Dynamic visualizations and learning: getting to the difficult questions

Recent advances in information technology and graphics have made it possible to produce powerful visualizations of scientific phenomena and more abstract information (Card, Mackinlay, & Schneiderman, 1999; Spence, 2001). With these developments, we can easily present diagrams as static or animated, and we can present images as still photographs or video clips. Furthermore, with developments in hypermedia systems and interactive interfaces, we can create documents that allow students to browse the information in any order, rather than being constrained by the linear ordering of information in printed books. Computer microworlds, in which students can make predictions and evaluate hypotheses by interacting with powerful simulations of scientific phenomena, are becoming more prevalent in educational programs. There has been much excitement about the potential of these new dynamic visualizations for improving education and training. This is perhaps not surprising, because the same claims have been made about every new technology developed in the last century. For example, when the motion picture, radio, and television were invented, each was hailed as the answer to solving educational problems (Cuban, 1986; Mayer, 1999). The following quote from Thomas Edison about the development of the motion picture could just as likely be made by many proponents of dynamic visualization today.