Macht der kognitive Stil einen Unterschied?: Folgen verschiedener Visualisierungsarten und Modalitäten für den Lernerfolg in Bezug auf den visuellen und verbalen kognitiven Stil

This doctoral thesis is based on three quantitative studies conducted on 464 participants. The main goal was to investigate the role of visual-verbal cognitive style when learning with dynamic and non-dynamic learning materials. The first study revealed important differences regarding the way in which visualizers and verbalizers observe static picture/text combinations in order to learn from them. That is to say that visualizers concentrated mostly on pictures while verbalizers on texts, exhibiting an active way of learning but mostly within textual (verbalizers) or pictorial (visualizers) areas of stimuli. Contradictory to expectations, visualizers did not directly show any supremacy in dealing with pictures, as they did not identify relevant areas sooner than verbalizers. Indirectly though, the results confirmed that verbalizers are less proficient in decoding pictorial information, as they switched to non-informative parts of it sooner than visualizers. Although the retention test did not show any differences on learning outcomes between both groups, visualizers achieved better results on a comprehension test. The results of the second study confirmed that, when learning with system controlled multimedia environments, spoken explanatory narration brings better results than a written one does. Additionally, an influence of the visual cognitive style on learning with written explanatory text was found. That is, when using a combination of static pictures and written text, higher visual cognitive style comes along with better learning outcome. On the other hand, a combination of higher visual cognitive style, animation and written modality of explanations results in deterioration of learning outcome. The study did not provide any significant results regarding an influence of verbal cognitive style on learning. In the third study the issues of learner/ system control were addressed, when learning with spoken modality of explanatory text. The results revealed that spoken modality design yielded better outcomes when learning in system-paced design rather than self-paced and with animation rather than static pictures. In the group of highly developed visualizers though, the combination of static pictures, self-pacing and spoken narration led to a decline of learning outcomes and to cognitive overload. Again, there were no significant results regarding the verbal cognitive style. The results of the three studies support the assumption of an important role of cognitive style in learning. They indicate a moderating role of visual cognitive style when learning with dynamic and non-dynamic multimedia. This role depends on the design (self-controlled, system-controlled) and modality of explanations (spoken, written) though. Additionally, the differences in gaze patterns between visualizers and verbalizers shed more light on the way in which these two groups of learners retrieve information from multimedia materials. This doctoral research makes a contribution to theoretical research on multimedia learning and cognitive styles, as well as to practical implications on learning materials’ design and efficient education.Diese Dissertation umfasst drei quantitative Studien mit insgesamt 464 Teilnehmern. Dabei war das Hauptziel, die Rolle visueller und verbaler kognitiver Stile beim Lernen mit dynamischen und nicht-dynamischen Lernmaterialien zu untersuchen. Die erste Studie enthüllte deutliche