ABSTRACT. Learning with text and pictures is better than learning with texts alone. This so called multimedia principle is well known and often approved with respect to better learning outcomes. In our study we additionally focus on motivational effects, especially learners situational interest and on context effects. Hence, in an experiment (n=48) we analyzed whether learner’s situational interest and learning outcomes depend on either the learning material (text versus text with pictures) or the context, i.e. whether a neighbored learner has more ore less interesting learning material (with or without colored pictures) or an interaction of both. We found main effects of the learning material with better learning outcomes and higher interest ratings for texts with pictures. Unexpectedly, we found no significant interaction with the context. Only on a descriptive level, participants rated their own material as especially more interesting or uninteresting when their neighbor had different material.

ABSTRACT. Learner-generated drawing may be a task that is too demanding when learners draw on blank paper and receive no support. Therefore, we investigated the role of support and the influence of learner characteristics on drawing, contrasting three drawing groups with different degrees of support (no vs. low vs. high support) with a non-drawing control group. Currently, the data of N=140 university students has been gathered. Participants first answered the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ), before they read a text about human swimming behavior and then took three learning outcome tests. We expected the low and high support groups to outperform the no support group and the latter to outperform the control group. We also expected a negative relation between the perceived difficulty of the learning material and the degree of support in the drawing groups. We expected Visualizers to benefit more from drawing than Verbalizers. Results will be presented at the conference.

ABSTRACT. Elaborating a coherent mental model from complex scientific multimedia document involves students to be engaged in deep learning activities. Several studies have shown that prompting can be used to overcome students strategies production deficit. However, studies have shown that not all students complied to prompting. We hypothesized that overconfidence could be the cause of prompting intervention failure. To test this hypothesis, we consider the practice testing technique as a monitoring recalibration tool to potentiate prompting intervention. 84 first year undergraduates were instructed to learn a complex neurology course from a multimedia lesson that included or not 1) regular practice testing 2) regular prompting instruction. Results showed that prompting and testing triggered the use of efficient cognitive and metacognitive processes resulting in learning gain. Furthermore, results showed an interaction between our two independent variable on cognitive and metacognitive processes use demonstrating that practice testing has the power to potentiate instructional prompting.

ABSTRACT. This meta-analysis investigated whether animation is beneficial overall for learning compared to static graphics, while also identifying moderator factors affecting the global effect. A systematic search was conducted for experimental studies comparing the impact of animated vs. static graphics displays in the context of knowledge acquisition. A total of 50 papers were considered, and consecutively 61 primary studies (N = 7036), yielding 140 pair-wise comparisons of animated vs. static graphic visualizations in multimedia instructional material were analyzed using a random-effects model. An overall positive effect of animation over static graphics was found, with a Hedges's g effect size of 0.226 (95% confidence interval = 0.12 – 0.33). As the heterogeneity was high, moderator analyses were explored.

ABSTRACT. We investigated whether congruency of spoken text and pictures affects learners’ memory for verbal information in video clips. Sixty-one participants watched video clips with verbal information that was semantically congruent or incongruent with pictures of historical persons. After a delay of 10 minutes, participants were asked to verify information from the clips that were either attributed to the correct or to an incorrect person. In line with our hypothesis, participants were better able to reject incorrect information that was incongruent with the picture than incorrect information that was congruent with the picture. However, there was no effect of congruency on verifying the correct information. It is argued that rejecting incorrect information needed an additional cue (i.e. congruency) so that the criterion for rejection was reached, whereas no such cue was necessary for the verification of correct items.

ABSTRACT. As learners often struggle when learning with static or dynamic multimedia, instructional support for text-picture comprehension was tested. Dynamic visualizations are cognitive demanding because information is transient. Therefore, instructions to use adequate learning strategies should show a stronger effect on learning outcomes when learning with dynamic compared with static visualizations. Instructional support was given using implementation intentions. These are if-then-plans connecting a specific situation with goal directed behavior to foster goal achievement. After internalizing implementation intentions multimedia material with either static or dynamic visualizations was presented and learning outcome was measured afterwards. The hypothesis that instructional support should be especially effective when learning with dynamic visualizations could not be confirmed. The marginally significant main effect for visualization format – better learning outcomes when learning with dynamic than with static visualizations – is in line with previous research. Further research is needed evaluating the absence of an effect of instructional support.

ABSTRACT. Many students show maladaptive study behaviors when learning from multiple representations. Rather than studying all representations in a balanced fashion, students often focus on only one of the representations (usually the text) at the expense of other representations. As a consequence, they also do not properly integrate information from the representations. In the first part of my talk I will report on studies that focus on the question of what is meant by integration. In particular, two sub-processes can be distinguished: (a) identifying correspondences between the representations and (b) mentally representing the information from the external representations and the referential connections between them in a coherent mental model. Since integration has been shown to be pivotal for learning success, the second part of the presentation will report on studies investigating ways of supporting learners in integrating text and pictures. In general, two different types of support can be distinguished: First, materials can be redesigned so that they facilitate the identification of correspondences. The shown examples range from small instructional units used in lab studies to comprehensive materials used in classroom settings (i.e., digital textbooks). A second approach relies on prompting or instructing learners to integrate – based on the assumption that while learners are in principle able to identify correspondences between representations, they often simply do no attempt to do so sufficiently.