How much are pictures worth?

There are convincing arguments for using visually-oriented instructional design as a means of making content easier to understand and more memorable. However, it is too simplistic to base instructional actions on the folk-wisdom that 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. One problem with this statement is that it implies all pictures are the same (and equally accessible). Another problem is the implication that pictures in general have some intrinsic value that makes them more effective than other ways of presenting information (such as words). In order to use pictorial materials effectively as instructional resources, we need to do some careful thinking about how learners interact with pictures. There are a number of questions we need to ask such as: ¥ Which pictures are valuable? ¥ What characteristics give pictures their value? ¥ Is a given picture equally valuable to all viewers? Students can encounter many different types of pictures during instruction. They range from highly realistic depictions such as coloured photographs to extremely abstract representations such as flow diagrams. Are these pictorial genres equally accessible to the learner? Is one type of picture better at representing information than another, and if so, why? Which of the types of pictures mentioned above would be most readily understood by humanities students versus science students? Some types of pictures, such as photographs, are relatively ÔfaithfulÕ representations of their subject matter in that they involve little manipulation of the material. Others, like diagrams, bear very little superficial resemblance to their subject matter because of the extensive manipulations that have been done in order to produce the depiction. It can be argued that the more realistic a picture is (that is, the more faithfully it represents its referents), the more valuable it will be as a learning resource. However, a counter argument is that, compared with diagrams, realistic depictions are cluttered with irrelevant detail and show only the superficial natural organisation of their contents rather than any deeper levels of content organisation. These examples show that using pictures effectively as an instructional resource is rather more complex than it first appears. We need to consider carefully not only the type of picture to be used, but also the way in which we use it. Until recently, there was little questioning of the utility of pictures in learning. However, there is now a growing body of very interesting research showing how teachers can help to ensure that pictures realise their potential as learning resources

The Implementation of Monetary Policy in Australia

In January 1990, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) began announcing and explaining changes in the target cash rate. This has increased public understanding of monetary policy and, by increasing the attention given to changes in interest rates, has affected the way in which changes in policy are transmitted to the economy. In addition, the discipline of having to announce and explain changes in the target cash rate to the public has led to a clearer focus on the objectives of monetary policy within the RBA and improved the accountability of the Bank. It has also led to a substantial decline in the volatility of short-term interest rates and more rapid pass-through of changes in the target cash rate into deposit and lending rates. In Australia, as in many other countries, interest rates have tended to be adjusted in a series of steps in the same direction. In part, this can be explained in terms of the uncertainty that policy-makers face, and the costs involved in frequently reversing the direction of interest-rate changes.

Two Antarctic penguin genomes reveal insights into their evolutionary history and molecular changes related to the Antarctic environment

BACKGROUND: Penguins are flightless aquatic birds widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The distinctive morphological and physiological features of penguins allow them to live an aquatic life, and some of them have successfully adapted to the hostile environments in Antarctica. To study the phylogenetic and population history of penguins and the molecular basis of their adaptations to Antarctica, we sequenced the genomes of the two Antarctic dwelling penguin species, the Adélie penguin [Pygoscelis adeliae] and emperor penguin [Aptenodytes forsteri]. RESULTS: Phylogenetic dating suggests that early penguins arose ~60 million years ago, coinciding with a period of global warming. Analysis of effective population sizes reveals that the two penguin species experienced population expansions from ~1 million years ago to ~100 thousand years ago, but responded differently to the climatic cooling of the last glacial period. Comparative genomic analyses with other available avian genomes identified molecular changes in genes related to epidermal structure, phototransduction, lipid metabolism, and forelimb morphology. CONCLUSIONS: Our sequencing and initial analyses of the first two penguin genomes provide insights into the timing of penguin origin, fluctuations in effective population sizes of the two penguin species over the past 10 million years, and the potential associations between these biological patterns and global climate change. The molecular changes compared with other avian genomes reflect both shared and diverse adaptations of the two penguin species to the Antarctic environment

Educational animation: Who should call the shots?

Despite the increasing popularity of animation for explaining dynamic subject matter, research shows it is not uniformly beneficial for learning. User control has been suggested as a way to enhance learning by ameliorating negative effects of animation. However, giving learners the responsibility for controlling how an animation presents its information does not always produce the anticipated benefits. It appears that the associated interrogation tasks can over-tax learners’ internal processing resources so that extraction of relevant information is prejudiced. More prescriptive animation presentation regimes may be superior to free user control, particularly for learners who are novices in the depicted domain

Animating ideas: Communicating complex dynamic content

The broadband environment removes previous technical barriers to using animated explanations for online and mixed mode learning. University teachers are keenly taking up the opportunities this environment offers for animated presentation of dynamic content, especially with complex subject matter that learners find demanding. However, merely presenting animations of demanding content may be ineffective, even when such presentations communicate in a highly realistic manner. Until recently, university teachers and educational designers \Vere largely reliant on their intuitions and experience to guide the development of instructional animations. Unfortunately, such guidance may be unreliable and misleading, with the results in terms of learning being disappointing. This presentation details key design factors to be considered when developing animations intended to foster learning of complex dynamic content and argues the need for ne\V approaches to guide design. It presents examples and practical strategies for improving the contribution that such animations can make to learning

Designing static and animated diagrams for modern learning materials

Information Design offers an authoritative guide to this important multidisciplinary subject. The book weaves design theory and methods with case studies of professional practice from leading information designers across the world