University of North Texas

This research project aims to develop a new instrument and a computer application that measures original thinking among late-elementary students (Grades 3-5) through automated scoring. The Measurement of Original Thinking in Elementary Students (MOTES) will adopt text-mining models that have been tested only with adults and test their use with elementary students. Measuring original thinking in children has a long history. However, manual scoring of existing original thinking tests limits th...

Self-explanation has been shown repeatedly to be a key, contributing factor in deep learning of curriculum material. Research on tutoring benefits suggests that modeling good question asking and reasoning skills encourages deeper student comprehension, yet much of classroom instruction continues to use a teacher-led, didactic approach. This project will develop and pilot test a computer-based system and instructional method for simultaneously engaging all classroom students in self-explanati...