The Use of Video Demonstrations and Particulate Animation in General Chemistry

Different visualization techniques have been used for teaching chemistry concepts. Previous studies have shown that when molecular animations and video demonstrations are used, students seem to better correlate all three levels of representation: macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic. This thinking process allows the students to improve their conceptual understanding and ability to create dynamic mental models. In this study, general chemistry students viewed three experiments involving dynamic fluid equilibrium in a graphic design, a video demonstration, and a molecular animation. The study investigated whether video demonstrations or particulate animations helped the students' conceptual understanding, and if the order of visualizations (video or animation first) produced any differences. Students showed improvement after each visualization. Surprisingly, there was significant improvement in responses between the first and second visualization. This work shows the importance of combining both types of visualizations, but it does not indicate a preference toward a specific order.     

Exploring How Creating Stop-Motion Animations Supports Student Teachers in Learning to Teach Science

This article reports on an exploration of teaching and learning through creating rudimentary stop-motion animations set up to identify how learning opportunities involving stop-motion animations can support student learning and science teacher education. Participants were student teachers, volunteers representing both secondary and primary school teacher training courses, from three universities in England. Their discussions while making an animation themselves were recorded. Six of the secondary trainees were later interviewed after having taught using animation during placement in school. Thematic analysis of the content of the recordings and interviews showed that the student teachers view the opportunities that making an animation creates for peer discussion as the most likely to promote learning. Modeling was also seen as beneficial, though no one particular activity or stage in animation creation stood out as being more effective than another. It is the holistic process of representing and re-representing one's scientific knowledge in different modes that made animation creation appear to be so useful in bringing about and supporting learning. With respect to teacher education, the student science teachers reported that making animations themselves supported them in thinking through the process of how, as teachers, they would need to communicate the underpinning science to others. (Keywords: animation, teacher education, science teaching )     

Learning verbs more effectively through meaning congruent action animations

The current study investigates the effectiveness of learning words while displaying meaning congruent animations. We explore whether learning words with animation is sensitive to properties known to influence action understanding. We apply an embodied cognition framework and predictions from a recent theory about language and action (Action-Based Language theory, Glenberg & Gallese, 2012). The current study aims to investigate whether dynamic animations add to word learning (Experiment 1) and what the linguistic relation between the dynamic animation and the word learning is (Experiment 2). Results indicate that meaning congruent animations improved verb learning compared to meaning incongruent animations when measured by a recognition task. When measured by an active recall task, congruent animations led to better learning than static pictures. In both measures, meaning congruent animations support word learning. Experiment 2 replicates and extends this and suggests that highlighting conceptual information related to the dynamic action (such as the goal) improves word learning further. The findings are in line with Action-Based Language theory, which suggests that children are able to make better simulations of an action during learning when supported by meaning congruent animations. Highlighting conceptual information additionally supports this learning process.     

Maya动画技术在生物学网络课件中的应用

根据2007～2009年"国家大学生创新性实验项目"中利用3D动画构建生物学网络课件的探索实践,分析3D动画技术在生物学网络化教育方面应用的条件、前景和存在问题.使用Maya软件制作6组3D动画课件,探索了从模型构建、材质设置和灯光设置,到动画设计、图片渲染输出以及后期电影合成的一系列过程.结果显示,3D动画视频在当代教育中具有传统方法无可比拟的优势,信息载量更大,直观性优势更明显,趣味性更强;但是也存在应用上的技术条件限制问题.     

Animated cell biology: a quick and easy method for making effective, high-quality teaching animations

There is accumulating evidence that animations aid learning of dynamic concepts in cell biology. However, existing animation packages are expensive and difficult to learn, and the subsequent production of even short animations can take weeks to months. Here I outline the principles and sequence of steps for producing high-quality PowerPoint animations in less than a day that are suitable for teaching in high school through college/university. After developing the animation it can be easily converted to any appropriate movie file format using Camtasia Studio for Internet or classroom presentations. Thus anyone who can use PowerPoint has the potential to make animations. Students who viewed the approximately 3-min PowerPoint/Camtasia Studio animation "Calcium and the Dual Signalling Pathway" over 15 min scored significantly higher marks on a subsequent quiz than those who had viewed still graphics with text for an equivalent time. In addition, results from student evaluations provided some data validating the use of such animations in cell biology teaching with some interesting caveats. Information is also provided on how such animations can be modified or updated easily or shared with others who can modify them to fit their own needs.     

Self-generated drawings for supporting comprehension of a complex animation

The perceptual and cognitive processing demands involved in comprehending complex animations can pose considerable challenges to learners. There is a tendency for learners to extract information that is highly perceptually salient but neglect less conspicuous information of crucial relevance to the building of a quality mental model. This study investigated the effectiveness of self-generated drawing for learning from an animation illustrating a scientific phenomenon, the so-called “Newton’s Cradle.” Participants were 199 students in grade seven, randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: self-generated drawing, traced/copied drawing, and no drawing. All participants were asked to produce an explanation of the animation for both immediate and delayed posttests. The results revealed the superiority of self-generated drawing in supporting animation comprehension at both testing times compared to the other two conditions, which did not differ from each other. In addition, comprehension of the animation was related to the quality of self-generated drawings. Specifically, the depiction of information characterized by low perceptual salience but high conceptual relevance to the phenomenon predicted comprehension and retention over time.     

