Menu
Annotated Bibliography 11
Lowe, R. K. & Schnotz, W. (2014). Animation principles in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (pp. 513-546). New York: Cambridge.
Lowe and Schnotz (2014) first state that moving pictures can help show what is happening in a object over time than normal pictures because moving pictures help learners process this idea more clearly than normal pictures. Five beliefs of moving pictures are presented- first, learners must understand why a moving picture is presented to them. Second, learners understand moving pictures better when text and images are close together in the moving picture than information on different parts of the animation. Third, the moving picture mental and sensory objectives must be closely matched so the learner can understand the information better. Fourth, the moving picture mental and sensory processing must be assisted during the moving picture to help the learner understand the material better- such as providing visual cues to emphasize important information and allowing learners to control how fast the moving picture is being presented (Lowe and Schontz, 2014, p. 518). Fifth, moving pictures are understood better when the moving pictures matches the learner's current understanding.
Overall, moving pictures does not provide a better learning experience over normal pictures- instructional designers should utilize the best picture format that makes sense to learners when creating instruction. Moving pictures sometimes require learners to utilize more mental resources than normal pictures. Additionally, the researchers state the learner's limited natural abilities interfere with comprehension of the material. Therefore, evaluation for each picture situation is needed for effective instruction.
Plass, J. L. & Schwartz, R. N. (2014). Multimedia learning with simulations and microworlds. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (pp. 729-761). New York: Cambridge.
Plass and Schwartz (2014) give details on how to increase learning with virtual situations and environments. Overall, virtual situations, or simulations, help students understand material better than repetition software. On the other hand, virtual environments, or microworlds, have had mixed results on their effectiveness.
However, virtual situations and environments must have clear purposes for the learners in order for the virtual situations to be effective. In order to improve instruction in virtual situations and environments, instructional designers must utilize pictures and graphic organizers which help learners understand information better. Additionally, instructional designers need to have learners connect various depictions of the material in the virtual situations and environments to improve comprehension of the instruction and utilize signals to point out important features of the material to learners.
Virtual situations and environments should be simple at the beginning and the difficulty should gradually increase at each level to keep learner attention on the task. Instructional designers should allow learners to have some control in the virtual situations or environments and integrate comments from the virtual reality to help learners understand the material better. Overall, learners need virtual places that are applicable to their current skill set, allow learners to discover new knowledge, and where the learner can contemplate their actions and responses to problem situations often.
Tobias, S., Fletcher, J. D., Bediou, B., Wind, A. P., & Chen, F. (2014). Multimedia learning with computer games. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (pp. 762-784). New York: Cambridge.
Tobias, Fletcher, Bediou, Wind, and Chen (2014) explain the importance of virtual play situations, or computer games, for learners. Overall, mental processes in the virtual play situation need to be similar to the outside problem situation in order for transmission of skills learned in the virtual play situation in order to solve the outside problem situation. Furthermore, learners enjoy quick "...action games..." because learners focus on the task, are mentally processing the task, and using their senses to solve the task (Tobias et al., 2014, p.763).
However, learners who participate in virtual play situations do not complete their assignments in educational settings and the results of educational virtual play situations are mixed. Learners who do participate in virtual play situations have better focus, short term memory, better ability to manipulate mental pictures and words in their mind, and better ability to reduce mental burden. In sum, learners do comprehend when participating in a virtual play situation, but the problem is to create virtual play situations that meet the goals of instruction.
Höffler, T., & Leutner, D. (2007). Instructional animation versus static pictures: A meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 17, 722 -738.
Höffler and Leutner (2007) find that overall moving pictures was a more powerful educational effect than normal pictures for learners. Moving pictures that explain material were better for learners than moving pictures that elaborated on material. Furthermore, moving pictures that teach physical methods are better for learners overall than moving pictures that try to teach simple or higher level thinking skills. However, instructional designers need to evaluate their instructional situation to determine which medium will help learners understand the material in the best way.