The influence of multimodal 3D visualizations on learning acquisition

Abstract

The present research addressed a critical barrier constantly facing developers and instructors involved in interactive web-based teaching. Participants were assigned to different multimodal training conditions (visual-, auditory-, audiovisual-modality, or no training) to learn and free recall a list of 14 terms associated with construction of a wood-frame house. The audiovisual- and visual-modality training conditions displayed comparable accuracy rates, while the auditory-modality training condition revealed lower accuracy, and the no-training condition exhibited little or no learning acquisition. The process of simultaneously exposing learners to interactive dynamic visualizations and prompting them to attend to information through the pragmatic use of audio cues reduced memory load, and in turn facilitated memory recall. Findings provided constructive feedback on the efficacy and usability of three-dimensional (3D)dynamic visualizations in web-based distance education, and implementations for future development of human-computer user interfaces to optimize engineering design effectiveness. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.