Is there an educational advantage to NSDL? Assessing impact on cognitive processes and learning outcomes during resource selection and use.

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

Psychology - Cognitive (73) The objective of this project is to investigate whether NSDL tools and services support efficient selection of digital resources for educational purposes and whether these tools and services promote successful learning with these resources as measured by users' cognitive processes. The expected outcomes include a detailed analysis of the learning outcomes associated with two major NSDL tools that target the identification and contextual use of resources: NSDL General Search and NSDL Science Literacy Maps. This project, conducted by the University of Utah, provides critical data about how digital library tools can promote effective learning with distributed learning objects on the Web. Phase 1 of the project uses a laboratory study to examine the influence of NSDL tools on pre-service teachers as they search for and use educational digital resources, Phase 2 brings in-service teachers into the lab, assessing their cognitive processes and outcomes as they use NSDL to perform a series of educational tasks, and Phase 3 moves to the classroom, assessing the impact of NSDL tools on student thinking and learning. The broader impact of this project is a better understanding of the educational effectiveness of NSDL technologies and resources as well as recommendations on more effective tool and service design to promote positive impact on learning processes and outcomes. The evaluation materials and protocols are published for reuse in other digital library research.