Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
through the motions to fulfill requirements. This is unfortunate because the extended
practice module houses some of the largest practical benefits as it provides students
an opportunity to apply knowledge by practicing the strategies, and a chance to
actively transfer these skills to new texts.
iSTART-ME
iSTART-Motivationally Enhanced (Jackson, Boonthum, & McNamara, 2009) is an
extension of the original iSTART program and is designed as a replacement for
the extended practice module. The iSTART tutoring system was designed to tutor
individual students over a long-term interaction, spanning across a full academic
semester. This kind of repetitive exposure should greatly increase the learning and
retention benefits of iSTART, however it seems to have the opposite effect on
motivation and engagement. After interacting with the system for several weeks,
the novelty of the animated agents wears off and the system becomes a toil. The
iSTART-ME extension envelopes the extended practice module within a fully game-
based environment to establish a better balance between education and engagement
(Boyer, Phillips, Wallis, Vouk, & Lester, 2008; Jackson & Graesser, 2007). This
new environment is specifically designed to address motivation, and should help to
maintain students' interest and engagement over the long-term interaction.
iSTART-ME is designed as a hybrid environment that incorporates best prac-
tices from both ITSs and Game System Design. The synthesis of these two areas
is expected to support effective learning, increase motivation, and sustain engage-
ment during the long-term extended practice (Graesser, Chipman, Leeming, &
Biedenbach, 2009; McNamara, Jackson, & Graesser, in press; Moreno & Mayer,
2005). In support of this expectation, research has shown that games have been
linked with an increase in various motivational constructs, which may include self-
efficacy, interest, engagement, and self-regulation (Gredler, 2004; Thomas, Cahill,
& Santilli, 1997; Witmer & Singer, 1994). Additional research has shown that
these motivational constructs are positively related to learning (Alexander, Murphy,
Woods, Duhon, & Parker, 1997; Bandura, 2000; Csikszentmihaly, 1990; Greene &
Azevedo, 2007). The hope is that the additional features in iSTART-ME will be suf-
ficiently engaging and rewarding to enhance these various aspects of motivation,
and will consequently have an indirect effect on overall learning (as in Ricci, Salas,
& Cannon-Bowers, 1996).
iSTART-ME Modules
As previously mentioned, iSTART-ME is an extension of the original iSTART.
Therefore the core components of iSTART remain the same (introduction, demon-
stration, and practice modules are left mostly unchanged), and it is only the extended
practice module that has been modified extensively.
