Impact of static graphics, animated graphics and mental imagery on a complex learning task - Book Report/Review Example

Impact of static graphics, animated graphics and mental imagery on a complex learning task This article, written by Feng-Qi Lai and Timothy Newby (2012) reports on a study conducted to evaluate the impact of animated graphics on learning a task. The main aim of the study was to examine when graphics are used to enhance learning and the types of graphics used. The study compared and examined three types of graphics: learner produced, static and animated One hundred and eighty five native English speaking undergraduate students from Midwestern University took part in the study.

The participants were divided into five groups: the one control group did not use graphic aids and the other remaining groups received different treatments. Chinese radicals were used as the subject content. Immediate and delayed post-tests were used to measure the learners’ achievements. Adobe Authorware software was used to design the instruction used in the study. The implementation process involved the participants scheduling for the Chinese radical lessons followed by the immediate post-test and the delayed post-test.

The analysis to determine whether or not there were differences in the scores of these different groups was done using the one-way ANOVA. The analysis showed that for the immediate post-test results, the four experimental groups performed better than the control group. No significant differences were noted when the four experiment groups were compared. The delayed post-test results showed a significant difference between the control group and a majority of the experimental group. Between tests analysis showed that all groups posted better performance in the immediate post-test than the delayed test.

According to the authors, the results show that the treatments involving graphics and graphical imagery contributed to high post test performance. In addition, animated graphics were also found to have the same effect. Furthermore, the authors noted that the delayed post-test results reduced significantly since the participants did not have a chance to repeat the training and review sessions. However, this decline was found to be affected by the types of graphics used. The authors concluded that animated presentations of the Chinese graphics generally help to facilitate learning.

The static graphics yield higher scores both for immediate and delayed post tests compared to other types of graphics. Works CitedLai, Feng-Qi and Newby, Timothy. “Impact of static graphics, animated graphics and mental imagery on a complex learning task.” Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2012, 28(1), 91-104