Visualisation and animation in a CAL package: Anchors or misconceptions?

Abstract

Various studies have shown that visualisation and animation in CAL packages offer students with effective 'conceptual anchors' to hook their thinking onto. This paper examines the role of these visual representations of a CAL package in an economics course, and argues for the design and organisation of instructional activities to exploit the cognitive opportunities and address the limitations of these representations. In other words, a holistic approach to visualisation and animation is required to serve as conceptual anchors rather than sources of misconceptions.