Augmenting Worked-Out Examples by Pictorial Representations: When Do They Aid Learning?

In this paper we investigate the effects of different kinds of computer-based visualizations on the acquisition of problemsolving skills in the domain of probability theory. Learners received either purely text-based worked examples, text plus an instruction to mentally imagine the examples’ contents, or they could retrieve either static pictures or concrete animations that depicted the problem statement and the problem states achieved by applying a specific solution step. It could be shown that frequently using static pictures or imagining the examples’ contents both improved problem-solving performance. However, there were no positive effects of using animations. Rather, the frequent use of animations led to substantial increases in learning time, while it slightly decreased performance at the same time. Thus, the use of concrete animations to visualize solution procedures was more harming than helpful for conveying problem-solving skills.