Elsevier

Learning and Instruction

Volume 17, Issue 6, December 2007, Pages 722-738
Learning and Instruction

Instructional animation versus static pictures: A meta-analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.013Get rights and content

Abstract

A meta-analysis of 26 primary studies, yielding 76 pair-wise comparisons of dynamic and static visualizations, reveals a medium-sized overall advantage of instructional animations over static pictures. The mean weighted effect size on learning outcome is d = 0.37 (95% CI 0.25–0.49). Moderator analyses indicate even more substantial effect sizes when the animation is representational rather than decorational (d = 0.40, 95% CI 0.26–0.53), when the animation is highly realistic, e.g., video-based (d = 0.76, 95% CI 0.39–1.13), and/or when procedural-motor knowledge is to be acquired (d = 1.06, 95% CI 0.72–1.40). The results are in line with contemporary theories of cognitive load and multimedia learning, and they have practical implications for instructional design.

Introduction

In recent years there has been a lengthy debate about the opportunities for using animation in learning and instruction. The enthusiasm of the first years, in which the potential of dynamic visualization seemed to be boundless, gave way to a more pragmatic view. In particular, the review of Tversky, Morrison, and Bétrancourt (2002) influenced the instructional designers' community. The authors showed that animations often had no advantages over still pictures; but if they had, it was because more information was available in the animated than in the static version. Due to this result, the focus turned to the question of when dynamic displays are more effective in learning than static ones (Hegarty, 2004).

While there are many promising approaches to identifying such conditions (e.g., Ainsworth and VanLabeke, 2004, ChanLin, 2001, Lowe, 1999), there has been no systematic collection of these research results as yet. The present meta-analysis of 76 pair-wise comparisons of static pictures versus animations attempts to identify the factors responsible for successful learning with animations. In addition, it presents a comprehensive survey of studies comparing these two forms of visualization, and it analyzes which form may be superior in learning outcomes under what conditions.

Section snippets

The effect of pictures on learning outcome

Even though the research on learning with pictures has been conducted from different theoretical perspectives (see Levie and Lentz, 1982, Levin et al., 1987, Lewalter, 1997, Weidenmann, 2002), recent cognitive theories like Mayer's “Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning” (Mayer, 2001, Mayer, 2005) or Schnotz's “Integrative Model of Text and Picture Comprehension” (Schnotz, 2005) can be used to describe and explain the results of a large number of studies. Mayer's theory, for example, regards

Method

In the present study, a meta-analysis was conducted following methods developed by Glass, McGaw, and Smith (1981) and Hedges and Olkin (1985). Its goals are to integrate the findings of a large number of studies, to calculate overall-effects and to identify possible moderator variables (Lipsey & Wilson, 2001). Specifically, we attempted to find overall-effects of instructional animations compared to static pictures on learning outcomes. Furthermore, factors or variables moderating the effect

Characteristics of the sample

Twenty-six studies yielding 76 pair-wise comparisons of learning outcome differences between instructional animations and static pictures were included in the meta-analysis. The selected studies were published between 1973 and 2003, but only three of them were published before 1980, when the technological potentials of computer-based learning environments were very restricted. Only 6 out of 26 studies used video-clips in contrast to static pictures; the other studies compared computer-based

Summary and discussion

In the present meta-analysis, 76 pair-wise comparisons out of 26 studies comparing the instructional effectiveness of animations with static pictures were included. Five comparative questions will be used to summarize the results.

Conclusion

The present meta-analysis is an attempt to bring some objectivity into a field of research that is still quite difficult to survey. With a mean weighted effect size of d = 0.37 and a 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, from 0.25 to 0.49, we found a rather substantial overall advantage of animations over static pictures, and this advantage becomes particularly evident under specific combinations of instructionally relevant circumstances.

There is evidence that animations are specifically superior to

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