Unterschiede in Bezug auf die Art und Weise, in welcher Visualisierer und Verbalisierer statische Bild/Text-Kombinationen analysieren, um von diesen zu lernen. Konkret konzentrieren sich Visualisierer primär auf die Bilder, wohingegen Verbalisierer eher auf die Texte fokussieren. Lernende beider Typen weisen jedoch dabei eine aktive Art des Lernens innerhalb ihrer präferierten Stimuli auf. Entgegen der Erwartungen zeigten Visualisierer jedoch keine Überlegenheit im Umgang mit Bildern im Vergleich zu Verbalisierern, da sie keine schnellere und effektivere Identifikation relevanter Bereiche innerhalb der Bilder erzielten. Indirekt bestätigen jedoch die Ergebnisse, dass Verbalisierer weniger Kompetenzen im Umgang mit Bildinformationen aufwiesen, da sie schneller auf die nicht-informativen Bereiche der Bilder wechselten als die Visualisierer. Obwohl der Wissenstest in Bezug auf den Lernerfolg keine Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Gruppen zeigte, erreichten die Visualisierer bessere Resultate im Verständnistest. Die Ergebnisse der zweiten Studie bestätigten, dass beim Lernen mit einer multimedialen, nichtinteraktiven Lernumgebung eine auditive Erklärung zu besseren Lernergebnissen führt als ein schriftlich dargebotener Text. Zudem konnte ein Einfluss des visuellen kognitiven Stils auf das Lernen mit Texten aufgezeigt werden. Dieser stellt sich durch die Tatsache dar, dass Personen mit einem ausgeprägteren visuellen kognitiven Stil einen besseren Lernerfolg erzielen, wenn eine Kombination aus statischen Bildern und geschriebenem Text verwendet wird. Andererseits kann jedoch eine Kombination aus einem ausgeprägten visuellen kognitiven Stil, Animationen und auditiven Erklärungen wiederum zu einer Verschlechterung des Lernerfolgs führen. Die Studie konnte jedoch keine signifikanten Ergebnisse in Bezug auf den Einfluss verbaler kognitiver Stile auf das Lernen nachweisen. In der dritten Studie ging es um den Einfluss interaktiver Kontrollelemente (selbstgesteuert vs. systemgesteuert) beim Lernen mit auditiven Erklärungen oder schriftlichen Texten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass auditive Erklärungen zu besseren Lernerfolgen führt, wenn systemgesteuert statt selbstgesteuert (also nicht-interaktiv) gelernt wird. Zudem zeigte in diesem Fall die Verwendung von Animationen bessere Resultate als die von statischen Bildern. In der Gruppe der „Visualisierer“ mit ausgeprägtem visuellen kognitiven Stil führte die Kombination von statischen Bildern, selbstgesteuertem Design und auditiv dargebotenen Informationen hingegen zu einer kognitiven Überlastung und einem Rückgang der Lernerfolge. Auch in dieser Studie gab es keine signifikanten Ergebnisse in Bezug auf den verbalen kognitiven Stil. Die Ergebnisse der drei Studien unterstützen die Annahme, dass der kognitive Stil eine wichtige Rolle beim Lernen spielt. Insbesondere der visuelle kognitive Stil scheint einen moderierenden Einfluss beim Lernen mit dynamischen und nicht-dynamischen Medien auszuüben. Dieser Einfluss hängt dabei vom Design (selbstgesteuert vs. systemgesteuert) und der Modalität der Erklärungen (auditiv vs. textuell) ab. Zudem konnte durch die Analyse der Blickmuster zwischen Visualisierern und Verbalisierern ein erweitertes Verständnis darüber gewonnen werden, wie die beiden Gruppen unterschiedlich mit Informationen aus multimedialen Materialien umgehen. Diese Doktorarbeit leistet damit einen Beitrag zur theoretischen Forschung im Bereich des multimedialen Lernens und kognitiver Stile sowie zu praktischen Konsequenzen des Designs von Lernmaterialien zu effektiver Bildung

