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A number of factors can influence learning from lectures such as students' prior knowledge, their motivation, the instructional design, the lecturer and so forth. Instructional aid techniques such as preparing class notes, giving quizzes (either planned or spot quizzes) and the like can be used to maximize learning. This study uses two well-documented tools for learning from text-advance organizers and higher order questions--adapted for use with podcasts. Student evaluations of their experience of being primed for lectures with podcasts are described. The findings show that audio advance organizers and questions experienced by students have a positive influence on learning, because they help students bridge the conceptual distance between new and prior knowledge, better understand the topics in the lectures and stimulate thinking more deeply about the lecture's content and the possible applications of the subject of the lecture.

This article compares the use of the Internet during the first year of university education of students who have pathological levels of Internet anxiety with those who do not. Two hundred and sixteen first year psychology students (females 184, males 32) were surveyed for their levels of Internet-related anxiety, from which 12 (5.6%) were identified as having pathological levels (termed "technophobic"). At the beginning of the year, there were no differences in Internet usage between the two groups. However, at the end of the academic year, the non-technophobic group had increased their Internet usage, while the technophobic group had decreased their Internet usage. For the technophobic group, changes in Internet-related anxiety over the academic year correlated with changes in Internet usage. The technophobic group perceived a greater need for informal (home-based) support and formal (university-based) support than the non-technophobic group, though largely did not receive support. For the non-technophobic group, informal support was related to increased Internet usage. The decrease in usage in the technophobic group was particularly marked in those who did not receive support. Support did not impact upon changes in Internet-related anxiety. As study at university requires an increase in the use of Information Communication Technology, identification of Internet-related anxieties is crucial. Left unaddressed, this study suggests that a student experiencing pathological levels of Internet-related anxiety could become increasingly disadvantaged through their academic studies when Internet-based resources are required for study. These findings are discussed in terms of supporting technophobic students at university. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The aim of this paper was to explore whether there is a gender difference in the beneficial effects of Racing Academy, which is a video game used to support undergraduate students learning of Mechanical Engineering. One hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students (15 females and 123 males) participated in the study. The students completed a pre-test a week before they started using Racing Academy. The pre-test consisted of a test of students' knowledge of engineering, and a measure of students' motivation towards studying engineering. A week after using Racing Academy the students completed a post-test which was identical to the pre-test, except it also included a measure of how frequently they used Racing Academy and how motivating the students found playing Racing Academy. We found that after playing Racing Academy the students learnt more about engineering and there was no gender difference in the beneficial effect of Racing Academy, however there is some evidence that, female students found Racing Academy more motivating than male students. The implications for the use and design of video games for supporting learning for both males and females are discussed.

Asynchronous computer mediated communication (CMC) would seem to be an ideal medium for supporting development in student argumentation. This paper investigates this assumption through two studies. The first study compared asynchronous CMC with face-to-face discussions. The transactional and strategic level of the argumentation (i.e. measures of argumentation quality) observed in face-to-face discussions was higher than that observed in CMC discussions; however, this difference was not reflected in the students' subsequent level of argumentation. The second study compared a CMC discussion consisting of students from the same degree programme with those from different degree programmes. Students from the same degree programme participated more in the discussion than students from different degree programmes, but the structural quality of the argumentation was higher for students from different degree programmes. The implications of these findings for the methods used to assess the quality of argumentation are discussed. (Contains 3 notes.)

Pupils with autism often present significant challenges to teachers. They seem to have real strengths in visual processing but a cognitive style that encourages them to focus on detail rather than the overarching connections between concepts. Veronica Roberts, currently undertaking doctoral training at the Institute of Education, University of London, in order to become an educational psychologist, and Richard Joiner, senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, set out to explore these issues. In this article, they report the outcomes of a naturalistic experiment in which they investigated the utility of concept mapping as an educational strategy with pupils diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Theoretical arguments supporting the use of concept mapping with an autistic population are outlined in the paper. A tutor group of ten pupils with ASD, aged between 11 and 14 years, took part in the study. Concept mapping tasks were integrated within National Curriculum science lessons in collaboration with the school's science teacher. The study found that the increase in pupil performance in subject-specific questionnaires was nearly four times greater in the concept mapping condition than after a more conventional teaching intervention. Veronica Roberts and Richard Joiner tentatively draw out the implications of their work for staff who work with pupils with ASD and make recommendations for further research into the use of these learning strategies.

