Abstract

We developed the Scaffolding English E-assessment Learning (SEEL), where instant feedback and scaffolding hints were provided, to facilitate students to acquire the knowledge of English grammar. On the other hand, an empirical study was conducted to investigate how cognitive styles (i.e. Holists vs. Serialists) affected learners’ reactions to the SEEL, including learning performance, learning perception and learning behavior. The results indicated that Holists and Serialists demonstrated similar learning perception. Nevertheless, they showed different learning behavior, which corresponded to the characteristics of their cognitive styles. Additionally, Holists obtained better post-test scores and gain scores than Serialists. This might be because Holists could make the best use of various hints and benefit from feedback provided by the SEEL while Serialists needed additional support. The findings could provide guidance for incorporating personalization into the SEEL so that the needs and preferences of Holists and Serialists could be accommodated. Nevertheless, such findings are correlational in nature and, we, thus, leave open questions concerning causality. Implications for instructional design are also discussed in this study.

摘要

我们开发了脚手架英语电子评估学习（SEEL），提供即时反馈和脚手架提示，帮助学生获得英语语法知识。另一方面，进行了一项实证研究来调查认知风格（即整体主义者与串行主义者）如何影响学习者对 SEEL 的反应，包括学习表现、学习感知和学习行为。结果表明 Holists 和 Serialists 表现出相似的学习感知。然而，他们表现出不同的学习行为，这与其认知风格的特征相对应。此外，与串行主义者相比，整体主义者获得了更好的测试后分数和分数。这可能是因为 Holists 可以充分利用各种提示并从 SEEL 提供的反馈中受益，而 Serialists 需要额外的支持。调查结果可以为将个性化纳入 SEEL 提供指导，以便满足整体主义者和连载者的需求和偏好。然而，这些发现本质上是相关的，因此我们留下了关于因果关系的悬而未决的问题。本研究还讨论了对教学设计的影响。