How Much Cueing Is Needed in Instructional Animations? The Role of Prior Knowledge
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How Much Cueing Is Needed in Instructional Animations? The Role of Prior Knowledge Ismahan Arslan-Ari 1
&
Steven M. Crooks 2 & Fatih Ari 1
# Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This study explored the effects of prior knowledge and cueing on the learning (retention, transfer, and matching) and mental effort of learners who studied an instructional animation with accompanying narration about photosynthesis. A 4 × 2 betweensubjects factorial design with four levels of cueing (no cueing, label cueing, picture cueing, and label and picture cueing) and two levels of prior knowledge (low vs. high) was used. A total of 216 undergraduate students from various majors in a large Southwestern university volunteered to participate in this study. The results revealed no significant effect of cueing on learning or mental effort. However, high prior knowledge learners outperformed low prior knowledge learners on a retention test and reported investing more mental effort than low prior knowledge learners. Although it was not significant, high prior knowledge learners had higher transfer and matching scores when no cues were provided. Keywords Animation . Mental effort . Cueing . Multimedia learning . Prior knowledge
Introduction Recent technological developments have increased the use of dynamic visualizations, such as animations, in multimedia learning environments. Instructional designers often use animation in multimedia learning environments to depict instructional content that involves movement, change, and object trajectory within a single visual (De Koning et al. 2010); designers also use animations to help learners visualize abstract concepts (Betrancourt 2005) and to increase learner interactivity and engagement (Rieber 1991). Animations have been found to be particularly effective in portraying time-lapse, slow-motion, and invisible knowledge (e.g., formation of
* Ismahan Arslan-Ari [email protected] Steven M. Crooks [email protected] Fatih Ari [email protected] 1
Department of Educational Studies, University of South Carolina, 820 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
2
Department of Medical Education Homer Stryker M. D. School of Medicine, Western Michigan University, 1000 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
lightning) in dynamic systems (Berney and Betrancourt 2016). Although animations offer a variety of options for presenting multimedia learning content, instructional designers must consider the limitations of the human cognitive system in order to use them effectively. This realization has prompted educational researchers to pay a considerable amount of attention to learning from animations in the last decade (Lowe and Schnotz 2014). In a recent meta-analysis, Berney and Betrancourt (2016) reported a small effect size for the beneficial effects of animations over static pictures. However, surprisingly, most of the studies included in their study found no significant differences between animations and static pictures. In fact, several studies have shown that animations might not hel
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