1,721,021 research outputs found
The Think Aloud Approach. A Promising Tool for Online Reading Comprehension
Full text linkDespite its unquestionable interest from a theoretical and practical point of view, so far there has been little research on online reading and there is a lack of attention paid to this topic in most European educational institutions. In particular, primary and secondary school teachers are not adequately trained on how and when to intervene to support students’ proficiency in the online reading comprehension. After presenting a rationale demonstrating why students may struggle with online reading comprehension and the importance to adopt a self-regulated reading, this study proposes a Teacher’s Guide that could support late primary and secondary school teachers in planning online reading lessons with the Think-Aloud (TA) metacognitive technique
Sviluppare la comprensione dei testi online con la tecnica metacognitiva del Think Aloud Developing online reading comprehension by means of Think Aloud metacognitive approach
No full textThe online reading is different from the traditional print reading, because it requires readers to orient in a hypertext labyrinth perceived as inexhaustible; to integrate heterogeneous textual fragments; to critically evaluate the sources and authors; to avoid the myriad of distractions. It follows that online reading involves the acquisition of new literacy and selfregulatory skills that — far from developing spontaneously — need to be taught. After an analysis of reading comprehension processes and of how these processes change in the Internet environment, in this paper we consider the possible uses of the Think Aloud metacognitive technique to develop an understanding of online reading. At the end, we briefly describe the salient points of the MOOC “Stop and Think. Modeling the process of online reading comprehension using Think Aloud’’, designed to train primary and secondary school teachers to use the Think- Aloud to build the comprehension of online texts. La lettura online si configura come un processo autodiretto di costruzione dei testi
ben diverso dalla tradizionale lettura del testo stampato. Orientarsi in un labirinto
ipertestuale percepito come inesauribile; integrare logicamente frammenti testuali
eterogenei; valutare criticamente le fonti e gli autori; non lasciarsi distogliere dalla
miriade di distrazioni e quindi giungere a comprendere i testi online richiedono
l'acquisizione di new literacy skills e capacità autoregolative che non si sviluppano
spontaneamente, ma che necessitano di specifico insegnamento.
Dopo un'analisi dei processi di comprensione della lettura e di come cambiano
nell'ambiente Internet, in questo studio sono considerati i possibili impieghi della
tecnica metacognitiva del Think Aloud per sviluppare la comprensione della lettura
online.
Infine, sono descritti gli aspetti salienti emersi dal MOOC «Stop and Think.
Modeling the process of online reading comprehension using Think Aloud»,
progettato nell'ambito del programma «TALENT ITALY» e rivolto alla formazione
di insegnanti di scuola primaria e secondaria
Local (focussed) and global (distributed) visual processing in hemispatial neglect
No full textIn the present study we set out to investigate deficits of focussed and distributed attention (and their interaction) in brain-damaged patients. To this purpose, four left brain damaged (LBD) patients without signs of hemispatial neglect and six right brain damaged (RBD) patients with variable signs of hemispatial neglect were tested by means of an experimental paradigm comprising two embedded tasks performed on the same visual array. The first task (i.e. counting the number of shapes, 1-4, briefly displayed) mainly involved distributed attention rather than focussed attention. The second task was a typical target detection task, which emphasized the detailed analysis of each element in the array, thus mainly tapping focussed attention. Results clearly showed that: (1) LBD patients are slightly impaired at directing focussed attention to the contralesional visual hemifield; (2) in comparison to LBD patients, RBD patients with mild neglect show an exaggerated difficulty in orienting focussed attention toward the contralesional side, while they are similarly unimpaired in the deployment of distributed attention, i.e. in global processing; (3) RBD patients with the most severe neglect suffer from a deficit of both local and global visual processing, i.e. of both focussed and distributed attention. Taken together, these observations indicate that focussed and distributed components of visual attentional processing may be differentially affected in left and right brain-damaged patients with and without neglect. © 2008 Springer-Verlag
Stroop effects from 3 to 10 years: the critical role of reading acquisition.
No full textWe studied 241 nursery and primary school 3- to 10-year old children with a discrete-trial version of the Stroop Test, including both a Color-Naming and (for the 6- to 10-year olds only) a Word-Reading task. The classic Stroop effect was present across all the ages, with an inverted U-shaped pattern: increasing from 3- to 7-year olds, then decreasing. Preschool children who were able to read showed a Stroop effect larger than same-age, unable to read children. The reverse Stroop effect was present across all the studied ages but the 6-year-olds, who instead displayed some facilitation in reading congruent vs. black words. Since the acquisition of reading skills turned out to be crucial for the Stroop effects, the present research may be useful to study developmental reading impairments by providing normative data
Teaching online reading strategies using the Think Aloud technique. Evidence from an experimental study
Full text linkThe present study aimed to investigate the value of the teacher Think Aloud (TA) instructional technique in providing young readers with effective strategies to enhance the comprehension of online texts. Eighty-nine participants from 10 to 14 years of age were sorted into two groups based on the type of training they had received: the experimental group (n = 47) had been taught with the TA strategies, while the control group (n = 42) had not received any specific training. Both the experimental and control groups were examined twice, before and after the period of training. Pupils had to find the correct answer to a specific question (Access) and to critically analyze online texts, expressing different opinions on a topic (Analysis). The findings indicate a positive effect of the TA technique, mainly in the transferal of strategies aimed at a more correct evaluation of the websites’ reliability. Indeed, while for the control group only a marginal, if any, improvement was recorded from pre-test to post-test, an outstanding amelioration was observed in the experimental group (from 19.1% to 48.9%) when requested to evaluate the reliability of a web site
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (part II): further insights from primary school pupils’ social attitudes
Full text linkThe present research aims to extend findings from a recent study in which a large sample of primary and secondary school pupils was asked to choose a hypothetical classmate they would invite to share five different activities. Results demonstrated that a visible disability represents a barrier for social participation and involvement. In the present study, we investigated how the expression of a gesture of solidarity modulated participants’ attitudes. Moreover, unlike the previous study, in the present one, the responses from pupils with and without disability were scored separately. The findings strongly support the notion that a visible disability generates pity and motivates a tendency to protect, but only very seldom are typically developing children attracted by the idea of becoming a good friend of a peer with disability. While pupils with disability tended to consider the choice of a peer with disability a realistic option in all situations, for pupils without disability the choice of a peer with disability was a sort of forced choice when related to a gesture of solidarity and good-will, but only an abstract possibility in the social and sport activities
Effects of Logical Verbal Training on Abstract Reasoning: Evidence from a Pilot Study
No full textCognitive enhancement refers to any type of improvement in cognitive performance following structured interventions. Research evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of specific programs to improve cognitive abilities, such as logical reasoning, deployment of attentional resources, working memory, and metacognitive strategies such as self-monitoring, modelling, and peer-tutoring. In recent years, many studies have evaluated the effects of various cognitive enhancement programs to enhance these functions. This paper aims to investigate the value of the Logical Intelligence Enhancement Program (LIEP; Calvani et al., 2017) in providing primary school students with effective strategies for the improvement of high cognitive skills related to issues of a logical nature and problem solving. For the study, two fourth-grade classes of an ordinary Italian primary school were involved in an experimental investigation. The results clearly confirm that the program has potential to empower learners to develop cognitive abilities / logical reasoning. Although needing further substantiation, the findings from this study may be useful for both educational and scientific purposes
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