Direct from the source: the value of ‘think-aloud’ data in understanding learning

Abstract

The use of verbal data to supplement data obtained through other research methods has been found to provide extensive insights that are not evident when one removes the student voice. This paper examines the use of the think-aloud method to collect relevant and useful data and to enhance data collected through other research methods. It provides an overview of the method and discusses its limitations. This paper also examines the analysis of data produced from think-aloud protocols and concludes with illustrative examples of think-aloud data collection and analysis from a study into Webbased learning.