Evaluation of Educational Animations: Taxonomy and Recommendations

Animations can communicate movement, changes in status, and various other temporal changes more effectively than static images. The potential for the use of computer animations in training and education in laboratory settings is tremendous. For example, algorithm animations have been used in computer science to make visible the essential steps of an algorithm. The need exists for a systematic approach to categorize and evaluate the effectiveness of an animation with respect to the subject matter. The goal of an animation is to communicate a message to the user. The effectiveness of the animation is determined by the extent to which its message is understood by the user. To facilitate evaluations of animations, a taxonomy is presented that outlines the critical elements of the interaction scenario, the objects, and the animations involved in a view. Suggestions for its use in evaluation of animation views accompany the taxonomy.     

Exploring How Different Features of Animations of Sodium Chloride Dissolution Affect Students’ Explanations

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students’ explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level general chemistry students dissolved table salt in water, after which they individually viewed two animations of salt dissolution. Before and after viewing each animation the participants provided pictorial, written, and oral explanations of the process at the macroscopic and molecular levels. The students then discussed the animations as a group. An analysis of the data showed that students incorporated some of the microscopic structural and functional features from the animations into their explanations. However, oral explanations revealed that in many cases, participants who drew or wrote correct explanations did not comprehend their meanings. Students’ drawings may have reflected only what they had seen, rather than a cohesive understanding. Students’ explanations given after viewing the animations improved, but some prior misconceptions were retained and in some cases, new misconceptions appeared. Students reported that they found the animations useful in learning; however, they sometimes missed essential features when they watched the animation alone.     

Use of Animation in Teaching Cell Biology

To address the different learning styles of students, and because students can access animation from off-campus computers, the use of digital animation in teaching cell biology has become increasingly popular. Sample processes from cell biology that are more clearly presented in animation than in static illustrations are identified. The value of animation is evaluated on whether the process being taught involves motion, cellular location, or sequential order of numerous events. Computer programs for developing animation and animations associated with cell biology textbooks are reviewed, and links to specific examples of animation are given. Finally, future teaching tools for all fields of biology will increasingly benefit from an expansion of animation to the use of simulation. One purpose of this review is to encourage the widespread use of animations in biology teaching by discussing the nature of digital animation.     

Learning from multimedia presentations: Facilitation function of animations and spatial abilities

Animations may facilitate learning by providing external support for visual–spatial mental processing. Facilitation is challenged by findings that demonstrate involvement of spatial abilities in learning from animations, because this involvement indicates active internal visual–spatial processing. In the present study, learners attended to a system-paced multimedia presentation in which a verbal–auditory explanation was concurrently synchronized either with animation, with static core pictures, or with enriched static pictures that showed additional intermediate steps and arrows indicating motion. Results demonstrated better learning success with animations and with enriched static pictures than with static pictures. Spatial abilities were not substantively related to learning success with animations or with static pictures, but they played a crucial role for learning success with enriched static pictures. It is concluded that active visual–spatial processing was recruited with enriched static pictures. With animations, learning was truly facilitated by external support for visual–spatial mental processing.     

When learning from animations is more successful than learning from static pictures: learning the specifics of change

The results of three meta-analyses show that the effectiveness of learning from animations, when compared to learning from static pictures, is rather limited. A recent re-analysis of one of these meta-analyses, however, supports that learning from animations is considerably more effective than learning from static pictures if the specifics of the displayed changes need to be learned. In order to further validate this finding as well as to clarify the educational strengths and weaknesses of animations and static pictures, an experimental study with three groups was conducted. Overall, 88 university students participated in the study. One group of learners (n?=?30) watched a single picture of a gear mechanism, one group of learners (n?=?28) watched four pictures, and one group of learners (n?=?30) watched an animation. All groups had to identify specific motions and spatial arrangements covered by the gear mechanism. While learners who watched the animation exhibited the best performance with respect to the identification of motions, learners who watched the pictures showed the best performance with respect to the identification of spatial arrangements. The effect sizes are large. The results of the study help to clarify when animations and when static pictures are most suitable for learning.

     

Studying Biotechnological Methods Using Animations: The Teacher’s Role

Animation has great potential for improving the way people learn. A number of studies in different scientific disciplines have shown that instruction involving computer animations can facilitate the understanding of processes at the molecular level. However, using animation alone does not ensure learning. Students sometimes miss essential features when they watch only animations, mainly due to the cognitive load involved. Moreover, students seem to attribute a great deal of authority to the computer and may develop misconceptions by taking animations of abstract concepts too literally. In this study, we attempted to explore teachers’ perceptions concerning the use of animations in the classroom while studying biotechnological methods, as well as the teachers’ contribution to the enactment of animations in class. Thirty high-school biotechnology teachers participated in a professional development workshop, aimed at investigating how teachers plan for and support learning with animation while studying biotechnological methods in class. From that sample, two teachers agreed to participate in two case studies aimed at characterizing teachers’ contribution to the enactment of animations in class while studying biotechnological methods. Our findings reveal marked teacher contribution in the following three aspects: establishing the “hands-on” point of view, helping students deal with the cognitive load that accompanies the use of animation, and implementing constructivist aspects of knowledge construction while studying using animations.     

