How Instructors Frame Students' Interactions With Educational Technologies Can Enhance or Reduce Students' Learning

• In Event: 66.033 - Rich Approaches to Assess and Promote Technology Integration

Abstract

This quasi-experiment investigates two instructor prompts that frame students’ interactions with an educational technology. The framing prompts aim to help 565 undergraduate chemistry students translate 3D physical models to 2D drawings by focusing them either (a) on orienting 3D models or (b) on generating intermediate 2D drawings. In a business-as-usual control condition, students drew on paper. In two experimental conditions, students drew in an educational technology. One condition received framing prompts to focus on physical models (model condition); another received prompts to generate intermediary drawings on paper (draw condition). Compared to the control, the model condition showed higher learning gains, but the draw condition showed lower learning gains. In contrast to our results, instructors prefer drawing-focused prompts.

Authors

• Sally PW Wu, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Martina A Rau, University of Wisconsin - Madison