Learning with dynamic visualizations: A meta-analysis and experimental studies about a scientific topic

Die Frage nach Lernvorteilen von dynamischen Visualisierungen gegenüber Standbildern ist nach wie vor umstritten. Während auf der einen Seite computerbasierte Animationen eine realistischere Abbildung komplexer Prozesse und Prozeduren versprechen, die Vorlage für ein exaktes mentales Modell liefern können, verweisen auf der anderen Seite Forschungsergebnisse der Instruktionspsychologie auf die erhöhte kognitive Belastung, die mit bewegten Bildern einhergehen und so die Lernenden überfordern kann (Tversky, Morrison & Bétrancourt, 2002). Mit Hilfe einer Metaanalyse fasst vorliegende Dissertation zunächst den aktuellen Stand der Forschung zum Lernen mit Animationen und Standbildern zusammen. Neben einer statistisch signifikanten durchschnittlichen Überlegenheit von Animationen in den publizierten Studien (d=0,40) wird darüber hinaus eine Reihe von Moderatorvariablen identifiziert, die Einfluss auf das Lernen mit Visualisierungen haben. Dazu gehört unter anderem die instruktionale Rolle der Animation, d.h. ob die Animation dekorativ oder repräsentational (Carney & Levin, 2002) verwendet wird, der Grad des Realismus der Animation sowie die Funktion erläuternden zusätzlichen Textes. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen der Metaanalyse sowie zusätzlicher theoretischer Überlegungen werden sodann die Ergebnisse dreier experimenteller Studien zum Lernen mit Animationen und Standbildern vorgestellt. Mittels verschiedener Versionen einer eigens entwickelten computerbasierten Lernumgebung mit chemischer Thematik wird der Einfluss der Anzahl von Standbildern untersucht, wenn diese mit einer Animation verglichen werden. Es zeigt sich, dass die Animation einer Serie von vier Standbildern überlegen ist, wohingegen zumindest Hinweise dafür gefunden werden können, dass die Steigerung von vier auf elf Standbilder sowie die Ermöglichung minimaler Interaktivität diesen Unterschied reduziert. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt der Arbeit liegt auf dem Einfluss lernerspezifischer Faktoren wie denen des themenspezifischen Vorwissens, des Cognitive Load sowie insbesondere des räumlichen Vorstellungsvermögens. Diesbezüglich zeigt sich ein kompensierender „Aptitude-Treatment“-Effekt: Lernende mit hohem räumlichen Vorstellungsvermögen können die Nachteile, die eine Standbildversion gegenüber der Animation hinsichtlich des Lernerfolgs verursacht, kompensieren und mit Standbildern genauso gut lernen wie mit Animationen. Lernende mit niedrigem räumlichen Vorstellungsvermögen profitieren hingegen besonders von einer Animation. Um dieses Ergebnis weiter zu untersuchen, wird auf unterschiedliche Facetten des räumlichen Vorstellungsvermögens fokussiert. Es zeigt sich, dass der beobachtete Effekt nur für den Bereich der Spatial Visualization (Carroll, 1993) gilt. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit haben theoretische, praktische und fachdidaktische Implikationen, die abschließend diskutiert werden.The question of whether dynamic visualizations or static pictures are superior in learning is still a matter of discussion. On the one hand, computer-based animations may be able to give a more realistic picture of complex processes and procedures and therefore provide the basis for an accurate mental model. On the other hand, instructional psychologists suggest that the transient character of dynamic pictures may increase cognitive load, which can overtax the learner (Tversky, Morrison & Bétrancourt, 2002). Via a statistical meta-analysis this dissertational thesis summarizes published studies concerning learning with animations and static pictures. In addition to the main finding of a clear superiority of animations over static pictures (d=.40), several moderator variables can be identified: These include the instructional role of animations, i.e. whether the animation is used to serve a decorational or representational function (Carney & Levin, 2002); the level of realism; and the role of additional illustrating text. Based on the meta-analytic findings as well as on further theoretical consideration three experimental studies on learning with animations and static pictures were conducted. Using different versions of a self-developed computer-based learning environment dealing with a topic in chemistry, the effect of the number of still pictures when compared to an animation is investigated. Results indicate that the animation is clearly superior to a series of four static pictures, while there is some evidence that this difference diminishes when compared to a series of eleven static pictures and when minimal interactivity is introduced. A specific focus of the present thesis is on the influence of learner characteristics, such as prior knowledge, cognitive load, and, in particular, spatial ability. A compensating effect of spatial ability is identified: Learners with high spatial ability are able to compensate for the disadvantages of the static version and therefore learn as much as with the animation. For learners with low spatial ability, however, the animation is especially beneficial. To further explore these results, different facets of spatial ability are examined. It can be shown that the observed effect is only valid for the area of spatial visualization (Carroll, 1993). The results of the present dissertational thesis have theoretical, practical, and educational implications which are discussed conclusively

