The role of diagrammatic representation in learning sequences,identification and classification as a function of verbal and spatial ability

Grade 9 subjects learned the evolutionary sequence of dinosaurs and to classify them by type. Instruction was by menas of flow diagrams that showed the evolutionary sequence running across the page either from left to right or reversed from right to left, with or without drawings of dinosaurs. It was found that subjects seeing left-right ordered diagrams scored better on tests of sequence and classification than those seeing reversed diagrams. Also, the addition of drawings helped subjects identify dinosaurs by type. Verbal ability predicted learning as a function of treatment. Spatial ability did not. However, some evidence was found that high-spatial low-verbal subjects could classify the animals equally well from normal-order or reversed diagrams, while high-verbal subjects who were also low-spatial could classify them better if they had seen normal-order diagrams. These results suggest that diagrams provide different types of information and that learners may process each type differently.