Abstract
Many learning tasks require students to induce higher-order relationships from the learning material. Compare and contrast processes play a pivotal role in solving such inductive tasks. Different presentations of animation episodes offer affordances to students that can either impede or facilitate compare and contrast processes. While conventional behaviorally realistic animations typically present multiple episodes one after the other, i.e. sequentially, simultaneous presentation offers a feasible alternative. We investigated how the sequential and simultaneous presentation of multiple animation episodes affects students’ perceptual interrogation of the animation as well as their learning of higher-order relationships. Of the 60 students who participated in the experimental study, one half studied the animation episodes presented sequentially and the other half studied the same episodes presented simultaneously. The eye movements of eight participants from each group were recorded while they studied the animation episodes. The simultaneous presentation resulted in significantly more visual transitions between the episodes than the sequential version. Furthermore, significantly more bi-directional visual transitions occurred in case of the simultaneous presentation than for the sequential presentation. Learning of higher-order relationships was significantly more successful from simultaneously presented episodes than from sequentially presented episodes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (2014). The split-attention principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 206–226). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bark, A. (2009). Sportküstenschifferschein [License for coastal sport skippers] (9. Aufl.). Bielefeld: Delius Klasing Verlag.
Blignaut, P., & Beelders, T. (2009). The effect of fixational eye movements on fixation identification with a dispersion-based fixation detection algorithm. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 2, 1–14.
Clark, R. E., Yates, K., Early, S., & Moulton, K. (2011). An analysis of the failure of electronic media and discovery-based learning: Evidence for the performance benefits of guided learning methods. In K. H. Silber & W. R. Foshay (Eds.), Handbook of improving performance in the workplace (pp. 263–297). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
de Jong, T., & Lazonder, A. W. (2014). The guided discovery principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 371–390). New York: Cambridge University Press.
de Jong, T., & van Joolingen, W. R. (1998). Scientific discovery learning with computer simulations of conceptual domains. Review of Educational Research, 68, 179–201.
Ginns, P. (2005). Meta-analysis of the modality effect. Learning and Instruction, 15, 313–331.
Holland, J. H., Holyoak, K. J., Nisbett, R. E., & Thagard, P. R. (1986). Induction – Processes of inference, learning, and discovery. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Holmqvist, K., Nyström, M., Andersson, R., Dewhurst, R., Jarodzka, H., & van de Weijer, J. (2011). Eye tracking – A comprehensive guide to methods and measures. New York: Oxford University Press.
Klauer, K. J., & Leutner, D. (2012). Lehren und Lernen – Einführung in die Instruktionspsychologie (2. Aufl.) [Teaching and learning – Introduction to the psychology of instruction]. Weinheim: Beltz Verlag.
Klauer, K. J., & Phye, G. D. (2008). Inductive reasoning: A training approach. Review of Educational Research, 78, 85–123.
Kombartzky, U., Ploetzner, R., Schlag, S., & Metz, B. (2010). Developing and evaluating a strategy for learning from animation. Learning and Instruction, 20, 424–433.
Low, R., & Sweller, J. (2014). The modality principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 227–246). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lowe, R. K. (1999). Extracting information from an animation during complex visual learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 14, 225–244.
Lowe, R. K. (2004). Interrogation of a dynamic visualization during learning. Learning and Instruction, 14, 257–274.
Lowe, R. K., & Boucheix, J.-M. (2008). Learning from animated diagrams: How are mental models built? In G. Stapleton, J. Howse, & J. Lee (Eds.), Diagrammatic representations and inference – Proceedings of the fifth international conference, diagrams 2008 (pp. 266–281). Berlin: Springer.
Lowe, R. K., & Boucheix, J.-M. (2011). Cueing complex animations: Does direction of attention foster learning processes? Learning and Instruction, 21, 650–663.
Lowe, R., & Boucheix, J.-M. (2017). A composition approach to design of educational animations. In R. Lowe, & R. Ploetzner (Eds.), Learning from dynamic visualization — Innovations in research and application. Berlin: Springer (this volume).
Lowe, R. K., & Schnotz, W. (2014). Animation principles in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 513–546). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lowe, R., Schnotz, W., & Rasch, T. (2011). Aligning affordances of graphics with learning task requirements. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 452–459.
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mayer, R. E. (2014). Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 43–71). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mayer, R. E., & Fiorella, L. (2014). Principles for reducing extraneous processing in multimedia learning: Coherence, signaling, redundancy, spatial contiguity, and temporal contiguity principles. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 279–315). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Overschmidt, H., & Gliewe, R. (2009). Das Bodenseeschifferpatent A + D [Yachtmaster A + D for Lake Constance]. Bielefeld: Delius Klasing Verlag.
Plass, J. L., & Schwartz, R. N. (2014). Multimedia learning with simulations and microworlds. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed., pp. 729–761). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ploetzner, R. (2016). Understanding explanatory animation — An introduction to cognitive design and user support. Freiburg: eXplanatory!media.
Ploetzner, R., & Breyer, B. (2017). Strategies for learning from animation with and without narration. In R. Lowe, & R. Ploetzner (Eds.), Learning from dynamic visualization — Innovations in research and application. Berlin: Springer (this volume).
Ploetzner, R., & Lowe, R. K. (2012). A systematic characterisation of expository animations. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 781–794.
Ploetzner, R., & Lowe, R. K. (2014). Simultaneously presented animations facilitate the learning of higher-order relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 12–22.
Ploetzner, R., Lowe, R., & Schlag, S. (2013). A systematic characterization of cognitive techniques for learning from textual and pictorial representations. Journal of Education and Learning, 2, 78–95.
Ploetzner, R., & Schlag, S. (2013). Strategic learning from expository animations: Short- and mid-term effects. Computers & Education, 69, 159–168.
Tversky, B., Heiser, J., Mackenzie, R., Lozano, S., & Morrison, J. (2008). Enriching animations. In R. K. Lowe & W. Schnotz (Eds.), Learning with animation: Research implications for design (pp. 263–285). New York: Cambridge University Press.
van Gog, T., Paas, F. G. W. C., & Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load theory: Advances in research on worked examples, animations, and cognitive load measurement. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 375–378.
Zhang, J., & Norman, D. A. (1994). Representations in distributed cognitive tasks. Cognitive Science, 18, 87–122.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Australian Technology Network (ATN) within the “Joint Research Cooperation Scheme”. We thank Onno Bahns and Marie Kösters for supporting the data collection and analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ploetzner, R., Lowe, R. (2017). Looking Across Instead of Back and Forth: How the Simultaneous Presentation of Multiple Animation Episodes Facilitates Learning. In: Lowe, R., Ploetzner, R. (eds) Learning from Dynamic Visualization. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56204-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56204-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56202-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56204-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)