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Background: Research indicates that animations presenting procedural instructions lead to better learning if the animation displays the procedural task from a first-person perspective (over-the-shoulder) compared to a third-person perspective (face-to-face). Aims: This study extends view-perspective research by investigating whether the observation of human hands completing manipulative tasks in an animation are necessary or not. Sample: Sixty university students participated in the study. Method: Participants studied two knot-tying animations from a first-person perspective showing hands, or a third-person perspective showing hands, or a first-person perspective without showing hands. Results: Results showed that studying first-person perspective animations resulted in higher performance on a knot-tying task and recognition task (but not transfer task) than studying the third-person perspective animations. The strongest effects were gained from the first-person perspective animations showing hands, although comparable learning outcomes were often found with the no-hands perspective animations. In addition, spatial ability was found to influence knot-tying and recognition performance, while gender minimally interacted with performance in the different viewing perspective conditions. Conclusions: Hand-manipulative task are learned most optimally from animations when presented from a first-person perspective, while it is not necessary to show the hands.

Research on grit indicates that perseverance positively predicts academic achievement. Yet, the mechanisms through which perseverance might lead to academic success remain less explored, particularly in cross-cultural research. The current study investigated such mechanisms by examining possible mediating effects of students' use of self-regulated learning strategies (control, memorisation, and elaboration) on the predictive relation of students' perseverance on their academic achievement, in students from East Asian and Anglo-Saxon English speaking Western countries. The sample came from the OECD PISA study and included 24,352 population-representative 15-year-old students from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, and the US. Results revealed that perseverance had a more positive association with achievement in East Asian cultures than Western cultures. Control strategy was stronger positive mediators of achievement in Western countries, whereas memorisation and elaboration strategy use and instrumental motivation more negatively mediated the effect of perseverance on achievement in Western countries.

We investigated whether finger pointing is an effective cognitive-load self-management strategy to mitigate the split-attention effect during learning. This effect holds that learning from split-attention examples consisting of spatially separated, but mutually referring text and picture, is less effective than learning from equivalent spatially integrated sources. One-hundred-and-twenty-nine undergraduates studied a picture with accompanying text about the nephron in a between-subjects design with the factors strategy use (pointing vs. no pointing) and instructional format (split-attention vs. integrated). The split-attention effect was confirmed by results on a comprehension test and a combined measure of learning effort and test performance (i.e. instructional efficiency). However, evidence for the benefits of pointing was only found for retention performance (i.e. not for comprehension performance and cognitive load ratings) for participants who learned from the split-attention example (i.e. not for participants who learned from the integrated example). Replications are invited to examine pointing as a self-management strategy.

We investigated whether finger pointing can be used as a cognitive load self-management strategy when learning from split-attention examples. We expected that pointing would reduce cognitive load and enhance learning performance. In a guided self-management phase, 122 university students studied a split-attention example under three pointing conditions (i.e., no pointing, one-handed pointing, two-handed pointing) or an integrated example without pointing. In the subsequent unguided self-management phase, all students studied a new split-attention example without pointing instructions. Results on retention and comprehension tests and self-ratings of cognitive load after studying each split-attention example revealed no differences between conditions. An exploratory analysis of pointing movements in the unguided self-management phase revealed that participants who frequently pointed outperformed those who barely pointed on the comprehension test in this phase. Our findings provide some suggestive evidence for the effectiveness of pointing as a self-management strategy in the learning from split-attention examples.

Researchers of cognitive load theory and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning have identified several strategies to optimize instructional materials. In this review article we focus on five of these strategies or solutions to problematic instructional designs in multimedia learning: (a) the multimedia principle (use visualizations and drawings to complement texts); (b) the split-attention effect or spatial contiguity principle (show texts contiguously or integrated with visualizations); (c) the redundancy effect, alike the coherence principle (remove nonessential learning information); (d) the signaling principle (cue or signal essential learning information); and (e) the transient information effect or segmenting principle (segment or control the pace of animations and videos). Usually, both cognitive theories have investigated solutions that instructors, teachers, and designers should pursue to optimize students' learning. Here, in a novel approach, we show that these strategies can also be used by learners who want to self-manage their cognitive load and learning process. We provide several examples of both instructor- and learner-managed solutions aligned with these strategies. When assessing which agent, either the instructor or the learner, was most effective, we observed mixed results in the literature. However, the expertise reversal effect may help predict the direction of these effects: novice students may learn better under instructor-managed conditions, whereas more expert students may learn more under learner-managed conditions.