The Effect of Spatial Ability in Learning From Static and Dynamic Visualizations: A Moderation Analysis in 6-Year-Old Children

Previous studies with adult human participants revealed mixed effects regarding the relation between spatial ability and visual instructions. In this study, we investigated this question in primary young children, and particularly we explored how young children with varying levels of spatial abilities integrate information from both static and dynamic visualizations. Children (M = 6.5 years) were instructed to rate their invested mental effort and reproduce the motor actions presented from static and dynamic 3D visualizations. The results indicated an interaction of spatial ability and type of visualization: high spatial ability children benefited particularly from the animation, while low spatial ability learners did not, confirming therefore the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. The study suggests that an understanding of children spatial ability is essential to enhance learning from external visualizations

Getting the Upper Hand: Natural Gesture Interfaces Improve Instructional Efficiency on a Conceptual Computer Lesson

As gesture-based interactions with computer interfaces become more technologically feasible for educational and training systems, it is important to consider what interactions are best for the learner. Computer interactions should not interfere with learning nor increase the mental effort of completing the lesson. The purpose of the current set of studies was to determine whether natural gesture-based interactions, or instruction of those gestures, help the learner in a computer lesson by increasing learning and reducing mental effort. First, two studies were conducted to determine what gestures were considered natural by participants. Then, those gestures were implemented in an experiment to compare type of gesture and type of gesture instruction on learning conceptual information from a computer lesson. The goal of these studies was to determine the instructional efficiency – that is, the extent of learning taking into account the amount of mental effort – of implementing gesture-based interactions in a conceptual computer lesson. To test whether the type of gesture interaction affects conceptual learning in a computer lesson, the gesture-based interactions were either naturally- or arbitrarily-mapped to the learning material on the fundamentals of optics. The optics lesson presented conceptual information about reflection and refraction, and participants used the gesture-based interactions during the lesson to manipulate on-screen lenses and mirrors in a beam of light. The beam of light refracted/reflected at the angle corresponding with type of lens/mirror. The natural gesture-based interactions were those that mimicked the physical movement used to manipulate the lenses and mirrors in the optics lesson, while the arbitrary gestures were those that did not match the movement of the lens or mirror being manipulated. The natural gestures implemented in the computer lesson were determined from Study 1, in which participants performed gestures they considered natural for a set of actions, and rated in Study 2 as most closely resembling the physical interaction they represent. The arbitrary gestures were rated by participants as most arbitrary for each computer action in Study 2. To test whether the effect of novel gesture-based interactions depends on how they are taught, the way the gestures were instructed was varied in the main experiment by using either video- or text-based tutorials. Results of the experiment support that natural gesture-based interactions were better for learning than arbitrary gestures, and instruction of the gestures largely did not affect learning and amount of mental effort felt during the task. To further investigate the factors affecting instructional efficiency in using gesture-based interactions for a computer lesson, individual differences of the learner were taken into account. Results indicated that the instructional efficiency of the gestures and their instruction depended on an individual\u27s spatial ability, such that arbitrary gesture interactions taught with a text-based tutorial were particularly inefficient for those with lower spatial ability. These findings are explained in the context of Embodied Cognition and Cognitive Load Theory, and guidelines are provided for instructional design of computer lessons using natural user interfaces. The theoretical frameworks of Embodied Cognition and Cognitive Load Theory were used to explain why gesture-based interactions and their instructions impacted the instructional efficiency of these factors in a computer lesson. Gesture-based interactions that are natural (i.e., mimic the physical interaction by corresponding to the learning material) were more instructionally efficient than arbitrary gestures because natural gestures may help schema development of conceptual information through physical enactment of the learning material. Furthermore, natural gestures resulted in lower cognitive load than arbitrary gestures, because arbitrary gestures that do not match the learning material may increase the working memory processing not associated with the learning material during the lesson. Additionally, the way in which the gesture-based interactions were taught was varied by either instructing the gestures with video- or text-based tutorials, and it was hypothesized that video-based tutorials would be a better way to instruct gesture-based interactions because the videos may help the learner to visualize the interactions and create a more easily recalled sensorimotor representation for the gestures; however, this hypothesis was not supported and there was not strong evidence that video-based tutorials were more instructionally efficient than text-based instructions. The results of the current set of studies can be applied to educational and training systems that incorporate a gesture-based interface. The finding that more natural gestures are better for learning efficiency, cognitive load, and a variety of usability factors should encourage instructional designers and researchers to keep the user in mind when developing gesture-based interactions

Successful learning with whiteboard animations – a question of their procedural character or narrative embedding?