This paper concerns the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in music classrooms, with the focus on the secondary school music curriculum in the United Kingdom. In particular, it reports on a study of learners in a UK school using software designed to support practical music skills. The paper begins by briefly raising and summarising some key issues for the use of ICT in the UK music curriculum arising from current research and practice in music education. In this context the study is described, which was carried out in a British secondary school with 36 pupils in year 8 (aged approximately 13). This study investigated whether a commercial CD-ROM entitled "Teach Me Piano Deluxe," which was designed to teach music practical skills was able to support pupils' acquisition of music keyboard skills. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in reading music (staff) notation and rhythm skills. The study suggests that this is one of the ways in which ICT may be useful for learning practical music skills in the music classrooms. Such potential improvement in practical skills may, in turn, enable pupils to approach music-based activities such as: composing, performing or listening in the classrooms, with greater confidence, a deeper level of understanding, and appreciation.

Theory-testing can only inform scientific inquiry when the prediction of test outcome is based upon the current theory (theory-prediction consistency). This investigation explores children's theory-prediction consistency in a computer-mediated task in which multiple opportunities were provided to predict outcomes and review theories. An initial correlation study revealed that theory-prediction consistency was associated with children's success when attempting to identify causation. The second study investigated the effect of goal and a simple intervention upon children's theory-prediction consistency. The type of goal appeared to have no effect but the intervention, which encouraged the children to use their theory to make predictions, significantly improved their ability to identify cause. Interestingly, it also improved other aspects of their performance--such as encouraging more reflection upon the outcomes of tests. The results imply that poor theory-prediction consistency may be related to difficulties in identifying the type of problem being presented.

Simulations on computers can allow many experiments to be conducted quickly to help students develop an understanding of statistical topics. We used a simulation of a challenging problem in statistics as the focus of an exploration of situations where members of a problem-solving group are physically separated then reconnected via combinations of computer and communications technology to work collaboratively on the simulation. The particular focus in this work was on trying to understand how students could use a system which allowed them to conduct variable based practical experiments in order to help them develop their knowledge and understanding of a statistics topic. We wished to develop an understanding of the virtual space created by shared simulations and video communication tools for supporting collaborative work between people at a distance. The paper reports on an experiment involving 48 subjects using this virtual space to establish the impact on their statistics understanding and to map their use of this distributed environment for learning. It establishes that the virtual space is effective for learning, and that the video conferencing condition which allows for eye contact between the pairs has some advantages for successful problem-solving with the simulation. In addition the experimental setting provided some opportunities for exploring subjects' understanding of statistical and experimental concepts.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the use of trace diagrams for analysing collaborative problem solving. The paper describes a study where trace diagrams were used to analyse joint navigation in a virtual environment. Ten pairs of undergraduates worked together on a distributed virtual task to collect five flowers using two bees with each participant controlling one of the bees. This task is used extensively in research on multi-robot systems. The joint navigation of the pairs was analysed using trace diagrams. They showed that more successful pairs divided the task up, showed very little overlap and very little backtracking. Whereas, the less successful pairs, showed no task division, there was significant overlap and extensive backtracking. From this analysis we developed numerical measures of task division, overlap and backtracking. Task division was significantly and negatively related with task performance. Backtracking and overlap were significantly and positively correlated.

The aim of this paper is to compare the effects of different communication media on the quality of arguments and the development of argumentative reasoning. The study involved 73 undergraduate students. It consisted of a pre-test, an intervention session consisting of either an asynchronous online discussion or a face-to-face discussion, and a post-test. The pre-test consisted of a mini essay to ascertain participants' opinion of smacking, and a 21-point smacking scale, where participants indicated how much they agreed or disagreed with smacking. The online group participated in a seminar discussion over a period of 2 weeks. The face-to-face group participated in the seminar discussion for a 1-h period. The seminar discussion was about the detrimental effects of smacking on children's development. One week after the seminar discussion, the post-test was administered. No statistically significant differences were found between the two conditions in terms of improvement in the quality of the students' arguments. However, the quality of the argumentation used in face-to-face was higher than that used in the online discussions. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of collaborative activity are discussed.

