Information Processing Across Verbal and Visual Modalities in Elementary-School Science

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Late elementary school is a critical point for understanding the development of cognitive strategies for learning science concepts given the important transition to domain-specific science classes in middle school. Learning science concepts involves making sense of information from both verbal and visuospatial modalities. Preparing students with the knowledge and strategies to think critically about science therefore requires an understanding of the cognitive processing mechanisms that support students’ ability to learn within and across modalities. Although we know that both spatial thinking and verbal reasoning are critical for science, K-12 science learning is often assessed through largely verbal methods (e.g., standardized tests, written assignments). Due to the frequent emphasis on verbal assessment, research is lacking in understanding how students successfully translate information across modalities. The current study aims to fill these gaps by investigating the interaction between learning modality (verbal and visuospatial) and assessment modality (verbal and visuospatial) on students’ learning of a human anatomy concept (i.e., the heart), and examining the cognitive strategies students use to translate between and within these modalities. The study addresses two research questions: (1) Does the modality (verbal or visuospatial) in which students learn about a scientific concept predict their post-learning performance and do students perform better within than across modalities? (2) Are there differences in the cognitive strategies between students who are more versus less successful in translating between modalities? To address these questions approximately 60 participants, between 9 and 12 years old, will be recruited and complete an online learning and assessment paradigm across both the verbal and visuospatial modalities. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either visual (i.e., pictures) or verbal (i.e., text) materials to learn about the human heart. Participants’ understanding will be assessed through questions in each modality (verbal and visuospatial) presented in a counterbalanced order during the testing phase. A cognitive strategy inventory will be administered twice—once after questions in each modality type—and will provide information about the frequency of verbal, visual, and translational strategies. Participants will also complete control measures assessing visuospatial and verbal working memory ability. Data will be collected over online video calls with participants, making data collection and study analysis feasible in the timeline for conference presentation. Analysis for research question one will be conducted by regressing scores on a post-learning assessment on the modality of learning materials, modality of assessment, and the learningXassessment modality interaction. Research question two will be analyzed by regressing assessment scores on cognitive strategy use for the cross-modality experimental conditions (e.g., verbal questions following visual learning materials). This study aims to provide insight into the cognitive processes by which students successfully translate between learning modality and assessment modality within the science domain. Given that science education requires the ability to understand information in both modalities, determining successful cognitive strategies for translation between modalities has potential implications in science education. Through understanding the cognitive strategies used, researchers and educators can create classroom intervention that cater to fostering successful strategies to help students succeed in science.

Authors

• Jazelle Pilato, American University
  Presenting Author

• Emily G Peterson, American University
  Non-Presenting Author