Juan C. Castro-Alonso

Animations showing Lego manipulative tasks: Three potential moderators of effectiveness

Evidence suggests that transient visual information, such as animations, may be more challenging to learn than static visualizations. However, when a procedural-manipulative task is involved, our evolved embodied cognition seems to reverse this transitory challenge. Hence, for object manipulative tasks, instructional animations may be more suitable than statics. We investigated this argument further by comparing animations with statics using a Lego task shown to university students, by examining three potential moderators of effectiveness: (a) the environment of manipulation (virtual or physical), (b) the quality of visual information (focused or unfocused), and (c) the presence of hands (no hands or with hands). In Experiment 1 we found an advantage of animation over statics, and no differences among the environments. In Experiment 2, we again observed an animation advantage, a small advantage of focused static information compared to unfocused static information, and a positive effect of not showing the hands.

Dynamic Visualisations and Motor Skills

Due to their popularity, dynamic visualisations (e.g. video, animation) seem attractive educational resources. However, in the design of any instructional material, not only must the appealing factor be acknowledged, but also the cognitive limitations. To consider the limitations of human cognitive architecture when designing instructional resources has been the leitmotif of cognitive load theory (CLT). CLT research has shown that the transitory nature of dynamic visualisations imposes such a high working memory load that, in many cases, these depictions are no more effective for learning than static visualisations. However, dynamic visualisations have been shown to be superior to static visualisations when the depiction involves human motor skills, a special case which might be explained by the mirror neuron system (MNS) aiding working memory to cope with transitory information.

Comparing apples and oranges? A critical look at research on learning from statics versus animations

Many of the studies that have compared the instructional effectiveness of static with dynamic images have not controlled all the moderating variables involved. This problem is present not only in instructional pictures concerning the curricular topics (e.g., science, technology, engineering and mathematics: STEM), but also in those depicting extracurricular tasks (e.g., human movement tasks). When factors such as appeal, media, realism, size, and interaction are not tightly controlled between statics and animations, researchers may often be comparing apples with oranges. In this review, we provide a categorization of these confounding variables and offer some possible solutions to generate more tightly controlled studies. Future research could consider these biases and solutions, in order to design more equivalent visualizations. As a result, more conclusive evidence could be obtained identifying the boundary conditions for when static or dynamic images are more suitable for educational purposes, across both curricular and extracurricular tasks. Mixed evidence on whether statics or animations are better instructional formats.Statics are suitable for biologically secondary (curricular) tasks (e.g., STEM).Animations seem better for biologically primary tasks (e.g., human movement).Biased previous comparisons do not give conclusive evidence.We categorize several biases and provide solutions for future valid comparisons.

The Potential of Embodied Cognition to Improve STEAM Instructional Dynamic Visualizations

An embodied cognition perspective recognizes that the evolution of the human mind has been shaped by the evolution of the species’ whole body in its interaction with the environment. For example, hand actions—such as object manipulations and gestures—have been fundamental for human survival, and thus they continue to trigger different areas of the evolved mind. One of these areas is the mirror neuron system, a major processor of bodily movement, which allows humans to learn manipulations and gestures with relative ease. A clear implication for instruction, across many Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) topics, is to profit from the effortlessness of hand actions in order to enhance the learning of difficult concepts or challenging educational materials. One example of demanding instructional materials is dynamic visualizations (e.g., animation, video), which can be too transient to follow, understand and learn from. However, we argue that dynamic visualizations may overcome the transiency problem by including embodied activity. In this chapter, we will review a diverse number of studies that show the instructional benefits of embodied cognition, manipulations, and gestures. Specifically, we will address how these evolved skills can be employed to effectively learn from STEAM dynamic visualizations.

