Investigating the Modality and Redundancy Effects for Learners with Persistent Pain

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how individuals with persistent pain would respond to instructional materials designed to promote the modality and redundancy effects. It was predicted that persistent pain would reduce the positive impact of narrated text due to reduced working memory capacity. One hundred thirty-seven full-time teachers from six schools in Australia participated in the study. Pain and pain-free participants were identified and matched through a demographics questionnaire before being randomly assigned to selected instructional formats. In both experiments, participants viewed system-paced multimedia presentations depicting how lightning works. In Experiment 1, it was found that for pain-free participants, illustrations plus narrated text led to significantly higher learning outcomes than illustrations plus written text (a modality effect). However, for pain participants, no advantage was found for the illustrations plus narrated text format. In Experiment 2, it was found that for pain-free participants, illustrations plus narrated text led to significantly higher learning outcomes than illustrations plus narrated text plus identical written text (a redundancy effect). For pain participants, a reverse effect was found, suggesting that the replicated written text format was not redundant but beneficial for these individuals. Furthermore, despite low scores on standardized pain measures, individuals with persistent pain achieved significantly lower learning outcomes than pain-free participants in both experiments. It was concluded that clinically low levels of pain could significantly interfere with information retention and transference. For individuals with persistent pain, the use of narrated explanatory text could be a disadvantage due to its transitory nature.     

Does the modality principle for multimedia learning apply to science classrooms?

This study demonstrated that the modality principle applies to multimedia learning of regular science lessons in school settings. In the first field experiment, 27 Dutch secondary school students (age 16–17) received a self-paced, web-based multimedia lesson in biology. Students who received lessons containing illustrations and narration performed better on subsequent transfer tests than did students who received lessons containing illustrations and on-screen text. In the second field experiment, 55 Dutch secondary school students (age 16–17) received similar multimedia programs that allowed more self-pacing and required students to record the time to learn. The illustrations-and-narration group outperformed the illustrations-and-text group on subsequent transfer tests for students who required less time to learn but not for students who required more time to learn. The interaction of learning time spent with modality of presentation on post-test scores was studied. Implications for testing of the robustness of cognitive theory of multimedia learning are discussed.     

Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?

College students (Experiment 1) and non-college adults (Experiment 2) studied a computer-based 31-frame lesson on electronics that offered help-screens containing text (text group) or illustrations (pictorial group), and then took a learning test. Participants also took a battery of 14 cognitive measures related to the verbalizer-visualizer dimension including tests of cognitive style, learning preference, spatial ability, and general achievement. In Experiment 3, college students received either both kinds of help-screens or none. Verbalizers and visualizers did not differ on the learning test, and almost all of the verbalizer-visualizer measures failed to produce significant attribute x treatment interactions (ATIs). There was not strong support for the hypothesis that verbal learners and visual learners should be given different kinds of multimedia instruction.     

Focus of attention and choice of text modality in multimedia learning

The term ‘modality effect’ in multimedia learning means that students learn better from pictures combined with spoken rather than written text. The most prominent explanations refer to the split attention between visual text reading and picture observation which could affect transfer of information into working memory, maintenance of information in working memory or the effective size of working memory. The assumption of a continuous need for split attention is questionable, however. Learners can keep pictorial information in working memory, when they have seen the picture before, especially if they have higher prior knowledge. Instead of suffering from a permanent split attention, learners frequently show tendencies to simply ignore pictures. This suggests guiding learners towards picture analysis by picture-related text paragraphs. We assume that these paragraphs are associated with stronger modality effects than content-related paragraphs, especially if the pictures are new to learners. These assumptions were tested in an experiment with 120 students learning about volcanism from illustrated text consisting of segments each including a content-related paragraph followed by a picture-related paragraph describing the accompanying visualization. Content-related and picture-related paragraphs were presented as visual or auditory texts leading to 2x2 conditions of text presentation. Picture novelty was manipulated by presenting a picture throughout the whole segment or only when the picture-related paragraph was read. As expected, picture-related paragraphs were associated with stronger modality effects than content-related paragraphs if picture novelty is high. The distinction between different kinds of paragraphs seems to be important for the prediction of modality effects.     