The split‐attention effect posits that learning outcomes are negatively impacted when interrelated text and graphics are spatially segregated rather than cohesively integrated. This study explored how the instructional material's presentation size influences the manifestation of the split‐attention effect. Based on cognitive load theory and perceptual load theory, we hypothesized that elevated information density in a compact presentation format would attenuate the advantage of integrated text and graphics, thereby diminishing the salience of the split‐attention effect relative to a more expansive presentation size. University students (n = 146) studied a split‐attention format or integrated format in either large or small presentation size. Results on retention and comprehension tests and extraneous cognitive load ratings revealed no effects of instructional format, presentation size or their interaction. The present results call for a more nuanced understanding of the split‐attention effect and suggest additional research to explore its cognitive foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visualizing the events described in a text is crucial for constructing a rich and coherent visuospatial mental representation (i.e., situation model) of the text. According to current reading comprehension theories, the construction of such a situation model likely involves all sensory modalities. However, at present these insights are hardly used to inform reading comprehension strategies for improving the understanding of text. To provide more insight into the different ways visualization can be used to encourage readers to build non-linguistic representations of text, this paper classifies the visualization strategies that have been studied and discussed in the literature along internal-external and unimodal-multimodal dimensions. Thereby, educators and other readers are presented with a contemporary collection of visualization strategies to improve reading comprehension that could inform practice and provide a basis for further research.

This study investigated the simultaneous impact of demographic, personality, intelligence, and (prior) study performance factors on students' academic achievement in a three-year academic problem-based psychology program. Information regarding students' gender, age, nationality, pre-university education, high school grades, Big Five personality traits, intelligence (i.e., numerical, verbal, spatial), observed learning activities, and self-study time was collected among almost 1800 students enrolled in this psychology bachelor program at Erasmus University Rotterdam between 2003 and 2009. Academic achievement was measured by students' yearly number of acquired credit points, a course test, and a knowledge progress test. Multiple regression analyses showed that observed learning activities, first- and second-year performance, high school grades, conscientiousness, and verbal ability were most strongly and consistently related to academic achievement in the bachelor. Other student factors also contributed to academic achievement, but their influence was less prominent and mainly restricted to the first year. These results suggest that (prior) educational achievements and observable learning activities are most important for academic success in a problem-based learning bachelor program. (Contains 5 tables.)

Learners studying mechanical or technical processes via dynamic visualizations often fail to build an accurate mental representation of the system's movements. Based on embodied theories of cognition assuming that action, perception, and cognition are closely intertwined, this paper proposes that the learning effectiveness of dynamic visualizations could be enhanced by grounding the movements of the presentation in people's own bodily experiences during learning. We discuss recent research on embodied cognition and provide specific strategies for how the body can be used to ground movements during the learning process: (1) making or observing gestures, (2) manipulating and interacting with objects, (3) using body metaphors, and (4) using eye movements as retrieval cues. Implications for the design of dynamic visualizations as well as directions for future research are presented.

This study investigated whether learners construct more accurate mental representations from animations when instructional explanations are provided via narration than when learners attempt to infer functional relations from the animation through self-explaining. Also effects of attention guidance by means of cueing are investigated. Psychology students were given retention, inference, and transfer tests after studying a cued or an uncued animation of the cardiovascular system with learner-generated self-explanations or with externally provided instructional explanations. Results indicated that cued animations were more effective than uncued animations. Furthermore, results on retention and transfer indicated no differences between self-explaining and providing instructional explanations, but instructional explanations accompanying animations led to higher inference scores. It is concluded that whether explanations are generated or presented may be less important than the provision of cues that enable focused processing of presented or produced explanations. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

To examine how visual attentional resources are allocated when learning from a complex animation about the cardiovascular system, eye movements were registered in the absence and presence of visual cues. Cognitive processing was assessed using cued retrospective reporting, whereas comprehension and transfer tests measured the quality of the constructed representation. Within the framework of Cognitive Load Theory, visual cues highlighting the subsystems of the heart were hypothesized to guide attention, reduce visual search and extraneous cognitive load, and enhance learning. As predicted, learners looked more often and longer at cued parts. However, we found no effects of cueing on visual search and cognitive load. With respect to cognitive processing, performance differences were found on the number of statements in the learners' verbal reports. These findings suggest that visual cueing can guide attention in an animation, but other factors are also important in determining the effectiveness of visual cues on learning. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

This paper examines the transferability of successful cueing approaches from text and static visualization research to animations. Theories of visual attention and learning as well as empirical evidence for the instructional effectiveness of attention cueing are reviewed and, based on Mayer's theory of multimedia learning, a framework was developed for classifying three functions for cueing: (1) selection--cues guide attention to specific locations, (2) organization--cues emphasize structure, and (3) integration--cues explicate relations between and within elements. The framework was used to structure the discussion of studies on cueing in animations. It is concluded that attentional cues may facilitate the selection of information in animations and sometimes improve learning, whereas organizational and relational cueing requires more consideration on how to enhance understanding. Consequently, it is suggested to develop cues that work in animations rather than borrowing effective cues from static representations. Guidelines for future research on attention cueing in animations are presented.