The Influence of Representational Formats and Learner’s Modality Preferences When Learning with Interactive Animated Demonstrations
Abstract: This study investigated the influence of representational formats and learner’s modality preferences for learning computer-based tasks using animated demonstration (AD) on instructional efficiency. Instructional efficiency was a combined effect of time-on-task during the learning phase and test performance. The effects of non-interactive versus interactive (learner-pacing) were examined in different representational formats of a web-based learning environment. Four instruction formats were developed for comparison: (1) non-interactive static + on-screen text; (2) interactive static + on-screen text; (3) interactive AD + spoken narration; and (4) interactive AD + on-screen text. A possible impact moderated by learner’s modality preference for processing information was also investigated. Approximately 179 participants were classified as visual, auditory, read/write, and multimodal based on their VARK questionnaire. They were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions in a 4 x 4 between-subjects factorial design. The findings offer suggestions for designing effective ADs for learning computer-based tasks.