Effects of reviewing annotations and homework solutions on math learning achievement

Previous studies have demonstrated that making annotations can be a meaningful and useful learning method that promote metacognition and enhance learning achievement. A web‐based annotation system, Virtual Pen (VPEN), which provides for the creation and review of annotations and homework solutions, has been developed to foster learning process among students. In order to explore the effects of reviewing annotations and homework solutions on learning achievement, a quasi‐experiment was conducted with VPEN in a math class over a period of 4 months. It was found that reviewing own text annotations has a significant influence on learning achievement; while on the contrary, reviewing peers' text annotations has no significant influence on learning achievement. Our results show that students gain more from reviewing their own annotations than from reviewing the annotations made by peers, a contrast which reveals that annotations hold additional meaning for their creators. Further investigation revealed that only the quantity of text annotations among all other variables can significantly predict students' learning achievement. This finding may suggest that text annotations play more important roles to learning achievement than other variables, like homework. The reason is because text annotations are created by learners actively on voluntary base whereas homework is usually assigned by the teachers. Based on our findings, we suggest that teachers may consider incorporating learning activities that can foster metacognitive development into the learning process, like making annotations, solving homework and reviewing them, whereas peer learning should be encouraged only for reviewing the homework solutions of their peers with good learning achievement.     

Structuring and sequencing of complex text-picture combinations

This study investigates the structuring and sequencing of a special type of verbal-pictorial learning material, namely “explanative illustrations” (Mayer, 1993). In such illustrations verbal and pictorial parts form an integrated whole with text embedded in the pictures and vice versa. Due to their complexity such instructing illustrations impose high demands on information processing. From the viewpoint of instruction one may ask how the reception of such explanative illustrations may be supported by an appropriate structure and sequence of the content. In two empirical investigations three types of content structures and sequences were compared to each other: (1) a top-down sequence (based on assumptions of the “Elaboration Theory”, Reigeluth, 1987b) from the whole to details which shows how details are embedded within the larger context), (2) a bottom-up sequence from details to the whole, (3) the presentation as a whole (as in print).     

Eye-movement modeling of integrative reading of an illustrated text: Effects on processing and learning

Integrative processing of verbal and graphical information is crucial when students read an illustrated text to learn from it. This study examines the potential of a novel approach to support the processing of text and graphics. We used eye movement modeling example (EMME) in the school context to model students' integrative processes of verbal and pictorial information by replaying a model's gazes while reading an illustrated text on a topic different from that of the learning episode. Forty-two 7th graders were randomly assigned to an experimental (EMME) or a control condition (No-EMME) and were asked to read an illustrated science text about the food chain. Online measures of text processing and offline measures of reading outcomes were used. Eye-movement indices indicated that students in the EMME condition showed more integrative processing than students in the No-EMME condition. They also performed better than the latter in the verbal and graphical recall, and in the transfer task. Finally, the relationship between the duration of reprocessing the graphical segments while rereading the correspondent verbal segments and transfer performance was stronger in the EMME condition, after controlling for the individual differences of prior knowledge, reading comprehension, and achievement in science. Overall, the findings suggest the potential of eye-tracking methodology as an instruction tool.     

Spontaneous spatial strategy use in learning from scientific text

Two studies explored the role of the spontaneous use of spatial note-taking strategies (i.e., creating maps and drawings) and spatial ability in learning from a scientific passage. In Study 1, college students read and took notes by hand on a 10-paragraph scientific passage about the human respiratory system. Students tended to use verbal strategies such as lists (on 48% of the paragraphs), outlines (29%) and running text (15%), but also used spatial strategies such as maps (28%) and drawings (11%). Regression analyses indicated that spatial ability and the use of spatial strategies (maps or drawings) significantly predicted learning outcomes, with spatial strategy use explaining additional variance beyond spatial ability. In Study 2, students read the same scientific passage and took notes either by hand on paper (paper group), by hand on a large whiteboard (whiteboard group), or on a laptop computer (computer group). A similar general pattern as Study 1 was found for the paper group, but this pattern was not found for the computer or whiteboard groups, suggesting that the relationships found in Study 1 might depend on the note-taking medium. Results also indicated that students in the paper and whiteboard groups spontaneously used more spatial strategies, whereas the computer group tended to use verbal strategies (i.e., words only), suggesting that different note-taking contexts encourage different strategies.     

