Bresnan et al. (2005) have shown that the dative alternation is sensitive to fourteen features of the discourse situation and have constructed a linear regression model of the dative alternation for native speakers. Sensitivity to fourteen features with different weights obviously cannot be taught explicitly. However, our hypothesis is that a model of this type can be used as a basis for instruction if the right examples are presented at the right times with the right frequencies. The project includes two studies, one to calibrate the student model and one to test the hypothesis. The model of native speaker dative alternation will be integrated with the Pavlik and Anderson (2005) model in order to create a model of how the dative alternation is learned. The result of this project will be a framework (theory, formal model, and tools) that can be applied to the study of other hard-to-use constructions.
Project Runs: 2006-08-01 to 2007-07-31Most recent project report:
(2006-11-23) project-report-template[ll].doc
Most recent project poster:
None
A Word-Experience Model of Chinese Character Learning
- Primary Investigator: Erik Reichle
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Charles Perfetti, Ying Liu
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): Chinese
None
Project Runs: 2006-09-01 to 2007-09-30Most recent project report:
(2006-11-30) reichle-pslc update report.doc
Most recent project poster:
None
ESL self-correction of student-recorded speaking activities: Year 2
- Primary Investigator: Dawn McCormick
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Claire Siskin, Christine Oneil
Cluster(s): Fluency, Refinement
Course(s): English
None
Project Runs: 2006-10-01 to 2008-09-30Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None
Fostering fluency in second language learning: A deeper analysis of fluency development in the 4/3/2
- Primary Investigator: Nel de Jong
- Co-PIs & Other Investigator(s): Laura Halderman, Charles Perfetti
Cluster(s): Fluency
Course(s): English
This project further investigates how classroom activities can foster fluency development. In the activity under investigation, the 4/3/2 fluency training task, students talk about a given topic three times, for four minutes, three minutes and minutes. Thus, the two main characteristics are repetition and increasing time pressure. Results from year 1 of this project showed that repetition led to higher fluency, while time pressure without repetition did not. In the proposed Study 4a, we will investigate how time pressure affects the benefits of repetition in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity during the 4/3/2 task as well as on long-term retention tasks.
In addition, we will investigate the role of specific knowledge components in fluency development. First, Study 4a tracks how the control and retrieval of specific vocabulary items and morphosyntactic structures develop as a result of the 4/3/2 training. Second, in Study 5 we will examine whether priming these same items leads to greater accuracy and fluency during training and later. Data collection will take place in the Spring and Fall 2008 semesters, in the English as a second language (ESL) learnlab.
Most recent project report:
None
Most recent project poster:
None