How do animations and simulations have to be designed in order to be educationally effective? This paper will review research on learning from dynamic visualizations and present findings related to visual design and interaction design of animations and simulations. In the past we were limited to images that, once drawn, could not be altered; today we have tools allowing us to view animations, visualizations that play at a constant rate and rigid sequence that cannot be altered by the viewer. Because these dynamic visual environments are gaining increasing importance for the representation of complex ideas and communication of our thoughts in higher education as well as in professional settings, we are interested in empirically validated design principles that assure their educational effectiveness.
In studies on the effectiveness of animations and simulations, researchers initially asked how these dynamic visualizations compared to learning from other visual representations, such as static images. Although such media comparison research has come under strong criticism a recent meta-analysis of 26 studies comparing dynamic and static visualizations conducted by Hoffler and Leutner revealed a medium-sized overall advantage of dynamic over static visualizations. The analysis further revealed that dynamic visualizations are more effective than static visualizations only when they are of a representational rather than decorative nature. The analysis also showed a larger benefit of dynamic over static visualizations when the target knowledge was procedural motor knowledge rather than procedural or declarative knowledge.
Additional principles for information design of simulations and animations that can be derived from the literature include the cueing principle, which has previously been established and is presented in a revised form, the representation type principle, the color coding principle, and the integration of multiple dynamic visual representations principle. He effect of the representation type of the information can be explained by cognitive load theory, which predicts that processing depictive information requires less mental effort than processing descriptive information as depictive information (i.e., icons and pictures) by definition relate directly to their referent, whereas descriptive information (i.e., symbols and words) need to be interpreted before they can be integrated with other information. Yet, only very limited empirical data is available that describes the educational effectiveness and cognitive load implications of these functions of multiple representations for simulations and animations. needs to more systematically investigate features of effective design of visual learning materials and integrate cognitive, cultural, as well as neuroscience approaches, as described in the following section. One aspect of such research with a focus on dynamic visual representations is the interaction design.
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