Learning symbols from permanent and transient visual presentations: Don't overplay the hand

Instructional dynamic pictures (animations and videos) contain transient visual information. Consequently, when learning from dynamic pictures, students must process in working memory the current images while trying to remember the images that left the screen. This additional activity in working memory may lead dynamic pictures to be less suitable instructional materials than comparable static pictures, which are more permanent. In order to directly show the influence of transient visual information on dynamic learning environments, we designed a well-matched comparison between a permanent and a transient presentation of an abstract-symbol memory task on the computer. In the task, 104 university students (50% females) had to memorize the type, color, and position of the symbols in a rectangular configuration. In addition, an embodied cognition factor was included where the symbols in the task were either shown with a precision grasping static hand or not. We also assessed how individual characteristics (spatial ability, spatial memory span, and gender) influenced performance. Results showed that (a) permanent outperformed transient presentations, (b) observing hands hindered learning, and (c) high spatial ability and high spatial memory span were beneficial, but gender did not affect performance.

Investigating gender and spatial measurements in instructional animation research

textabstractInstructional animation research has been extensive but the results are inconsistent. Amongst a number of possible factors to explain these inconclusive results (e.g., the negative influence of transient information), the influence of spatial ability and gender are less explored. This paper reports three experiments that compared the effectiveness of learning a hand-manipulative task (Lego construction) under various conditions with direct examination of the relationship between gender, spatial ability and instructional visualisation. Regression analyses revealed that only one objective measure related to spatial ability (Corsi test) predicted overall test performance, whereas the Card Rotations Test and the Mental Rotations Test did not. However, there was a number of significant gender-spatial ability interactions showing that the spatial ability predictors of male performance were different from those of females. Furthermore a number of subjective measures of spatial ability and experience with instructional animations and static pictures were found to be significant predictors. The results suggest that gender and the type of spatial ability measures used both have a significant impact on gauging the effectiveness of instructional animations. Spatial ability measures should be tailored to gender and the specific nature of the learning domains to yield more consistent research results.

Computerized and Adaptable Tests to Measure Visuospatial Abilities in STEM Students

Performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines can depend on the sub-abilities of spatial ability and visuospatial working memory. According to the STEM task, certain sub-abilities may be more important than others in predicting achievement. Similarly, some individual characteristics (e.g., gender) moderate some of these sub-abilities. For example, males on average have higher mental rotation spatial ability than females, whereas spatial working memory tends to be less prone to gender effects. In addition, the results of the tests measuring these sub-abilities can be changed by manipulating certain variables. We present a battery of nine computerized and adaptable instruments to measure these sub-abilities, with the aim of informing cognitive researchers about the processing abilities most vital for undertaking STEM tasks, and how they can be modified to suit learner characteristics.

Spatial Ability for University Biology Education

Studying and pursuing careers of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields demand spatial ability. Completing a university degree in biology is no exception. The aim of this study is to summarize key findings showing that there is a two-way relation between university biology education and spatial ability. The first aspect of this relation is the most investigated: spatial ability facilitates learning biology. However, the other aspect is also possible: learning biology may improve spatial ability. We present empirical evidence to support both possibilities. The focus is on university biology, and the spatial abilities of mental rotation and mental folding (spatial visualization). We present findings showing that these spatial abilities affect university biology learning and achievement from textual and visual materials. We also present correlational studies and experiments showing that university biology learning positively affects mental rotation and mental folding.

Undesirable difficulty effects in the learning of high-element interactivity materials

According to the concept of desirable difficulties, introducing difficulties in learning may sacrifice short-term performance in order to benefit long-term retention of learning. We describe three types of desirable difficulty effects: testing, generation, and varied conditions of practice. The empirical literature indicates that desirable difficulty effects are not always obtained and we suggest that cognitive load theory may be used to explain many of these contradictory results. Many failures to obtain desirable difficulty effects may occur under conditions where working memory is already stressed due to the use of high element interactivity information. Under such conditions, the introduction of additional difficulties may be undesirable rather than desirable. Empirical evidence from diverse experiments is used to support this hypothesis.