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Title:
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THINKING ABOUT COMPLEX PROBLEMS WITH MODELING SOFTWARE: THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE STYLE AND VISUAL AND TEXTUAL REPRESENTATIONS |
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Author(s):
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Charoula Angeli , Nicos Valanides |
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ISBN:
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972-98947-7-9 |
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Editors:
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Kinshuk, Demetrios Sampson and Pedro Isaías |
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Year:
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2004 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Complex task, problem solving, modeling software, field dependence, field independence, cognitive style. |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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289 |
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Last Page:
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296 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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Sixty-five undergraduates, classified into Field-Dependent (FD), Field-Mixed (FM), and Field-Independent (FI) learners, were randomly assigned to two groups, Text-Only (T-O) and Text-and-Visual (T-V). The T-O group received a textual description of a computer model, whereas the T-V group received the same description but in both textual and visual format. Participants were asked to run the model using Model-It to solve a complex problem about immigration dynamics. A 3x2 ANOVA indicated that the T-V group outperformed the T-O group, that performance was significantly related to field-dependence/independence, and that there was a significant interaction effect. Specifically, Field-Independent learners in the Text-and-Visual group outperformed Field-Dependent and Field-Mixed learners in both groups, and Field-Independent learners in the Text-Only group. |
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