With the growing possibilities that technology offers to education, this study set out to explore the potential of online, intensive, individualized reading interventions. The study compared the...Show moreWith the growing possibilities that technology offers to education, this study set out to explore the potential of online, intensive, individualized reading interventions. The study compared the effects of the UIL (Universele Instructie in Lezen) and Read-along intervention methods on the reading performance and attitude of pupils with reading difficulties. The 35 grade 5 and 6 pupils took part in eight 30-minute tutoring sessions via Microsoft Teams. Prior to and following these sessions, the pupils were asked to complete a pretest and posttest comprising a series of reading tasks and a questionnaire with items on self-perception of reading skills and reading motivation. Our analysis showed that the pupils made substantial gains in reading performance from pretest to posttest and that their reading attitude improved. The observed gains were similar for the UIL and Read-along groups. We conclude that intensive one-on-one tutoring is potentially beneficial to improve the reading performance and attitude of struggling readers. Future studies with a control group, larger samples, and more divergent intervention methods can strengthen the present conclusions and help develop new or improved reading interventions to achieve even larger gains in reading performance and attitude.Show less
Children with problems in the development of early literacy are at risk for reading difficulties in later life. Weak executive functioning might contribute to this. Therefore, fostering early...Show moreChildren with problems in the development of early literacy are at risk for reading difficulties in later life. Weak executive functioning might contribute to this. Therefore, fostering early literacy skills is of great importance. Digital books and interactive reading may support this development. The current study examines the impact of reading digital storybooks in a classroom setting using the interactive reading program e-Prent&ABC. This program involves reading techniques such as semantic consolidation and print referencing to stimulate early literacy skills, including vocabulary and print knowledge. The relationship between these components of early literacy and executive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control is also explored. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that reading using print referencing would result in more growth in vocabulary and print knowledge than reading through semantic consolidation. Additionally, it is hypothesized that working memory and cognitive flexibility would mainly contribute to growth in vocabulary, while inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility would contribute to growth in print knowledge. This within-subject design study used a sample of 85 children (41 girls, M = 63 months, SD = 6.1 months). Various questionnaires were employed to measure book-related vocabulary, print knowledge, visual working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. The results show that print referencing does not lead to more growth in vocabulary than semantic consolidation, but it does in print knowledge, which implies that interactive reading is beneficial for the development of early literacy. Furthermore, it appears that visual working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control are not significant predictors of vocabulary and print knowledge, meaning e-Prent&ABC might compensate for the negative effects of lower levels of executive functioning. This study contributes to the advancement of inclusive education for children with diverse learning needs, levels of literacy and executive functioning.Show less
Consideration of future consequences (CFC) is one of the constructs that make up future oriented thinking. Not much is known about how CFC is formed or how it can be changed. Previous studies show...Show moreConsideration of future consequences (CFC) is one of the constructs that make up future oriented thinking. Not much is known about how CFC is formed or how it can be changed. Previous studies show that CFC is negatively related to self-defeating behavior and positively related to goal achievement. The goal of the present study was to reestablish these relations with a more generalized definition of self-defeating behavior and goal achievement in different domains. Apart from this, the present study had the goal of determining whether CFC could be changed through a VR- or smartphone application over the course of three weeks. 193 first year students from Leiden University (92,7% female) participated in the study. The participants were divided among three conditions: a VR-condition, a smartphone app-condition and a control condition. At the start of the study, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire measuring CFC and self-defeating behavior. In addition, all participants set goals for themselves to complete. The degree to which they had achieved these goals was measured after three weeks, along with a second measurement of CFC. It was found through a regression analysis that CFC showed a significant correlation with self-defeating behavior, meaning CFC predicted this behavior. A regression analysis between CFC and goal achievement showed no significant correlation, meaning that CFC did not predict goal achievement. Finally, a repeated measures ANOVA indicated that there was no significant improvement of CFC after three weeks of using the intervention. Although no significant difference was found, perhaps an intervention that is used for a longer time period or a domain specific intervention could yield more successful results in improving CFC. More research is needed in defining the underlying constructs of self-defeating behavior and goal achievement, as well as evaluating possible ways to stimulate awareness of future consequences.Show less
In recent years, the number of learning applications has greatly increased, and they have become available for a wide range of subjects and ages, including many applications to support reading....Show moreIn recent years, the number of learning applications has greatly increased, and they have become available for a wide range of subjects and ages, including many applications to support reading. Sometimes studies show that an application claims to influence reading behavior, but in practice, this effect is not achieved. This also applies to the subject of this study, namely the application Beeline Reader. The current study investigates to what extent the application Beeline Reader makes reading a digital text easier and faster for students, as they claim on their website. Students read eight texts, including four in black font color and four in Beeline font colors. Students (N=19) were randomly assigned to one of four different layouts, each with a combination of single or enlarged line spacing with short or long lines. Data were collected with eye-tracking and reading comprehension questions and analyzed with a Repeated Measures ANOVA. Results showed that the use of Beeline font colors had no effect on reading speed (duration first-pass reading, duration second-pass reading and duration return-sweep) or text comprehension. In contrast, the layout with single line spacing and long lines was found to cause a lower reading speed (first-pass reading and second-pass reading) as well as the layout with enlarged line spacing and long lines (first-pass reading). In conclusion, the use of Beeline font colors has no positive effect on students' reading speed and text comprehension, but no negative effect either. For follow-up research, it might be useful to test the effect of Beeline font colors on different target groups.Show less
