The Effects of Animated and Static Concept Map on Students’ Learning Performance in Chemistry

Primary author: Oluwafemi Sunday
Co-author(s): Olusola Adesope; Rachel Wong; Krista Nishida
Faculty sponsor: Olusola Adesope

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Research in concept maps has shown that they facilitate meaningful learning. Although there is overwhelming research evidence showing that animations are better for learning than static concept maps, many of such studies have been conducted in laboratory settings. Hence, there is little understanding of the instructional efficacy of using animated over static concept maps in ecologically-valid environments. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effects of animated and static concept maps on students’ learning performance in a large undergraduate chemistry classroom. Previous research shows that animated concept maps produced no advantage over static concept map when spoken narration was provided to guide learning. In this experiment, we examined the effectiveness of animated and static concept maps on students’ chemistry learning performance in the absence of spoken narration using a 2 (animated/static) x 2 (map/text) factorial design. Students (N = 564) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Learning performance was measured via immediate and delayed posttests. Results show that the animated concept map group did not significantly outperform the static concept map group. This finding shows that animated and static concept maps are effective for learning as participants in both conditions were better able to integrate and process concepts learned in coherent manner regardless of concept map types. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.