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(2008) did report that active lone observers who significantly outperformed non-
active learners also manipulated the tutoring tape more often with a M
=
29.75
and M
19.33, respectively. Mayer and Chandler (2001) reported that, when com-
pared to a conditions in which the presentation rate was uninterrupted, superior
performance resulted when learners self-paced (stopped, started, rewound) the pre-
sentation rate of 16 segments in a multimedia explanation of lightning formation
(see also, Dillon & Gabbard, 1998; Lepper, 1985; Williams, 1996).
In this section, we described a few selected studies that requested learners to
engage in overt activities designed to support vicarious learning processes. Both
Rummel and Spada (2005) and Chi et al. (2008) showed the important role played
by observing model collaborations, whether observing two learners solving prob-
lems together or a tutor working with a learner. The learning gains were comparable
to those obtained by learners working with experienced tutors. Rummel and Spada,
however, prompted learners in their model condition to self-explain and to collab-
orate with each other, while Chi et al. (2008) encouraged those in the collaborative
observing condition to discuss the tutoring session, and the learners also self-paced
the videotape. While the roles played by these overt activities in supporting vicar-
ious learning currently cannot be specified (cf. Mayer & Chandler, 2001), learner
control of the input flow and vicarious analogs of instructions to collaborate may be
readily implemented. Taken together, research described in this section provides fur-
ther evidence supporting the roles of (a) viewing successful collaborative activities,
(b) prompting learners to discuss, self-explain, and/or to ask or answer questions,
and (c) letting learners self-pace the flow of input information in supporting learn-
ing processes. All of these features may be readily implemented in computerized
multimedia environments.
=
Summary and Conclusions
This report explored how cognitive activities involved in vicarious comprehension
and learning are supported by identifiable features of multimedia educational envi-
ronments. Comprehension is, of course, integrally involved in deep learning and
the latter would rarely be expected in the absence of comprehension, but the two
were considered separately for purposes of this report. Several readily implemented
manipulations of the input improve comprehension. First, they provide multiple per-
spectives of the conceptual content, and whether they are presented in dialog or
monolog format is of no consequence (Fox Tree & Mayer, 2008; cf. Schober &
Clark, 1989). Second, research indicates that introducing new content with ques-
tions promotes comprehension when contrasted with using simple declaratives
(McKendree et al., 2001), and it may be as effective as participating in goal-directed
dialog. Third, the coherence of written text plays an important role in compre-
hension: make ideas in the text explicit by avoiding ambiguous pronouns, linking
concepts together by using macro-propositions that tie paragraphs to each other and
to topic headings (Ainsworth & Burcham, 2007). It seems reasonable to assume
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