Effects of Animation & Visuals on Learning High School Mathematics

Abstract

Animation, still graphics, and text only were compared for their effects on the acquisition of the mathematics skill of using a compass to create triangles. Attitude toward instruction was also studied. It was hypothesized that animation would result in greater achievement of the learning task, and that text alone would yield the lowest achievement. The same hypotheses were posed for attitude toward mathematics instruction by computer. The computer-based instruction used a single lesson from a tenth-grade mathematics curriculum. Subjects were 147 undergraduate elementary education majors in a mathematics teaching methods course. Subjects who studied the animated lesson scored significantly higher than those using the still graphics. They, in turn, scored above those using only text. Attitude scores were equivalent for animation and still graphics groups, but were lower for the text only group. Recommendations are made for the use of graphics and animation in mathematics instruction. Two tables and one figure illustrate the discussion.