Pause, predict, and ponder
Amy Ogan, Vincent Aleven, Christopher M. Jones · 2008
Previous research shows that video viewing (a frequent activity in language courses) is more effective when students receive guidance. We investigate how to support students in an on-line environment in acquiring cultural knowledge and intercultural competence by viewing clips from feature films from the target culture. To test the effectiveness of a set of attention-focusing techniques (pause-predict-ponder), some of which have been shown to be effective in other contexts, we created ICCAT, a simple tutor that enhances an existing classroom model for the development of intercultural competence. We ran a study in two French Online classrooms with 35 participants, comparing ICCAT versions with and without attention-focusing techniques. We found that the addition of the pause-predict-ponder seemed to guide students in acquiring cultural knowledge and significantly increased students' ability to reason from an intercultural perspective. We discuss possible implications for intelligent tutoring systems in such difficult and ill-defined domains.