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Concreteness and imagery effects have been found to be among the most powerful in explaining performance on a variety of language tasks. Concreteness and imagery effects involve the capacity of concrete language to evoke sensory images in the mind (e.g., juicy watermelon), whereas abstract language has relatively less capacity to do so (e.g., agriculturalproduce). The effects of concreteness and imagery on reading and text recall have been well-established (e.g.

Abstract:Conceptual learning of 13 graduate students at a university in the southeastern United States was studied during a six-week course that employed the Internet for collaborative learning of online articles, Five groups were formed with each creating a knowledge map a diagram that graphically arranges and interconnects concepts to show their relationship--during the first and fifth week of the course. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis was used to study the change in each group's mapping over time to determine the influence of a computer-based collaborative learning environment on conceptual understanding. MDS analysis was also used to compare a knowledge map and a similarity rating (of the same 10 concepts) completed by each student at the end of the course. Results of the first analysis indicated that, despite the collaborative nature of the learning environment, groups did not become more similar over time in their understanding of key concepts, However, the second analysis revealed common student perceptions about the dimensions that characterized the conceptual relationships involved, Importantly, this analysis provided evidence that knowledge maps are comparable to rating instruments, thereby supporting recent research claims that they are valid representations of conceptual knowledge. Prescriptions are made for the expanded role of MDS in collaborative knowledge mapping activities. Article:An important question that continues to interest educators is how to integrate sound instructional practices with educational technologies in ways that most effectively enhance student learning. Two responses to this question during the past decade have been the emergence of computer-based learning environments and computer-based learning tools. An example of the former is a computer-supported intentional learning environment (CSILE)-a network within which learners can collaboratively generate and share knowledge (Scardamelia & Bereiter, 1994).Computer-based learning tools, on the other hand, are designed to assist learners in their thinking and reasoning processes.

Although previous research shows verbal recall of time-compressed narration is significantly enhanced when it is accompanied by a representational adjunct picture , the reason for this increased performance remains unclear. One explanation, explored in the current study, is based on the Conjoint Retention Hypothesis (CRH), which posits that mentally stored visual information can serve as a secondary retrieval cue that boosts recall of related verbal material. Four groups of participants (N = 153) listened to a compressed audio narration at different rates of speed. The narration was accompanied by visuals, 50% of which were pictoriallyrelated and 50% of which were pictorially-unrelated. Results show the type of information significantly influenced the recall, but not the recognition performance. While CRH provides the most feasible explanation for the increased recall, the generative-recognize view best explains the differences between recognition and recall performance.

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