Search

Background: Digital game‐based learning is gaining increased attention from both researchers and educators for improving mathematics instruction. However, the evidence for game‐based learning is mixed and research with rigorous research design and analyses are limited. Objective: Here, in a pre‐registered randomized controlled study, we investigated whether a fraction game designed collaboratively by educational experts and professional game developers may serve as a useful tool to enhance students' fraction knowledge. Methods: We assigned French fifth graders to either an experimental group who used the game (n = 110) or a control group (n = 78) who received traditional instruction on fractions. Fraction knowledge was assessed pre‐ and post‐intervention. Results: Results show that students in the active control group had superior overall fraction performance than students in the experimental group at the end of intervention. However, the game had a positive effect on decimal learning. We also found a positive relation between game performance and overall fraction knowledge scores at post‐test. Contribution: The study highlights the importance of game metrics as indicators of personalized assessment tools. Given the increased usage of games in learning mathematics and the equivocal results on the effectiveness of these games, our study also highlights the importance of pre‐registration and randomized controlled studies. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Digital game‐based learning (DGBL) is gaining popularity in mathematics teaching.DGBL shows potential for teaching difficult abstract concepts such as fractions.However, research evaluating DGBL for fractions is limited. What this paper adds: The study examines a fraction game designed by education experts and game designers.Students fraction knowledge is assessed using paper‐based test.Challenges associated with DGBL in the classroom are discussed in the paper. Implications for practice: The results will guide educators in designing effective fraction instruction in classroom.The study highlights the critical role of instructional support in DGBL for fractions.Game based metrics can be used to individualize instruction in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As educational digital technologies are increasingly being used in schools, past research left unanswered the question of these technologies' impact on the socioeconomic achievement gap even when equal access is guaranteed. Objectives: The objectives of the present study are to examine whether and how the socioeconomic achievement gap can be reduced through the use of computer‐assisted instruction (CAI). Methods: We addressed this issue experimentally by comparing CAI to conventional teacher‐led classroom instruction with more than 800 middle and high school students from disadvantaged and highly privileged socioeconomic backgrounds in a range of topics. Results and Conclusions: Both disadvantaged and highly privileged students taught with CAI outperformed those taught with conventional instruction, thus maintaining the socioeconomic achievement gap constant. However, we also found that disadvantaged students receiving CAI performed as well as highly privileged students receiving conventional teacher‐led instruction. Takeaways: The positive effects associated with CAI may therefore help compensate the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background, a still neglected possibility. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Socioeconomic status affects academic achievement especially in students from disadvantaged backgrounds.Inequal access to digital learning is a by‐product of socioeconomic status.Computer‐assisted instruction is known to yield positive effects on learning. What this paper adds?: It examines the effectiveness of computer‐assisted instruction on reducing the socioeconomic achievement gap when equal access to digital education is guaranteed at the school level.It shows that computer‐assisted instruction (relative to teacher‐led conventional instruction) benefited disadvantaged students and their highly privileged counterparts equally, shifting the socioeconomic achievement gap upward.However, disadvantaged students receiving CAI may reach similar performance level as their highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional instruction, thus compensating the socioeconomic achievement gap. Implications for practice and/or policy: This finding strengthens the importance of targeting teaching methods depending on students' socioeconomic characteristics to allow disadvantaged students to maximize their learning potential and chances to access to higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have demonstrated the crucial role of vocabulary in predicting reading performance in general. More recent work has indicated that one particular facet of vocabulary (its depth) is more closely related to language comprehension, especially inferential comprehension. On this basis, we developed a training application to specifically improve vocabulary depth. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of a mobile application designed to improve vocabulary depth. The effectiveness of this training was examined on 3rd and 4th grade children's vocabulary (breadth and depth), decoding and comprehension performances. A randomized waiting‐list control paradigm was used in which an experimental group first received the intervention during the first 4 weeks (between pretest and post‐test1), thereafter, a waiting control group received the training for the next 4 weeks (between postest1 and posttest2). Results showed that the developed application led to significant improvements in terms of vocabulary depth performance, as well as a significant transfer effect to reading comprehension. However, we did not observe such a beneficial effect on either vocabulary breadth or written word identification. These results are discussed in terms of the links between vocabulary depth and comprehension, and the opportunities the app presents for remedying language comprehension deficits in children. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic:Vocabulary is a powerful predictor of both word identification and text comprehensionVocabulary depth rather than breadth is more closely related to language comprehensionDepth of vocabulary is particularly predictive of inferencing skills What this paper adds:We develop a new training application specifically targeting vocabulary depthThe training led to significant gain in children's knowledge for the taught wordsWe also observe a transfer effect with significant improvements in reading comprehension Implications for practice and/or policy:Vocabulary depth trainings represent a good way for remedying language comprehension deficits [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information seeking (IS) has become a critical activity in video‐based environments. Up to now, the effects of support on information seeking (i.e., scaffolding) have seldom been assessed. The twofold aim of the current study was to (a) assess the effects of scaffolding on IS in videos and (b) determine the characteristics of the users' mental models after an IS activity with or without scaffolding. We divided 50 participants into two groups that either did or did not benefit from initial scaffolding during an IS task. Both groups then had to perform a localization task without any further access to scaffolding. Results showed that scaffolding the video by providing a table of contents and markers on a timeline helped students to engage in highly efficient IS, but they had less accurate mental representations of the video than those without scaffolding. The hypothesis that scaffolding provides a usable but external model was therefore supported. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Videos are increasingly used in learning.Searching for information in videos may be a complex activity.So far, very few studies have been conducted on the potential effect of scaffolding videos during an information‐seeking (IS) task. What this paper adds: In this study, we put in place the scaffolding of the video by adding a table of contents and markers on the timeline.Structuration and segmentation have positive effects on the performance in IS, in terms of response success, time spent on each search, relevance, and perceived difficulty.Scaffolding has a negative impact on the users' internal representations of the video. Implications for practice: Incorporating a table of contents and a structured timeline into a video facilitates the search activity.Without scaffolding, the search activity is longer and cognitively more costly.Paradoxically, users have a poorer representation of the video (i.e., poorer mental model) after the IS task when they were given scaffolding.Future studies should focus on the benefits of providing structuring and segmentation in learning tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]