Learning with multiple representations: Extending multimedia learning beyond the lab

The present study extended multimedia learning principles beyond the lab to an ecologically valid setting (homework). Eighteen information cards were used to perform three homework tasks. The control group students learnt from single representation (SR) cards that presented all information as printed text. The multiple representation (MR) group students received the same information, but each card contained either printed text or an informationally equivalent graphic such as a chart or graph. The MR group students performed better than the SR group students on accuracy of their homework answers and on subsequent posttest retention and transfer, and used more information cards while learning. The improved MR group students' performance is discussed in relation to two alternative possible explanations – the nature of the information sources and students' motivation to learn.     

Cueing complex animations: Does direction of attention foster learning processes?

The time course of learners’ processing of a complex animation was studied using a dynamic diagram of a piano mechanism. Over successive repetitions of the material, two forms of cueing (standard colour cueing and anti-cueing) were administered either before or during the animated segment of the presentation. An uncued group and two other control conditions were also employed. Development of an internal representation of the movements depicted in the animation was evaluated through participant demonstrations of the mechanism’s operation on a replica piano mechanism. Eye tracking (fixation lengths) indicated that overall, conventional visuospatially-based cueing was largely ineffective for directing attention across the presentations of the animation. Demonstration scores from cued animations were no better than those produced from the uncued version. Cue obedience for standard colour cueing was initially superior to that for anti-cues but fell away after the animation’s first exposure. Contrary to expectations, there was no difference in cue obedience for cueing applied before or during animation of the display. The findings suggest that alternatives to visuospatial cues are needed to help learners process complex animations more effectively.     

《西游记》动画改编中孙悟空形象的变迁

自从动画艺术诞生,文学一直作为其渊薮而结伴同行。文学为动画提供了无数再创作的素材与可能,许多动画经典也因此而产生。作为神魔小说代表作的《西游记》一直是我国动画改编创作的一个重点。在历次不同社会文化历史语境下,《西游记》的动画改编经由故事的改写和情节的重构,孙悟空的形象也开始了属于他自己的72变,他由"神"与"猴"的共同体逐渐成为了一个在现实生活中被赋予了一切基本情感的人。通过叙述的转向和元素的重构来对比《西游记》的动画创作与原著小说的异同,是探究文学作品改编成动画艺术过程中继承和嬗变潜在规律的一种途径,其中孙悟空形象的变迁也正标志着中国动画发展的历程。     

VB中的动画设计

动画设计是我们在各种语言中都能够实现的一种常见程序，VB中提供的计时器控件能够方便的实现通过时间控制图象而形成的简单动画的设计。根据动画的不同特性，将VB中的动画设计分成单帧位移、多帧无位移、多帧位移等几种类别，由浅入深地总结讨论了VB中动画的设计方法。     

Using representations of practice to elicit mathematics teachers’ tacit knowledge of practice: a comparison of responses to animations and videos

This study compared conversations among groups of teachers of high school geometry that had been elicited by a representation of instruction (either a video or an animation) and facilitated with an open-ended agenda. All artifacts used represented instruction scenarios that departed from what, according to prior work, had been hypothesized as normative. We used as the dependent variable the proportion of modal statements about instructional practice made by a group, which we argue is a good quantitative indicator that the statement appeals to the group’s knowledge of the norms of practice. Animations and videos produced similar proportion of modal statements, but the types of modal statements differed—with animations being associated with more statements of probability and obligation and videos being associated with more statements of inclination. Overall, the results suggest that animations are just as useful as videos in eliciting these sorts of orientational meanings.     

浅析数字技术在三维动画设计制作中的应用

近年来动画大片层出不穷,为我们带来一个又一个的视觉盛宴,这都得益于现代数字技术的应用。动画片从传统手绘制作到现代利用数字技术的发展,使动画制作从内涵到外延都有着很大的差异,这些变化也对动画片的制作流程产生了重大影响。本文主要介绍了三维动画的发展前景、三维动画的制作技术难点和三维动画制作解析。     

Learning from Animated Concept Maps with Concurrent Audio Narration

An animated concept map is a presentation of a network diagram in which nodes and links are sequentially added or modified. An experiment compared learning from animated concept maps and text by randomly assigning 133 undergraduates to study 1 of 4 narrated animations presenting semantically equivalent information accompanied by identical audio narration. Two of the animations presented text; one with concurrent audio and another with delayed audio. Two of the animations presented concept maps; one in black and white and the other with nodes colored to represent semantic relatedness. The concept map groups outperformed the text groups on free recall (p < .05). The black-and-white concept map group outperformed the text groups on a multiple-choice knowledge test (p < .05). No advantages were statistically detected for color enhancements of the animated map. The results indicate that verbal information can be effectively communicated by learner-paced animated concept maps accompanied by audio narrations.