Human Development & Quantitative Methodology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2248
The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation; Human Development; and the Institute for Child Study.
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Item TEXT COMPREHENSION ACROSS PRINT AND AUDIO: A PERSON-CENTERED MIXED METHODS STUDY(2023) Singh, Anisha; Alexander, Patricia; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The use of the audio medium (e.g., audiobooks and podcasts) is proliferating in everyday and educational contexts. Yet, research investigating text processing in audio compared to the more commonly used print medium is limited in scope. Specifically, the research so far has majorly focused on younger learners or English language learners, narrative genre texts, operationalized comprehension as a unidimensional construct, and used variable-centered analytical techniques. The current mixed methods study aimed to explore text processing across print and audio by focusing on four interrelated dimensions—learner, text, task, and test. I used finite mixture modeling for the quantitative part of the study to identify meaningful reader and listener profiles. Following the identification and validation of profiles, students from the profiles were interviewed to complement and enhance the understanding of the groups. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate differences across the two mediums vis-à-vis learner characteristics, text and test processing behaviors, and comprehension outcomes. A further goal of the study was to identify meaningful and distinct reader and listener profiles by accounting for affective and behavioral variables, and validating the profiles on cognitive variables. Finally, the study aimed to build qualitatively rich descriptions of the quantitatively unearthed profile groups. To address these aims, undergraduate students (n =130) were recruited from human development courses. They completed measures related to self-efficacy and reported their reading and listening habits. Each participant’s screen was recorded as they processed text in print and audio. Text processing behaviors (e.g., scrolling, increasing playback speed) and off-task behaviors (e.g., eating, fidgeting) were coded. Learner-related, text processing, and task variables were used to find meaningful reader and listener profiles. The profiles were validated using prior topic knowledge and comprehension as covariate and outcome, respectively. Students belonging to each profile were invited for interviews (n = 10). The format was a cued retrospective interview, wherein video clips were used to prompt participants. The interviews were transcribed, segmented into utterances, and coded for learner-related, text-related, task-related, and test-related content. Results from the variable-centered analysis revealed that reading print or listening to audio led to similar performance levels on items targeting recall and inference. However, reading print was associated with higher scores on the item assessing the main idea than listening to audio. Results from the mixture modeling and interviews revealed three reader profiles—Distracted Surfers, Labored Harvesters, and Fluent Surveyors—and three listener profiles—Inconsistently Attentive, Inattentive, and Persistently Attentive. The profiles were found to differ qualitatively on strategies, text processing depth, and attention regulation. This study’s contribution is in expanding the research on comprehension across different mediums both in terms of scope and methodologically. The current investigation demonstrates that learner characteristics and text processing behaviors need to be accounted for when studying comprehension with different mediums. Practically, it has implications for practitioners looking to incorporate audio for content delivery in their courses and for instructional designers developing educational technology tools to optimize learning.Item Executive Function, Engagement, and Attention: Effects on Comprehension(2021) Mohan, Svetha; Bolger, Donald J; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cognitive control/executive function (EF) and attention deficits are prevalent among students and impact comprehension performance. While EF and attention impairments are well-studied, the interaction between cognitive control/EF, attention, arousal/engagement, and comprehension has yet to be explored. Undergraduates’ ADHD symptoms, cognitive abilities, and cognitive control were assessed prior to listening to passages of varying degrees of emotional valence and responding to comprehension questions. Exploratory EEG data were also collected to examine patterns of cognitive engagement/emotional arousal. Results showed that comprehension for participants with high numbers of ADHD symptoms and/or proactive cognitive control types were influenced by the emotional valence of the context. In emotional contexts, those with high ADHD symptoms showed better comprehension overall and deep levels of processing, and those with proactive cognitive control types showed better deep processing. These findings indicate the need for further research to tease apart the interaction of EF, attention, and arousal on comprehension across different contexts.Item READING IN PRINT AND DIGITALLY: PROFILING AND INTERVENING IN UNDERGRADUATES’ MULTIMODAL TEXT PROCESSING, COMPREHENSION, AND CALIBRATION(2019) Singer Trakhman, Lauren Melissa; Alexander, Patricia A; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As a consequence of today’s rapid-paced society and ever-changing technologies, students are frequently called upon to process texts in print and digitally. Further, multimodal texts are standard in textbooks and foundational to learning. Nonetheless, little is understood about the effects of reading multimodal texts in print or digitally. In Study I, the students read weather and soil passages in print and digitally. These readings were taken from an introductory geology textbook that incorporated various graphic displays. While reading, novel data-gathering measures and procedures were used to capture real-time behaviors. As students read in print, their behaviors were recorded by a GoPro@ camera and tracked by the movement of a pen. When reading digitally, students’ actions were recorded by Camtasia@ Screen Capture software and by the movement of the screen cursor used to indicate their position in the text. After reading, students answered comprehension questions that differ in specificity (i.e., main idea to key concepts) that cover content from three sources: text only; visual