Although whiteboard animations are increasingly used for educational purposes, there is little empirical evidence as to why such animations can enhance learning. To specify essential elements, their dynamic visual presentation, as well as their narrative embedding, were found to be theortically important. In a first Experiment (N = 133) with a 2 (presentation mode: static pictures vs. progressive drawing) x 2 (narrative context: with vs. without a narrative) between-subject factorial design, motivational, cognitive, affective variables, as well as learning outcomes, of secondary school students were measured. Results revealed that progressive drawing, as well as a narrative context, are mostly associated with an increase in learning-relevant variables. In a second experiment with the same sample and the same experimental design but a different whiteboard animation, results from Experiment 1 generalize to another learning content. Again, a progressive drawing, as well as a narrative context within whiteboard animation, fostered learning relevant variables as well as learning outcomes. Results are discussed considering the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, the contiguity effect as well as the instructional design theory of anchored instruction

Facilitating Spatial Task Learning in Interactive Multimedia Environments While Accounting for Individual Differences and Task Difficulty

Two experiments examined the effects of interactive tutorial features (compared to “passive” features) on learning spatial tasks, an area seldom explored in interactivity research. Experiment 1 results indicated that for simple spatial tasks, interactive tutorials hindered learning for participants of higher spatial ability but improved learning for lower-ability participants. This interaction can be explained by “compensation,” the notion that people of higher ability can compensate for poor external support (passive tutorials) while people of lower ability need the better support. It is likely that the increased cognitive load of interactivity (Kalyuga, 2007) hindered high-spatial participants on a relatively easy task. In Experiment 2, task difficulty was increased, and the results revealed that the interactive tutorial produced better learning than the passive tutorial, regardless of spatial abilities. With the relatively difficult task, the benefits of interactivity became clearer because most people actually needed the interactive features despite the associated cognitive load

Anatomy: The Relationship Between Internal and External Visualizations

This dissertation explored the relationship between internal and external visualizations and the implications of this relationship for comprehending visuospatial anatomical information. External visualizations comprised different computer representations of anatomical structures, including: static, animated, non-interactive, interactive, non-stereoscopic, and stereoscopic visualizations. Internal visualizations involved examining participants’ ability to apprehend, encode, and manipulate mental representations (i.e., spatial visualization ability or Vz). Comprehension was measured with a novel spatial anatomy task that involved mental manipulation of anatomical structures in three-dimensions and two-dimensional cross-sections. It was hypothesized that performance on the spatial anatomy task would involve a trade-off between internal and external visualizations available to the learner. Results from experiments 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated that in the absence of computer visualizations, spatial visualization ability (Vz) was the main contributor to variation in spatial anatomy task performance. Subjects with high Vz scored higher, spent less time, and were more accurate than those with low Vz. In the presence of external computer visualizations, variation in task performance was attributed to both Vz and visuospatial characteristics of the computer visualization. While static representations improved performance of high- and low-Vz subjects equally, animations particularly benefited high Vz subjects, as their mean score on the SAT was significantly higher than the mean score of low Vz subjects. The addition of interactivity and stereopsis to the displays offered no additional advantages over non-interactive and non-stereoscopic visualizations. Interactive, non-interactive, stereoscopic and non-stereoscopic visualizations improved the performance of high- and low-Vz subjects equally. It was concluded that comprehension of visuospatial anatomical information involved a trade-off between the perception of external visualizations and the ability to maintain and manipulate internal visualizations. There is an inherent belief that increasing the educational effectiveness of computer visualizations is a mere question of making them dynamic, interactive, and/or realistic. However, experiments 1, 2, and 3 clearly demonstrate that this is not the case, and that the benefits of computer visualizations vary according to learner characteristics, particularly spatial visualization ability

Use of Dynamic Visualizations for Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, and Science Education Students: Implications on Ability to Correctly Create a Sectional View Sketch

Spatial abilities, specifically visualization, play a significant role in the achievement in a wide array of professions including, but not limited to, engineering, technical, mathematical, and scientific professions. However, there is little correlation between the advantages of spatial ability as measured through the creation of a sectional-view sketch between engineering technology, industrial technology, and science education students. A causal-comparative study was selected as a means to perform the comparative analysis of spatial visualization ability. This study was done to determine the existence of statistically significant difference between engineering technology, industrial technology, and science education students’ ability to correctly create a sectional-view sketch of the presented object. No difference was found among the sketching abilities of students who had an engineering technology, industrial technology, or science education background. The results of the study have revealed some interesting results. © 2016, Virginia Polytechnic Institute. All rights reserved