Tegenwoordig zijn verhalen in de tekst, audio en video presentatievorm dankzij digitale media veelvuldig beschikbaar. Deze verhalen variëren in kwaliteit, juistheid en betrouwbaarheid, dus is het...Show moreTegenwoordig zijn verhalen in de tekst, audio en video presentatievorm dankzij digitale media veelvuldig beschikbaar. Deze verhalen variëren in kwaliteit, juistheid en betrouwbaarheid, dus is het belangrijk om na te gaan welke presentatievorm zorgt voor het beste verhaalbegrip bij kinderen. In het huidige onderzoek is de invloed van de presentatievorm op het verhaalbegrip onderzocht bij kinderen tussen de 8 en 12 jaar. Tevens werd gekeken of het verhaalbegrip anders was voor kinderen jonger en ouder dan 10 jaar en of de presentatievorm van invloed was op de zelfgerapporteerde aandacht van het kind. In een within-subjects experimentele studie hebben 83 kinderen drie verhalen in drie verschillende presentatievormen (tekst, audio, video) aangeboden gekregen. Het verhaalbegrip werd gemeten aan de hand van begripsvragen na afloop van het verhaal en de kinderen beoordeelden hun aandacht tijdens het verhaal. Het bleek dat kinderen het verhaal in de video presentatievorm beter begrepen dan in de tekst presentatievorm. Tussen de video presentatievorm en audio presentatievorm, en de audio presentatievorm en tekst presentatievorm zat geen verschil. Bovendien bleek leeftijd geen invloed te hebben op de verschillen in het verhaalbegrip tussen de presentatievormen. Tot slot was de zelfgerapporteerde aandacht bij de video presentatievorm hoger dan bij de tekst en audio presentatievormen. Tussen de audio en tekst presentatievormen was geen verschil. Het gebruik van video’s in het onderwijs zou de motivatie en de prestaties van leerlingen kunnen vergroten. Vervolg onderzoek kan zich richten op de integratie van de video presentatievorm met geschreven tekst of audio.Show less
Research shows that technological aspects have the potential to fulfill the three psychological needs that account for intrinsic motivation. The current study examined whether a digital...Show moreResearch shows that technological aspects have the potential to fulfill the three psychological needs that account for intrinsic motivation. The current study examined whether a digital antibullying intervention could enhance the motivation of adolescents. It was expected that adolescents who received a digital anti-bullying intervention would be more motivated than adolescents who received a non-digital intervention. The current study also looked into the influence of academic motivation and sex on this relation. A post-test design was used. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory measured motivation for the intervention and the Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Academic measured academic motivation. A sample of 17 Dutch adolescents in the second year of secondary school, between the ages of 13 and 15, was divided in two groups; a group that followed a digital intervention (N = 7, 28.5% boys) and a group that received a non-digital intervention about bullying (N = 10, 70% boys). The digital intervention and the used questionnaires were based on the self-determination theory. No differences in motivation were found between the conditions. The effect of the digital intervention on motivation was not different for sex, however a large effect size was found for this interaction. The effect was also not different for people with a different initial academic motivation. Therefore all three hypotheses were rejected. Future research can look further into the effects of a digital intervention on motivation within a larger and more diverse sample size, because this study lacked power and external validity. Enrichment of digital interventions could happen with the use of gamification or virtual reality. It is concluded that there might be individual differences in how adolescents experience digital interventions and therefore no effect has been found. It is recommended to take these differences into account in future research, by looking into customization possibilities for a digital anti-bullying intervention.Show less
Playful learning experience such as the emerging educational version of escape rooms give teachers new opportunities in digital and game based learning, for example in teaching 21st century skills....Show morePlayful learning experience such as the emerging educational version of escape rooms give teachers new opportunities in digital and game based learning, for example in teaching 21st century skills. Based on flow theory it is expected that learners can experience increased levels of skill and challenge (flow) and plenty of immersion and engagement in an educational escape room. Here we examined the best predictor and potential mediatiors of the psychological constructs skill, challenge, immersion and engagement in the relationship with perceived learning. Another goal in this research was exploring the potential individual differences in the experience of flow like age, gender, media experience, cognitive development and collaboration. For the purpose of our last goal, an extensive qualitative research was carried out to examine the group of learners who didn’t experienced flow while playing. The research also provides insight into positive points and improvements for escape room design in the future. Five school classes with students between 10-13 years (N=141) have played the educational escape room of the Bibliotheek Eemland for an hour. Through puzzles and mysteries, the students followed a storyline about a missing vlogger. Learning objectives were various 21st century skills such as social media understanding and programming. Data has been obtained with a self-report questionnaire and additional information from the teacher. It turned out that skill and challenge where the best predictor of the perceived learning. Interesting, because based on the theory, skill and challenge are used to express the degree of flow experiences. Collaboration turned out to be positive related to the flow experience. Most of the students experienced flow and high levels of immersion and engagement while playing the educational escape room, regardless of their personal characteristics. But indications are found for ‘a lot of previous experience with escape rooms’, which may be related to not experiencing flow.Show less
