Optimizing Learning from Examples Using Animated Pedagogical Agents

Robert K. Atkinson

Journal of Educational Psychology Vol. 94, No. 2 (2002) pp. 416–27

Aims to optimize computer-based learning environment designed to teach how to solve word problems by incorporating an animated pedagogical agent. The agent delivered instructional explanations either textually or aurally, while simultaneously using...

Learning from Examples: Fostering Self-Explanations in Computer-Based Learning Environments

Alexander Renkl; Robert K. Atkinson

Interactive Learning Environments Vol. 10, No. 2 (2002) pp. 105–19

Discusses research on different types of computer-based learning environments that indirectly foster self-explanations, and discusses ways of leveraging new computer and video technologies to enhance these environments by representing problem...

Fostering multimedia learning of science: Exploring the role of an animated agent’s image

Qi Dunsworth; Robert K. Atkinson

Computers & Education Vol. 49, No. 3 (November 2007) pp. 677–690

Research suggests that students learn better when studying a picture coupled with narration rather than on-screen text in a computer-based multimedia learning environment. Moreover, combining narration with the visual presence of an animated...

Language: English

Using animations and visual cueing to support learning of scientific concepts and processes

Lijia Lin; Robert K. Atkinson

Computers & Education Vol. 56, No. 3 (April 2011) pp. 650–658

The purpose of the study is to investigate the potential benefits of using animation, visual cueing, and their combination in a multimedia environment designed to support learners’ acquisition and retention of scientific concepts and processes....

Language: English

Interactive Example-Based Learning Environments: Using Interactive Elements to Encourage Effective Processing of Worked Examples

Robert K. Atkinson; Alexander Renkl

Educational Psychology Review Vol. 19, No. 3 (September 2007) pp. 375–386

This review describes parts of our research program on example-based learning that relates to recent efforts to incorporate interactive elements into learning environments designed to support learning from worked-out examples. Since most learners...

Exploring the Presentation and Format of Help in a Computer-Based Electrical Engineering Learning Environment

Jana Reisslein; Robert K. Atkinson; Martin Reisslein

Annual Meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2004 (October 2005)

This study investigated whether it was more beneficial to provide the learners in computer-based learning environments access to on demand (self-regulated) help after they committed an error in problem solving or for the learning environment to...

Best Practices for Applying Instructional Design Principles to Social Media

Kent Sabo; Quincy Conley; Robert K. Atkinson

World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2012 (Jun 26, 2012) pp. 2884–2887

The advent of social media has spawned a surge of open-source, user-created intelligence available through online media such as blogs and social networks. Since the number of people participating in social media activities seems to increase on a...

Best Practices for Using Social Media in the Classroom

Quincy Conley; Kent E. Sabo; Robert K. Atkinson

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2012 (Mar 05, 2012) pp. 4814–4817

The advent of social media has spawned a surge of open-source, user-created intelligence available through online media such as blogs, wikis and social networks. Since the number of people participating in social media activities seems to increase...

Investigating the impact of pedagogical agent gender matching and learner choice on learning outcomes and perceptions

Gamze Ozogul; Amy M. Johnson; Robert K. Atkinson; Martin Reisslein

Computers & Education Vol. 67, No. 1 (September 2013) pp. 36–50

The similarity attraction hypothesis posits that humans are drawn toward others who behave and appear similar to themselves. Two experiments examined this hypothesis with middle-school students learning electrical circuit analysis in a computer...

Language: English

Technology-enhanced learning in college mathematics remediation

Cecile M. Foshee; Stephen N. Elliott; Robert K. Atkinson

British Journal of Educational Technology Vol. 47, No. 5 (September 2016) pp. 893–905

US colleges presently face an academic plight; thousands of high school graduates are performing below the expected ability for college-level mathematics. This paper describes an innovative approach intended to improve the mathematics performance of ...

How Fading Worked Solution Steps Works--A Cognitive Load Perspective

Alexander Renkl; Robert K. Atkinson; Cornelia S. Grosse

Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 32, No. 1 (January 2004) pp. 59–82

In order to facilitate the transition from learning from worked examples in earlier stages of skill acquisition to problem solving in later stages, it is effective to successively fade out worked solution steps--in comparison to the traditional...

Encountering the expertise reversal effect with a computer-based environment on electrical circuit analysis

Jana Reisslein; Robert K. Atkinson; Patrick Seeling; Martin Reisslein

Learning and Instruction Vol. 16, No. 2 (April 2006) pp. 92–103

This study examined the effectiveness of a computer-based environment employing three example-based instructional procedures (example–problem, problem–example, and fading) to teach series and parallel electrical circuit analysis to learners...

Language: English

Fostering Social Agency in Multimedia Learning: Examining the Impact of an Animated Agent's Voice

Robert K. Atkinson; Richard E. Mayer; Mary Margaret Merrill

Contemporary Educational Psychology Vol. 30, No. 1 (January 2005) pp. 117–139

Consistent with social agency theory, we hypothesized that learners who studied a set of worked-out examples involving proportional reasoning narrated by an animated agent with a human voice would perform better on near and far transfer tests and...

Animated agents and learning: Does the type of verbal feedback they provide matter?

Lijia Lin; Robert K. Atkinson; Robert M. Christopherson; Stacey S. Joseph; Caroline J. Harrison

Computers & Education Vol. 67, No. 1 (September 2013) pp. 239–249

The current study was conducted to investigate the effects of an animated agent's presence and different types of feedback on learning, motivation and cognitive load in a multimedia-learning environment designed to teach science content....

Language: English

Example-Based Learning: Exploring the Use of Matrices and Problem Variability

Mary A. Hancock-Niemic; Lijia Lin; Robert K. Atkinson; Alexander Renkl; Joerg Wittwer

Educational Technology Research and Development Vol. 64, No. 1 (2016) pp. 115–136

The purpose of the study was to investigate the efficacy of using faded worked examples presented in matrices with problem structure variability to enhance learners' ability to recognize the underlying structure of the problems. Specifically, this...

Effects of Visual Cues and Self-Explanation Prompts: Empirical Evidence in a Multimedia Environment

Lijia Lin; Robert K. Atkinson; Wilhelmina C. Savenye; Brian C. Nelson

Interactive Learning Environments Vol. 24, No. 4 (2016) pp. 799–813

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of visual cues and different types of self-explanation prompts on learning, cognitive load, and intrinsic motivation in an interactive multimedia environment that was designed to deliver a...