Faculty Advisor
Baker, Ryan Shaun
Abstract
We investigate the relationship between a student's time off-task and the amount that he or she learns to see whether or not the relationship between time off-task and learning is a more complex model than the traditional linear model typically studied. The data collected is based off of students' interactions with Cognitive Tutor learning software. Analysis suggested that more complex functions did not fit the data significantly better than a linear function. In addition, there was no evidence that the length of a specific pause matters for predicting learning outcomes. As such, previous theoretical accounts arguing that off-task behavior primarily reduces learning by reducing the amount of time spent learning remain congruent with the current evidence.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
January 2012
Project Type
Interactive Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Social Science and Policy Studies