Utilization of Illustrations during Learning of Science Textbook Passages among Low- and High-Ability Children

Effects of illustrations on learning authentic textbook materials were studied among 10-year-old elementary school children of high and low intellectual ability. Experiment 1 showed that the presence of illustrations improved learning of illustrated text content, but not that of nonillustrated text content. Comprehension scores were improved by the presence of illustrations for high-ability children, but not for low-ability children. In Experiment 2, children's eye movements were measured during learning of illustrated textbook passages to study how children divide their attention between text and illustrations. The results suggest that learning is heavily driven by the text and that children inspect illustrations only minimally. High-ability students were more strategic in processing in the sense that they spent relatively more time on pertinent segments of text and illustrations. It is concluded that the learning of illustrated science textbook materials involves requirements that may be more readily met by more intellectually capable students. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Exploring the Boundary Conditions of the Redundancy Principle

This experiment investigated whether study of a scientific text and a visual display that contained redundant text segments would affect memory and transfer. The authors randomly assigned 42 students from a university in the southwestern United States in equal numbers to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) a redundant condition, in which participants studied a scientific text that described plate tectonics and a corresponding visual display that contained redundant segments from the text; or (b) a nonredundant condition, in which participants studied the scientific text and a corresponding visual display that lacked the redundant text segments. Embedding redundant text segments within the visual display enhanced performance on 3 measures of memory but not on a measure of transfer. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.     

The effectiveness of multimedia programmes in children's vocabulary learning

The present experiment investigated the effect of three different presentation modes in children's vocabulary learning with a self-guided multimedia programmes. Participants were 135 third and fourth grade children who read a short English language story presented by a computer programme. For 12 key (previously unknown) words in the story, children received verbal annotations (written translation), visual annotations (picture representing the word), or both. Recall of word translations was better for children who only received verbal annotations than for children who received simultaneously visual and verbal annotations or visual annotations only. Results support previous research about cognitive load in e-learning environments, and show that children's learning processes are hindered by limited working memory. This finding implies a challenge for multimedia programmes designed for children and based on self-regulated learning.     

Does visualization affect monitoring accuracy,restudy choice,and comprehension scores of students in primary education?

In the present study, we investigated how 116 fourth and fifth grade students’ monitoring skills were associated with restudy choices and explored whether drawing was a useful intervention to improve monitoring accuracy, restudy choice, and comprehension scores. During the first session, all students read a text, judged their learning of the information within that text, selected paragraphs to reread, reread those parts, and then made another judgment of learning (JOL) before doing a post-test. Several significant correlations were found between the various variables involved, such as higher JOLs before rereading related to fewer paragraphs being reread, and JOL-accuracy after rereading was positively correlated with the scores on the postreading questions. For the second session, students were split-up into three conditions: a control condition and two drawing conditions. In the long-drawing condition, students were allowed to draw throughout the whole second session, including post-test. In the brief-drawing condition participants only got to draw the first time they read the second text. We did not find significant differences on the postreading scores. The only differences we found were that the participants in the long drawing group were more accurate in their JOLs before rereading and selected more paragraphs to reread than the other two groups, and invested more mental effort in comparison to the other groups. Drawing more elements was positively correlated with the posttest scores and JOLs, whereas drawing more details was negatively correlated with posttest scores and did not correlate with JOLs. As students in the long drawing condition drew both more elements but also created more detail in those drawings compared to the short drawing condition, it is possible that the beneficial effects of creating drawings were cancelled out by the negative effects.     

Statement-Pie: a strategy to improve the paragraph writing skills of adolescents with learning disabilities

This study investigated the effects of teaching a metacognitive text structure strategy upon the paragraph writing skills of eighth-grade students with learning disabilities. The technique, called Statement-Pie (Hanau, 1974), teaches students to understand the relationship of supporting details to a main idea. Four students were taught to use an outline as a paragraph planning guide, which they then used to convert information into written expository paragraphs. All subjects reached instructional outcome criterion on the writing of comparison/contrast and sequence paragraphs. One week after reaching mastery in the special education classroom, students generalized their paragraph writing skills to other teachers and to different classrooms. The results of this investigation indicate that when provided with direct, intensive instruction in a text structure strategy, adolescents with learning disabilities can improve their skills in paragraph writing.     

