Through (Tracking) Their Eyes: Abstraction and Complexity in Program Comprehension

Previous studies on writing and understanding programs presented evidence that programmers beyond a novice stage utilize plans or plan-like structures. Other studies on code composition showed that learners have difficulties with writing, reading, and debugging code where interacting plans are merged into a short piece of code. In this article, we focus on the question of how different code-composition strategies and the familiarity with code affect program comprehension on a more abstract, i.e., algorithmic level. Using an eye-tracking setup, we explored how advanced students comprehend programs and their underlying algorithms written in either a merged or abutted (sequenced) composition of code blocks of varying familiarity. The effects of familiarity and code composition were studied both isolated and in combination. Our analysis of the quantitative data adds to our understanding of the behavior reported in previous studies and the effects of plans and their composition on the programs’ difficulty. Using this data along with retrospective interviews, we analyze students’ reading patterns and provide support that subjects were able to form mental models of program execution during task performance. Furthermore, our results suggest that subjects are able to retrieve and create schemata when the program is composed of familiar templates, which may improve their performance; we found indicators for a higher element-interactivity for programs with a merged code composition compared to abutted code composition.

Is There a (Dis-)Fluency Effect in Learning With Handwritten Instructional Texts? Evidence From Three Studies

The disfluency effect postulates that intentionally inserted desirable difficulties can have a beneficial effect on learning. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing discussion about the emergence of this effect since studies could not replicate this effect or even found opposite effects. To clarify boundary effects of the disfluency effect and to investigate potential social effects of disfluency operationalized through handwritten material, three studies (N1 = 97; N2 = 102; N3 = 103) were carried out. In all three experiments, instructional texts were manipulated in terms of disfluency (computerized font vs. handwritten font). Learning outcomes and cognitive load were measured in all experiments. Furthermore, metacognitive variables (Experiment 2 and 3) and social presence (Experiment 3) were measured. Results were ambiguous, indicating that element interactivity (complexity or connectedness of information within the learning material) of the learning material is a boundary condition that determines the effects of disfluency. When element interactivity is low, disfluency had a positive effect on learning outcomes and germane processes. When element interactivity increases, disfluency had negative impacts on learning efficiency (Experiment 2 and 3) and extraneous load (Experiment 3). In contrast to common explanations of the disfluency effect, a disfluent font had no metacognitive benefits. Social processes did not influence learning with disfluent material as well.

Effects of complexity-determined system pausing on learning from multimedia presentations

System pausing at pre-determined positions during multimedia presentations can enhance multimedia learning. However, the pause positions are usually set up based on the structure of the learning material (e.g., segmentation principle) rather than on the complexity of its different sections (as determined by levels of element interactivity, according to cognitive load theory). This study investigated the effectiveness of complexity-determined system pauses positioned either before or after complex (high element interactivity) sections of a slideshow multimedia presentation. The study adopted a single-factor between-subjects design and randomly assigned 128 undergraduates to four experimental conditions, namely (1) pausing before high element interactivity, (2) pausing after high element interactivity, (3) learner pausing and (4) no pausing. The research results revealed that complexity-determined system pausing approaches and learner pausing resulted in better test performance and instructional efficiency than the continuous presentation without pausing. The findings suggest that pauses allow students more time to deal with learning contents with high element interactivity, thus reducing potential cognitive overload and resulting in better performance compared with continuous presentation. However, no significant difference was found between the two types of system pausing and learner pausing in all measures.

Strategi meminimalkan beban kognitif eksternal dalam pembelajaran matematika berdasarkan load cognitive theory

Memahami objek, konsep, prosedur merupakan salah satu tujuan mempelajari pelajaran matematika disekolah. Muatan materi yang cendrung kompleks dengan elemen-elemen yang abstrak menjadi masalah bagi siswa sehingga memunculkan beban kognitif, diantaranya adalah beban kognitif eksternal. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk menunjukkan beberapa strategi yang perlu diperhatikan dalam mendesain pembelajaran matematika agar dapat meminimalkan beban kognitif eksternal. Penelitian ini berupa studi kepustakaan (library research). Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini, dilakukan dengan melakukan penelusuran referensi secara online melalui beberapa sumber basis data Google Cendikia, ERIC Institute of Education Science, serta Science Direct. Analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode analisis isi (content analysis). Hasil kajian dalam studi ini terdapat 8 strategi dalam mendesain pembelajaran matematika untuk meminimalkan beban kognitif eksternal diantaranya The Goal-Free Effect, The Worked Exampel Effect, The Split-Attention Effect, The Modality Effect, The Redundancy Effect, The Element Interactivity Effect, The Imagination Effect dan The Guidance Fading Effect.Understanding objects, concepts, procedures is one of the goals of studying mathematics in school. Material content that tends to be complex with abstract elements becomes a problem for students so that it creates cognitive loads, including external cognitive loads. The purpose of this study is to show several strategies that need to be considered in designing mathematics learning in order to minimize external cognitive load. This research is in the form of library research (library research). The data collection technique in this study was carried out by searching for references online through several Google Cendikia database sources, ERIC Institute of Education Science, and Science Direct. Analysis of the data in this study using content analysis method. The results of the study in this study there are 8 strategies in designing mathematics learning to minimize external cognitive load including The Goal-Free Effect, The Worked Exampel Effect, The Split-Attention Effect, The Modality Effect, The Redundancy Effect, The Element Interactivity Effect, The Imagination Effect and The Guidance Fading Effect.

The Effect of Retrieval Practice on Transitive Inference

Compared to restudying, retrieval practice has often been found to enhance memory (the testing effect). However, it has been proposed that materials with high element interactivity may not benefit from retrieval practice. Transitive inference (TI) requires just such interactivity, in which information must be combined across multiple learning elements or premises. The current study employed a 7-element TI paradigm in which participants initially learned a set of premises (e.g., A > B, B > C, C > D, etc.), then engaged in either restudy or retrieval practice with the premises, and then were given a final test that assessed memory for the original premises and one’s ability to make transitive inferences about them (e.g., to infer that B > D). Three experiments examined TI on final tests with retention intervals of a few minutes (Experiment 1), 2 days (Experiment 2), or up to a week (Experiment 3). Retrieval practice consistently failed to enhance transitive inference. Furthermore, retrieval practice significantly reduced TI in Experiment 1. Across experiments, TI was numerically worse in the retrieval-practice than restudy condition in 4 of 5 comparisons, and a small-scale meta-analysis revealed a significant negative effect of retrieval practice on TI.