Biodiversity citizen science: Outcomes for the participating citizens

Citizen science (CS) is regarded as a promising format in environmental and sustainability education as well as in science education. CS projects often assume that participation in the project influences, for example, participants' knowledge or behaviour. We investigated whether and to what extent biodiversity citizen science (BDCS) projects, from the participants' self-reported perspective, achieve the following six participant outcomes: (a) content, process and nature of science knowledge, (b) skills of science inquiry, (c) self-efficacy for science and the environment, (d) interest in science and the environment, (e) motivation for science and the environment and (f) behaviour towards the environment. For this purpose, we conducted an online survey of 1,160 CS participants across 63 BDCS projects in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Our survey was aimed at adults participating in CS voluntarily. Survey respondents reported positive changes in all six categories. The most notable result across projects was that self-reported increases in knowledge, self-efficacy, interest and motivation were found to be more pronounced when regarding the environment rather than science. Perceived gains in data collection skills were reported to be higher than gains in skills not directly connected to data collection. Reported behaviour changes primarily concerned communication activities, to a lesser degree also gardening activities, and finally more general environmental behaviour. In addition to these six participant outcomes, respondents mentioned a variety of other positive and negative outcomes, for example, health and well-being, enjoyment, a sense of satisfaction, an increased connection to people and nature but also a more pessimistic view regarding the future of the environment. We conclude that BDCS projects could have a high potential for environmental and sustainability education as well as science education. Further research should investigate individual participant outcomes in more depth and should focus on the factors that influence these participant outcomes. Moreover, exploring the perspectives of both project participants and project coordinators would be valuable. In this way, it would be possible to improve the development and design of CS projects. As a result, BDCS projects could more effectively achieve outcomes for the participants, for science and for biodiversity. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. © 2021 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Societ

The effectiveness of a project day to introduce sixth grade students to science competitions

Background: Science Olympiads and science fairs are effective instruments to foster interested and talented students. However, at most schools competitions are not systematically integrated into the school mission statement so that students are unaware of these opportunities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a newly designed competition day in terms of willingness to participate in a science competition and to learn more about students’ reasons for a prospective participation. Programme description: A project day (called ‘competition day’) for students in sixth grade was designed to encourage and motivate more students to participate in science competitions. The theoretical foundations for the design are self-determination theory and an adapted version of Holland’s RIASEC-model. Sample: The sample consisted of 474 German sixth grade students from six secondary schools. Design and methods: A pre-post-follow up-study was conducted with two intervention groups; both groups participated in the competition day and either entered a fictive competition or worked on the same tasks in school lessons. One control group not participating in the competition day was also investigated. Results: The results provide information regarding students’ interests, as well as reasons for and against participating in competitions. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the competition day is shown. Conclusions: The competition day is an effective way to introduce students to competitions and raise their willingness to participate in science contests. Combining the competition day with science competitions showed even better results. This supports the call for continuous fostering strategies

Citizen science project characteristics: Connection to participants' gains in knowledge and skills

Background: Biodiversity is being lost rapidly and its conservation is thus one of the most urgent tasks today. For biodiversity conservation to be successful, the public needs to gain an awareness and understanding of biodiversity and its importance. Moreover, species experts are needed who have the skills necessary for identifying and recording biodiversity. Previous research showed that citizen science projects can contribute to educating the public about biodiversity. However, it is still unclear how project characteristics connect to participants' knowledge and skills and how citizen science projects should be designed if they are to foster participants' learning. Aim: We aimed to investigate specific characteristics of biodiversity citizen science projects that could potentially influence participants' learning. We explored the following project characteristics from both the project coordinators' and the participants' perspectives: information and training provided to participants, social interaction among participants, contact between participants and staff, and feedback and recognition provided to participants. Methods and results: In order to examine the extent to which these project characteristics are connected to participants' gains in knowledge and skills, we conducted a comprehensive study across 48 biodiversity citizen science projects in Europe and Australia. We found that participants' perceived gains in knowledge and skills were significantly related to the five project characteristics as reported by the participants: information received by the participants, training received by the participants, social interaction among participants, contact between participants and staff, and feedback and recognition received by the participants. Conclusion: We conclude that by deliberately designing citizen science projects to include features such as interaction and feedback, these projects could achieve higher learning outcomes for the participants. Thereby, suitable modes of communication between projects and their participants are crucial. We provide specific suggestions for the design of biodiversity citizen science projects and for future research on project characteristics and participant outcomes