Studied gender and social comparison effects in computer-based problem solving in studies involving 62 11- and 12-year-olds working in pairs on computers without verbal interaction (co-action) and 96 children working in co-action or interaction pairs. Polarization of sex differences was found in the co-action condition but not the interaction condition. Discusses results in terms of processes of social comparison. (SLD)

A study of 16 boys and 16 girls aged 10-11 investigated gender stereotyped, gender neutral, and abstract versions of problem-solving software. Found that boys preferred the male stereotyped version, whereas girls showed no significant preference for the male, female, or neutral versions. Findings are consistent with research on gender stereotyping and children's toy selection. (PEN)

Examines the effects of gender, expectations of success, and social comparison on children's performance on a computer-based task. Finds that the presence of like students facilitated the performance of girls with high expectations of success but was detrimental to those with low expectations; found opposite results for boys. (DSK)

Addresses the question of how far superficial aspects of software can affect the performance of girls and boys on computer-based problem-solving tasks. Finds, in two tests, a significant gender by software interaction, with girls' performances being highly influenced by the software version. Suggests that children's response to computers are context sensitive. (DSK)

Investigates predictions derived from the Karmiloff Smith framework for understanding the process of cognitive development. Finds broad support for the model but also indicates that behavior for some tasks is more variable than expected; and, contrary to expectations, that more abstract tasks did not disrupt behavior to any large extent. (DSK)

Reports the results of a study of 65 United Kingdom primary school children that examined the effect of software type by comparing children's performance on a male stereotyped version of the software with a female stereotyped version. Topics include computer attitudes, computer experience, and software preferences. (Author/LRW)

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2005.03.002 Byline: Richard Joiner (a), Mark Brosnan (a), Jill Duffield (b), Jeff Gavin (a), Pam Maras (c) Keywords: Internet anxiety; Internet identification; Internet use Abstract: This paper reports a study investigating the relationship between Internet identification, Internet anxiety and Internet use. The participants were 446 students (319 females and 127 males) from two universities in the UK and one university in Australia. Measures of Internet identification and Internet anxiety were developed. The majority of participants were NOT anxious about using the Internet, although there were approximately 8% who showed evidence of Internet anxiety. There was a significant and negative relationship between Internet anxiety and Internet use. Those who were more anxious about using the Internet used the Internet less, although the magnitude of effect was small. There was a positive and significant relationship between Internet use and Internet identification. Those who scored high on the measure of Internet identification used the Internet more than those who did not. There was also a significant and negative relationship between Internet anxiety and Internet identification. Finally, males had a significantly higher Internet identification score than females. Implications of these findings are discussed. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK (b) School of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK (c) Department of Psychology and Counselling, University of Greenwich, London, UK

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2005.01.001 Byline: Richard Joiner (a), Jessica Nethercott (a), Richard Hull (b), Jo Reid (b) Keywords: Ubiquitous technology; Learning; Intrinsic motivation; Location based games Abstract: The aim of the study was to explore the design of situated educational and compelling experiences using SoundScape technology - which is a ubiquitous technology. Two experiences were designed: one that had a goal and the other that did not. Twenty six children then explored both experiences. The children found that the SoundScape with a goal was more interesting and were more likely to want to have another go than the non-goal version. They also made more positive comments concerning the goal version. Mentioning the presence of a goal as important factor in determining why they liked the game. More negative comments were made concerning the non-goal version and the children mentioned the lack of a goal as negative aspect of the non-goal version. One improvement they suggested for the non-goal version was to add a goal and to include more sensory stimulation. They overwhelmingly preferred the goal version compared to the non-goal version and when asked by far the most popular reason was the presence of a goal. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK (b) Hewlett Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK