The testing effect is a well-known concept referring to gains in learning and retention that can occur when students take a practice test on studied material before taking a final test on the same ...material. Research demonstrates that students who take practice tests often outperform students in nontesting learning conditions such as restudying, practice, filler activities, or no presentation of the material However, evidence-based meta-analysis is needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the conditions under which practice tests enhance or inhibit learning. This meta-analysis fills this gap by examining the effects of practice tests versus nontesting learning conditions. Results reveal that practice tests are more beneficial for learning than restudying and all other comparison conditions. Mean effect sizes were moderated by the features of practice tests, participant and study characteristics, outcome constructs, and methodological features of the studies. Findings may guide the use of practice tests to advance student learning, and inform students, teachers, researchers, and policymakers. This article concludes with the theoretical and practical implications of the meta-analysis.
Emotions can both facilitate and hinder learning. Emotional design features such as colors and shapes can be embedded in multimedia learning environments to manipulate learners’ affects and learning ...outcomes. However, some studies suggest that emotional designs promote learning, while others show that they hinder it. Although Brom et al. (Educational Research Review 25:100–119, Brom et al.
2018
) published a meta-analysis on the use of emotional designs in multimedia learning, an updated search showed that more studies were published recently. Thus, the present meta-analysis is a replication and extension of Brom et al.’s (Educational Research Review 25:100–119, Brom et al.
2018
) meta-analysis. A total of 28 articles yielded the following independent effect sizes for each outcome examined: retention (
k
= 28), transfer (
k
= 38), comprehension (
k
= 16), mental effort (
k
= 28), perceived difficulty (
k
= 19), change in positive affect (
k
= 25), intrinsic motivation (
k
= 28), and liking/enjoyment (
k
= 19). Results showed that including emotional designs enhanced learning outcomes (retention:
g
+ = 0.35; transfer:
g
+ = 0.27; comprehension:
g
+ = 0.29), change in positive affect (
g
+ = 0.09), intrinsic motivation (
g+
= 0.15), mental effort (
g
+ = 0.11), liking/enjoyment (
g
+ = 0.10), and reduced perceived difficulty (
g+
= − 0.21). Moderator analyses were conducted for retention, mental effort, intrinsic motivation, and positive affect, and findings showed that mean effect sizes were moderated by participant characteristics as well as methodological and contextual features of the studies. We discuss these findings as well as their theoretical and practical implications.
Studies have shown that learners exposed to interesting and irrelevant information, known as seductive details, do not perform as much as those who learned without seductive details. However, ...findings are mixed in terms of the degree to which seductive details hinder learning. Further research is also needed on how design features of learning materials influence the seductive details effect. This meta-analysis summarizes the seductive details effect and investigates the moderating factors of design and methodology. We also discuss evidence supporting each of the four hypothetical underlying mechanisms for the seductive details effect. Findings show that including seductive details in learning material can hinder learning. Mean effect sizes were moderated by the presence of seductive details, image type used in comparison, delivery format, language, subject, learner pacing, recall question type, and manipulation check approach. We conclude by highlighting limitations in current research, suggesting opportunities for future research, and examining practical implications.
A number of studies have documented the cognitive outcomes associated with bilingualism. To gain a clear understanding of the extent and diversity of these cognitive outcomes, the authors conducted a ...meta-analysis of studies that examined the cognitive correlates of bilingualism. Data from 63 studies (involving 6,022 participants) were extracted and analyzed following established protocols and procedures for conducting systematic reviews and guidelines for meta-analysis. Results indicate that bilingualism is reliably associated with several cognitive outcomes, including increased attentional control, working memory, metalinguistic awareness, and abstract and symbolic representation skills. Overall mean effect sizes varied from small to large, depending on the cognitive outcomes measured, and were moderated by methodological features of the studies.
Signals (or cues) are added to multimedia learning materials to guide learners’ attention to critical elements of the materials. Yet, research on signaling has produced mixed findings on learning ...outcomes. On the one hand, some studies have reported positive effects of signaling on the performance of learning outcomes (e.g., Jamet in Hum Behav 32:47–53,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.11.013
, 2014). On the other hand, some studies have found that signaling did not improve performance on learning-related outcomes (e.g., Mayer and DaPra in J Exp Psychol 18(3):239–252,
https://doi.org/10.1037/a002861670
, 2012). The present meta-analysis seeks to (a) resolve the mixed findings in signaling research, (b) examine the effects on signaling on learning outcomes, and (c) identify potential moderating variables. Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified design criteria, 44 independent effect sizes were extracted from 29 experimental studies involving 2726 participants. Studies were coded on features, such as participants (e.g., grade level), presentation (e.g., pacing), and methodology (e.g., quality of the study). Results indicated that signaling is associated with increased learning outcomes (
d
= .38,
p
< .01), with effect sizes varying from small to large. This overall effect was moderated by study, participant, presentation, and methodological features. For example, beneficial effects on learning outcomes were found when studies were high in quality, reported the reliability of outcomes, use pretest, and control for differences in prior knowledge. The findings have significant implications for educators and instructional designers as well as for multimedia researchers.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) are computer programs that model learners' psychological states to provide individualized instruction. They have been developed for diverse subject areas (e.g., ...algebra, medicine, law, reading) to help learners acquire domain-specific, cognitive and metacognitive knowledge. A meta-analysis was conducted on research that compared the outcomes from students learning from ITS to those learning from non-ITS learning environments. The meta-analysis examined how effect sizes varied with type of ITS, type of comparison treatment received by learners, type of learning outcome, whether knowledge to be learned was procedural or declarative, and other factors. After a search of major bibliographic databases, 107 effect sizes involving 14,321 participants were extracted and analyzed. The use of ITS was associated with greater achievement in comparison with teacher-led, large-group instruction (g = .42), non-ITS computer-based instruction (g = .57), and textbooks or workbooks (g = .35). There was no significant difference between learning from ITS and learning from individualized human tutoring (g = -.11) or small-group instruction (g = .05). Significant, positive mean effect sizes were found regardless of whether the ITS was used as the principal means of instruction, a supplement to teacher-led instruction, an integral component of teacher-led instruction, or an aid to homework. Significant, positive effect sizes were found at all levels of education, in almost all subject domains evaluated, and whether or not the ITS provided feedback or modeled student misconceptions. The claim that ITS are relatively effective tools for learning is consistent with our analysis of potential publication bias.
This meta-analysis reviews experimental and quasi-experimental studies in which students learned by constructing, modifying, or viewing node-link diagrams. Following an exhaustive search for studies ...meeting specified design criteria, 67 standardized mean difference effect sizes were extracted from 55 studies involving 5,818 participants. Students at levels ranging from Grade 4 to postsecondary used concept maps to learn in domains such as science, psychology, statistics, and nursing. Posttests measured recall and transfer. Across several instructional conditions, settings, and methodological features, the use of concept maps was associated with increased knowledge retention. Mean effect sizes varied from small to large depending on how concept maps were used and on the type of comparison treatment. Significant heterogeneity was found in most subsets.
This meta-analysis synthesized recent research on strategy instruction (SI) effectiveness to estimate SI effects and their moderators for two domains: second/foreign language and self-regulated ...learning. A total of 37 studies (47 independent samples) for language domain and 16 studies (17 independent samples) for self-regulated learning domain contributed effect sizes for this meta-analysis. Findings indicate that the overall effects of SI were large, 0.78 and 0.87, for language and self-regulated learning, respectively. A number of context (e.g., educational level, script differences), treatment (e.g., delivery agent), and methodology (e.g., pretest) characteristics were found to moderate SI effectiveness. Notably, the moderating effects varied by language versus self-regulated learning domains. The overall results identify SI as a viable instructional tool for second/foreign language classrooms, highlight more effective SI design features, and suggest a need for a greater emphasis on self-regulated learning in SI interventions and research.
Studies comparing the instructional effectiveness of dynamic versus static visualizations have produced mixed results. In this work, we investigated whether gender imbalance in the participant ...samples of these studies may have contributed to the mixed results. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized experiments in which groups of students learning through dynamic visualizations were compared to groups receiving static visualizations. Our sample focused on tasks that could be categorized as either biologically secondary tasks (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: STEM) or biologically primary tasks (manipulative-procedural). The meta-analysis of 46 studies (82 effect sizes and 5474 participants) revealed an overall small-sized effect (g⁺ =0.23) showing that dynamic visualizations were more effective than static visualizations. Regarding potential moderators, we observed that gender was influential: the dynamic visualizations were more effective on samples with less females and more males (g⁺ =0.36). We also observed that educational level, learning domain, media compared, and reporting reliability measures moderated the results. We concluded that because many visualization studies have used samples with a gender imbalance, this may be a significant factor in explaining why instructional dynamic and static visualizations seem to vary in their effectiveness. Our findings also support considering the gender variable in research about cognitive load theory and instructional visualizations.
Multimedia pedagogical agents are on-screen characters that allow users to navigate or learn in multimedia environments. Several agents’ characteristics may moderate their instructional ...effectiveness, including appearance, gender, nonverbal communication, motion, and voice. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to test hypotheses from diverse theories predicting the effects of these agents’ characteristics. We tested predictions of cognitive load theory, cognitive theory of multimedia learning, computers are social actors, social agency theory, uncanny valley, and the action observation network. Our meta-analysis of 32 effect sizes (
N
= 2104) revealed a small overall effect (
g
+ = 0.20), showing that learning with multimedia pedagogical agents was more effective than learning without these agents. As predicted by the redundancy effect of cognitive load theory and the coherence principle of cognitive theory of multimedia learning, 2D agents (
g
+ = 0.38) tended to be more effective than 3D agents (
g
+ = 0.11). As predicted by the computers are social actors hypothesis, most of the agents’ characteristics, including nonverbal communication, motion, and voice, appeared not to moderate their effectiveness. We conclude that multimedia pedagogical agents help learning through multimedia, and that students may be able to learn similarly from different types of agents.
PDF