What contributes to the split-attention effect? The role of text segmentation,picture labelling,and spatial proximity

In the split-attention effect spatial proximity is frequently considered to be pivotal. The transition from a spatially separated to a spatially integrated format not only involves changes in spatial proximity, but commonly necessitates text segmentation and picture labelling as well. In an experimental study, we investigated the influence of spatial proximity, text segmentation, and picture labelling on learning performance. A total of 165 students, divided into five groups, participated in the study. Four of the groups learned from spatially separated texts and pictures in a 2 × 2 design with the factors text segmentation (continuous vs. segmented text) and picture labelling (unlabelled vs. labelled picture). The fifth group learned from a spatially integrated text and picture. Retention and comprehension of the learning material were assessed. Students' working memory capacity and spatial ability were also assessed. The results replicated the split-attention effect with respect to retention only. This effect is attributed mainly to text segmentation and only partially to picture labelling. Spatial integration, however, did not enhance learning.     

Investigating the Use of Integrated Instructions to Reduce the Cognitive Load Associated with Doing Practical Work in Secondary School Science

This study investigated the effects of integrated illustrations on understanding instructions for practical work in science. Ninety‐six secondary school students who were unfamiliar with the target content knowledge and practical equipment took part. The students were divided into two conditions: (1) modified instructions containing integrated text and illustrations, and (2) conventional instructions containing text only. Modified instructions produced significantly higher levels of performance on task, lower time to completion and perceived cognitive load and task difficulty, higher relative efficiency score, and higher post‐test scores than the conventional instructions. When learners are inexperienced and the information is complex, the results suggest that physically integrating mutually referring sources of information reduces cognitive load, and therefore makes practical work instructions easier to understand.     

Do drawing tasks improve monitoring and control during learning from text?

In two experiments it was investigated how drawing as a monitoring task affects self-regulated learning and cognitive load. To this end, participants (Exp. 1: N = 73, Exp. 2: N = 69) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental condition, students were asked to read an expository text on the formation of polar lights consisting of five paragraphs, whereby, after each paragraph, they had to create a drawing of the text's content. In the control condition, students read the same text, but performed no drawing task. In both conditions, students had to give judgments of learning (JoLs) after each paragraph and after reading the whole text as well as rate their cognitive load. Then, they were asked to select paragraphs for restudy. In Experiment 1, participants continued with an assessment of their learning outcomes immediately after their restudy selection, whereas in Experiment 2 they were first given the opportunity to actually restudy the selected paragraphs before working on the posttest. Results of both experiments indicate that JoLs rather than cognitive load predicted posttest performance. Moreover, students in the drawing condition compared with the control condition exhibited more accurate (relative) monitoring in Experiment 1 in that their JoLs were more strongly related to performance. Moreover, JoLs predicted students' restudy decisions in both experiments; however, this effect was by-and-large independent of whether they had to draw. Overall, results hint towards the potential of drawing to support metacognitive monitoring.     

Learning from split-attention materials: Effects of teaching physical and mental learning strategies

Learners learn more from spatially separated text and pictures after they have been instructed to physically integrate these sources than without such an instruction. We investigated whether instructing learners to mentally integrate textual and pictorial information would yield similar results. Eighty-seven participants studied a picture with accompanying text about an electrical circuit. Text and picture were presented as spatially separated sources or in an integrated format. In the separated format, participants were instructed to use (1) a mental learning strategy, (2) a physical learning strategy, or (3) no learning strategy. Participants in the separated condition using a mental learning strategy and the integrated condition obtained higher recall and comprehension (but not causal inference) performance than participants in the separate conditions with the physical- or no learning strategy. This indicates that instructing learners to mentally integrate spatially separated text and pictures when studying split-attention material can be an effective learning strategy.     

Interest-enhancing approaches to mathematics curriculum design: Illustrations and personalization

Two common interest-enhancement approaches in mathematics curriculum design are illustrations and personalization of problems to students’ interests. The objective of these experiments is to test a variety of illustrations and personalization approaches. In the illustrations experiment, students (n?=?265) were randomly assigned to lessons with story problems containing decorative illustrations, contextual illustrations, diagrammatic illustrations, misleading illustrations, or no illustrations (only text [control condition]). Students’ problem-solving performance and attitudes were not affected by illustration condition, but learning was better in the control compared with contextual illustrations. In the personalization experiment, students (n?=?223) were randomly assigned to story problems that were either personalized based on: a survey of their interests, their choice of interest topics, a randomly assigned interest topic, or the original nonpersonalized story problem (control). The findings indicated there were benefits for choice personalization both for performance in the problem set as well as on a later learning assessment.