Strategies and Learner Characteristics that Make Instructional Animations Effective

Abstract

This review paper examines the research literature into the effectiveness of instructional animations. It uses arguments from cognitive psychology to explain how the transitory nature of animations (information disappears before the learner has time to process it) prevents them from being more effective than static presentations under certain conditions. Learner-control, segmenting, signaling, and gesturing strategies are proposed as methods to deal with transience and facilitate better learning. It is also argued that specific learning content, such as human motor skills, are more suited to animations, because of evolutionary advantages. Humans have evolved to imitate the movement of other humans. Finally it is argued how various combinations of learner characteristics (prior knowledge, spatial ability, and gender) moderate the effectiveness of animations. A number of instructional implications flow from this review.