Scientists of the future: an analysis of talented students' interests

Background: Nowadays, scientists not only need to be creative, resourceful, and inventive regarding their research questions and need to understand their field and research methods, but also need to know how to teach, how to catalog, how to fill out proposal forms, and much more. The main goal of this study was to investigate and compare science interest profiles of different groups of students, focusing both on successful participants in science competitions and on possible gender differences. We expected that successful participants in science competitions would generally have greater interests in scientific activities than non-participants but were especially interested in such areas we expect from successful scientists today, thereby helping us judge the design of successful enrichment measures. Results: Significant mean differences in interest in science activities between participants and non-participants of science competitions were found on six of seven dimensions as well as regarding in-school activities, activities in enrichment measures, and vocational interests. The differences were especially large concerning investigative, social, enterprising, and networking activities. Moreover, we found differences between girls and boys on the social and artistic dimensions, meaning that girls were significantly more interested in science activities which also had an artistic and creative aspect such as drawing or a social aspect such as teaching. Conclusions: We not only found overall differences to-be-expected favoring the participants, but also could also identify specific profiles. Especially large differences were consistently found in those areas which could be regarded as especially important for most researchers. Our findings might help developing measures and activities to foster the interest in science activities for “regular” students as well as for especially talented students

Two comparative studies of computer simulations and experiments as learning tools in school and out-of-school education

Interactive computer simulations and hands-on experiments are important teaching methods in modern science education. Especially for the communication of complex current topics with social relevance (socioscientific issues), suitable methods in science education are of great importance. However, previous studies could not sufficiently clarify the educational advantages and disadvantages of both methods and often lack adequate comparability. This paper presents two studies of direct comparisons of hands-on experiments and interactive computer simulations as learning tools in science education for secondary school students in two different learning locations (Study I: school; Study II: student laboratory). Using a simple experimental research design with type of learning location as between-subjects factor (NStudy I = 443, NStudy II = 367), these studies compare working on computer simulations versus experiments in terms of knowledge achievement, development of situational interest and cognitive load. Independent of the learning location, the results showed higher learning success for students working on computer simulations than while working on experiments, despite higher cognitive load. However, working on experiments promoted situational interest more than computer simulations (especially the epistemic and value-related component). We stated that simulations might be particularly suitable for teaching complex topics. The findings reviewed in this paper moreover imply that working with one method may complement and supplement the weaknesses of the other. We conclude that that the most effective way to communicate complex current research topics might be a combination of both methods. These conclusions derive a contribution to successful modern science education in school and out-of-school learning context

Basics of collaborative research data management: Requirements for a Schleswig-Holstein state initiative on research data management

Das Papier "Grundlagen eines partnerschaftlichen Forschungsdatenmanagements - Anforderungen an eine schleswig-holsteinische Landesinitiative zum Forschungsdatenmanagement" umreißt die Anforderungen für eine schleswig-holsteinische Landesinitiative zum Forschungsdatenmanagement (FDM-SH). Hierfür wird zunächst das Umfeld, in dem eine solche Initiative entstehen und agieren soll, beschrieben. So beeinflussen sowohl die Eigenheiten der regionalen Forschungslandschaft wie auch die Entwicklungen im Bereich der Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) die Ausprägungen von Landesinitiativen. Die speziellen Anforderungen werden durch den Vergleich mit anderen Landesinitiativen, die Analyse von spezifischen Umfrageergebnissen aus Schleswig-Holstein sowie die Berücksichtigung der Anforderungen der NFDI gesammelt. Der Ansatz des partnerschaftlichen Forschungsdatenmanagements (FDM) spiegelt das Anliegen Schleswig-Holsteins wider, die Herausforderungen für ein zeitgemäßes FDM vor Ort gemeinsam zu bewältigen und dabei sowohl Know-how zu teilen als auch Ressourcen zu schonen

Fostering today what is needed tomorrow: Investigating students’ interest in science

This paper investigates the structure of German sixth-grade students’ interest in science (N = 474; age 11–12 years) by considering different subject-related contexts (biology, chemistry, and physics) and different activities. Confirmatory factor analysis models were designed to validate the hypothetical structure of interest, connecting the whole spectrum of early school science with Holland\u27s RIASEC model, and revealed that students’ interest in science is best described by a cross-classified model with latent context and activity factors. Students were most interested in investigative and hands-on activities in all contexts. Despite the young age group, there were significant gender differences with regard to interest in contexts and interest in activities. For example, girls were more interested in artistic and realistic activities among most contexts and generally in the biological context. Surprisingly, boys were more interested in social physics activities than girls. This paper discusses implications for future research, for school science curricula as well as for how to engage students in science with particular emphasis on gender differences

Teaching the control-of-variables strategy: A meta-analysis

A core component of scientific inquiry is the ability to evaluate evidence generated from controlled experiments and then to relate that evidence to a hypothesis or theory. The control-of-variables strategy (CVS) is foundational for school science and scientific literacy, but it does not routinely develop without practice or instruction. This meta-analysis summarizes the findings from 72 intervention studies at least partly designed to increase students\u27 CVS skills. By using the method of robust meta-regression for dealing with multiple effect sizes from single studies, and by excluding outliers, we estimated a mean effect size of g = 0.61 (95% CI = 0.53–0.69). Our moderator analyses focused on design features, student characteristics, instruction characteristics, and assessment features. Only two instruction characteristics – the use of cognitive conflict and the use of demonstrations – were significantly related to student achievement. Furthermore, the format of the assessment instrument was identified as a major source of variability between study outcomes. Implications for teaching and learning science process skills and future research are discussed