Role of Interactivity in Learning from Engineering Animations. (original) (raw)
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In this paper we discuss the design, development, deployment and testing of two pieces of courseware focused on teaching mechanical engineering undergraduates about the fundamentals of direct-current (DC) motor physics and selection. We were motivated to develop materials on motors because they are a common engineering design element, and yet their coverage in engineering curriculum is often cursory or poorly integrated. Standard mechanical systems texts do not cover this topic, and comprehensive motor texts are typically too detailed and lengthy to be suitable for mechanical designers. Further, we hoped that a multimedia presentation would allow for inclusion of information that is difficult to convey in a conventional text format.
Is interactivity a good thing? Assessing its benefits for learning
2001
Abstract This paper investigates whether adding interactivity to diagrammatic representations aids learning. More specifically, the analyses focus on the extent to which 3D interactive diagrams facilitate the comprehension of a geometry concept, the stereographic projection, that is usually taught using 2D diagrams. Four Interactive Learning Environments (ILE) were built in order to test the effectiveness of different types of diagrammatic representation.
What do students really learn from interactive multimedia? A physics case study
American Journal of Physics, 2004
Interactive multimedia is promoted as an effective and stimulating medium for learning science, but students do not always interact with multimedia as intended by the designers. We discuss students' interactions with an interactive multimedia program segment about projectile motion in the context of long jumping. Qualitative data were collected using a video camera and split-screen recorder to record each student's image, voice, and student-program interactions. Left to themselves, students' interactions were superficial, but when asked to explain their observations of projectile motion illustrations, they were observed to retain common intuitive conceptions. Only following researcher intervention did students develop an awareness of abstract aspects of the program. These results suggest that, despite interactivity and animated graphics, interactive multimedia may not produce the desired outcome for students learning introductory physics concepts.
The Effectiveness of Interactivity in Computer-Based Instructional Diagrams
This study investigates if interaction between a student and instructional diagrams displayed on a computer can be effective in significantly improving understanding of the concepts the diagrams represent over viewing animated or static instructional diagrams. Participants viewed either interactive, animated, or static versions of multimedia tutorials that taught how a simple mechanical system, a lock, worked and how a complex mechanical system, an automobile clutch, worked. Participants were tested on recall and comprehension to determine which presentation style; static, animated, or interactive; greater impacts learning, and whether that impact is mediated by the complexity of the mechanical system. Participants who studied from interactive multimedia presentations demonstrating how simple and complex mechanical systems work performed significantly better on comprehension tests for both mechanical systems than those who studied from static or animated presentations. However, all participants performed similarly on recall tests. Research on the effectiveness of computer learning environments and how to optimize their potential for effective instruction through improved multimedia design is important as computers are increasingly being used for training and education.
Interactivity in Instructional Videos
Springer eBooks, 2018
Research on the effectiveness of interactive videos dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. These videos are defined as "any video program in which the sequence and selection of messages is determined by the user's response to the material" (Floyd, 1982, p. 2). Early research on interactive video mainly focused on the use of video in combination with an instructional task, such as answering a question, as well as videos that had questions built into them (Schaffer & Hannafin, 1986). Today, videos with built-in questions or knowledge-checks are some of simplest instructional tools that can lead to greater interactivity in videos. In fact, a fundamental flaw of video-based instruction is that it can lead to a reactive or passive learning experience (Bandura, 1977). A solution to this shortcoming is the use of instructional processes that focus on having the viewer recall information by embedding questions in videos, thus improving comprehension (Schaffer & Hannafin, 1986). This method leads learners to increase their mental effort when watching a video and to have a more directed instructional experience (Hannafin, Garhart, Rieber, & Phillips, 1985). These two arguments for the use of interactivity in video-increased mental effort and better instructionally-guided learning experience-are the basis for further discussion in this chapter. Since the early research on the interactivity of videos focused mainly on the use of questions, advances in technology since that time-especially through onlinebased video applications-have opened up new opportunities for engaging learners in a deeper way through interactivity. Here, two categories emerge: interactivity that is advanced through the use of personalizing the learning experience and interactivity through the instructional design of the video content.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2007
This study used cognitive load theory to investigate whether an animation about the cardiovascular system can become a more effective educational tool by designing it with sensitivity to the capacity limitations of working memory. To manage the high extraneous cognitive load imposed by the need to process series of successive and transient information elements, a sequence of static key frames from the animation was presented to learners directly after the animation. Two interactive instructional conditions, which required learners either to construct or reconstruct the sequence of key frames, were compared to a non-interactive condition. It was hypothesised that the interactive activities would lead to more efficient transfer performance. The results confirmed the hypothesis, indicating that the interactive conditions required less mental effort to attain the same performance as the non-interactive condition. Instructional design implications for learning from animations are discussed.
When can animation improve learning? Some implications on human computer interaction and learning
For decades, research comparing the effectiveness of text and static illustrations with animation and narration to enhance learning has been inconclusive (Tversky et al., 2002). We argue that the failure to ascertain the benefits of animation in learning may also relate to how it is constructed, perceived, and conceptualized. Based on cognitive science and human learning theories, this paper proposes a format-support hypothesis of learning. To validate this hypothesis, we implemented a special form of animation, direct- ...