only; and, both text and visual. Finally, after reading in each medium, undergraduates rated their performance on the comprehension measure on a scale of 0-100 for each passage. The accuracy of these ratings formed the basis of the calibration score. The processing data were analyzed using Latent Class Analysis. In Study II, an intervention aimed at improving students’ comprehension and calibration when reading digitally were introduced to participants from Study I who returned to the lab about two weeks later. Next, the undergraduates repeated the procedure for digital reading outlined in Study I with a passage on volcanoes. In Study I, students performed better when reading in print and spent more time with the text but were better calibrated when reading digitally. Three clusters were identified for the print data, and three clusters were identified for the digital data. Cluster movement across mediums suggests that some participants treat digital texts differently than when reading in print. After the intervention in Study II, comprehension scores and duration increased but calibration accuracy scores worsened. The LCA revealed three clusters, each showing improvement in processing behaviors, comprehension, or reading duration.Item READING COMPREHENSION COMPONENT PROCESSES IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE(2005-04-07) Cromley, Jennifer Grace; Azevedo, Roger; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A significant proportion of American high school students struggle with reading comprehension. Several different models might help identify the components that have the largest effect on comprehension. The current dissertation study replicates a comparison of the Construction-Integration (CI), Verbal Efficiency (VE), and Inferential Mediation (IM) models of reading comprehension, the latter model based on an extensive literature review. It then tests the fit of four variations on the IM model. Ninth-grade students ranging from 1st to 99th percentile on comprehension completed measures of background knowledge, inferencing, strategies, vocabulary, word reading and comprehension. Researcher-developed measures of background knowledge, inferencing and strategies (based on Cromley & Azevedo, 2004a) showed good reliability with this sample. A subset of the students also completed a think-aloud protocol while reading a passage from an American history textbook. These protocols were transcribed and coded using a coding scheme adapted from Azevedo, Guthrie, and Seibert (2004). As in a preliminary study, the IM model had a much better fit to the data than did the CI or VE models. The original IM Model had the best fit, explaining 66% of the variance in comprehension. All predictors made a significant contribution to comprehension, with vocabulary, background knowledge, and strategies having significant indirect effects. Vocabulary and background knowledge made the greatest total contribution to comprehension. There were large, significant differences between low- and high-comprehending participants on all of the predictor variables, except for word reading accuracy, where there were small but significant differences. The coded think-aloud protocols were largely consistent with the correlations underlying the model. Spearman rank correlations among the codes provide convergent evidence for eleven of the correlations underlying the model. The think-aloud protocols also provided convergent evidence for the validity of the paper-and-pencil measures. The current study validates and refines a new model of reading comprehension. Results suggest that both the direct and indirect effects of the components are important for comprehension. Results also suggest that vocabulary and background knowledge might first be targeted for interventions with 9th grade students who struggle with reading comprehension. Implications for future research are also discussed.Item The Associations of Autonomy Support and Conceptual Press with Engaged Reading and Conceptual Learning from Text(2004-11-24) Perencevich, Kathleen Cox; Guthrie, John T.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the associations of autonomy support and conceptual press, with reading engagement and conceptual learning from text. When students perceive their teacher to be supporting autonomy, it means that student choice, ownership, and personal goals are emphasized. When students perceive their teacher to be supporting conceptual press, it means that the teacher (a) promotes understanding of the substantial principles of a domain; (b) helps students use information integration strategies during reading, such as concept mapping, and (c) promotes persistence on moderately challenging tasks. Based on the self-process model of motivation (Connell & Wellborn, 1990) and an engagement perspective of reading (Baker, Dreher & Guthrie, 2000), it was hypothesized that as students perceived their instruction to be motivating, their reading engagement would increase. In turn, as engaged reading increases, conceptual learning from text would increase. For this investigation, 244 fourth- and fifth-grade students reported their perceptions of their teachers' use of conceptual press and autonomy support in reading instruction. Multifaceted components of reading engagement were measured. Reading engagement was defined as the manifestations of affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes during reading. In addition, participants completed a reading performance assessment in the domain of science designed to measure prior knowledge, strategic reading, and conceptual learning from text. Structural equation modeling was used to compare alternative theoretical models depicting the relations among motivated reading instruction, engaged reading, and conceptual learning from text. The direct effects model had a direct path connecting motivating reading instruction with conceptual learning from text whereas the hypothesized indirect effects model contained an indirect path from motivating reading instruction to conceptual learning from text via engaged reading. Results confirmed the hypothesis that the model including an indirect effect of motivating reading instruction on conceptual learning from text through engaged reading explained the data more fully than a direct effect model. This is consistent with the self-process model of motivation (Connell & Wellborn, 1990). These results have implications for theories of the role of social contexts in engagement and achievement, particularly in the domain of reading, and also suggest ways by which teachers might foster reading engagement among students.