Blikstein, P.; Van Aalst, J.; Kizito, R.; & Brennan, K.
(Ed.)
Although students’ self-regulated learning has been studied extensively, past research has not investigated students’ fine-grained, self regulated choice-making processes during learning with visual representations and strategies to support such processes. We conducted design and experimental studies with 148 students to develop and evaluate an intervention package for supporting students’ self-regulated choice-making in using diagrammatic scaffolding in algebra tutoring software. A classroom experiment showed that students with the intervention learned greater conceptual and procedural knowledge in algebra than students in the control condition whose choices were not supported. Also, students with the intervention chose to use diagrams less frequently overall but showed distinctive use patterns that changed over time, indicating a form of self-regulated diagram use. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding and supporting choice behaviors that change over time during learning, going beyond simply measuring the frequency of choice behaviors and encouraging students to engage in these behaviors more frequently.
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