A Taxonomy of Interaction for Instructional Multimedia
1992
This paper rejects the hardware-based "levels of interaction" made popular in interactive video literature to describe human-machine interaction in favor of a new taxonomy of learner-media interaction based on the type of cognitive engagement experienced by learners. Interaction can be described on three levels, based on the quality of the interaction. A reactive interaction is a response to presented stimuli, such as an answer to a specific question. Proactive interaction emphasizes learner construction, and generative activity. The learner goes beyond selecting or responding to existing structures and begins to generate unique constructions and elaborations beyond designer-imposed rules. Mutual interaction is characterized by artificial intelligence or virtual reality designs in which the learner and system are mutually adaptive, each capable of changing based on encounters with the otner. Reactive, proactive, and mutual interactivity can be described at five functional levels: confirmation, pacing, navigation, inquiry, and elaboration. The transactions (mechanics of how interaction is accomplished) can also be described in terms of their functions and levels of interactivity. Although several transactions can be employed at all les,els of interaction, as interaction reaches for higher levels of engagement with learners, generative transactions are required. One of the major implications this taxonomy carries for instructional design relates to learner control. As levels of interaction are ascended by the instructional developer and reflected in the design of interaction, the amount of control abdicated to the learner changes. At the reactive level, the instructional developer retains almost complete control over the content, its presentation, sequence, and level of practice. While research in the area of learner control is relatively new, some tentative advice is available from the literature. Inherent in this emerging literature is the concept of learner control, an issue which will occupy a central position in multimedia research during this decase. (Contains 27 references.) (KRN) Abstract This paper describes a new taxonomy of interaction based on the type of cognitive engagement experienced by learners, and rejects the hardware based "levels of interaction" madc popular in interactive video literature. Reactive, proactive and mutual levels of interaction. and their associated funtions and transactions are discussed. The paper also explores principles for designing interactive multimedia instruction derived from the taxonomy and current research on learner control
A proposal for measuring interactivity that brings learning effectiveness
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2010
It is proposed in this paper that some type of way to measure and visualize interactivity in the multimedia or e-Learning contents is necessary in order to clearly identify interactivity that brings learning effectiveness. Interactivity during learning will arouse students’ intellectual curiosity and motivate them to learn further. Although the interaction in the communication between the teacher and his/her students in a regular classroom is ideal, it is not possible to maintain the equivalence in the multimedia or e-Learning contents. In order to rigorously formalize the field of measuring interactivity as a theory, theoretical constructs such as interactivity, interest, knowledge, and experience are redefined first. Then, the defined “interactivity” is broken down to subcomponents to develop an assessment tool for the interactivity which brings learning effectiveness. In the end, it is proved that the interactivity in learning can be measured.
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: ON STUDYING INTERACTION WITH MECHANICAL DESIGN
In a pilot study of an experimental calculus activity centered on the CalcMachine—a concrete manipulative—subjects visually " projected " the anticipated results of their actions before executing them. From these empirical findings, we tentatively argue for integrating two theoretical models: distributed cognition (Kirsh, 2009) and instrumental genesis (Vérillon & Rabardel, 1995). Emerging from a study in the concrete domain, this theoretical development may bear implications also for digital interactive educational technologies. Education technology research in the 21 st century increasingly focuses on electronic media (Hourcade, 2015), particularly in mathematics education (e.g., see Confrey et al., 2010). Yet this research draws on educational theory often based on interactions with now-antiquated media. We assert that new forms of interaction warrant re-conceptualization of learning, teaching, and educational design (Papert, 2004). In this paper, we take a step back in hopes of taking a few steps forward, turning our attention away from virtual manipulatives and toward concrete ones (Sarama & Clements, 2009). From studying how students learn to operate tangible devices within a concrete context, we hope to contribute to digital realms of interactive technology. Reporting on a modest study from a design-based research practicum, we first explain the design problem that inspired this project. We then propose a theoretical contribution of the pilot study and introduce two case studies as applications. We end by reframing the study as a case of our larger argument for the value of dabbling in " low tech " to inform innovation in " high tech. " A Pilot Study The problematic role of calculus as an academic gatekeeper (Steen, 1988) motivated us to improve students' first encounters with calculus. Inspired by arguments for the inherently embodied nature of mathematics (Nemirovsky, 2003), we created an embodied learning environment (Abrahamson, 2014) to motivate and steer students' goal-oriented actions and descriptions thereof toward normative disciplinary practices (Abrahamson & Trninic, 2015). Design We designed, built, and pilot-tested the CalcMachine (see Figure 1a, next page), a 1-foot square frame containing: (I) a metal curve approximating a parabola; (II) a drawing bar; and (III) two magnetic points attaching the drawing bar to the curve. The points slide along a slit in the drawing bar, allowing it to be adjusted along the curve at various locations and angles. Users trace against the bar to draw secant and tangent lines to the curve. Students' activity with CalcMachine centers on a set of target images (see Figure 1b, next page). Students are asked to recreate these images with the device. For each image, they are to set the drawing bar at an appropriate location on the curve and then use a pencil so as to trace a line on a sheet of paper placed under the device. The images were designed to promote motor-action schemes presumed as relevant to reasoning about secants and tangents. The rationale was to orient subjects toward relationships between the curve, action schemes, and resulting shapes.