Can animations effectively substitute for traditional teaching methods? Part I: preparation and testing of materials

Abstract

Two animations, one focused on the macroscopic phenomena and particulate conception of the three states of matter and the effects of heat on these states, and the other on solution formation and solubility were produced using Adobe Flash MX software. The first was designed for and tested on elementary school (3 rd -5 th grade) students. The second was tested on secondary school chemistry students. The materials were prepared according to established multimedia learning design guidelines. A pre-and post-test study was used to compare the learning gains of the students who received the animations with those who received textbook reading time and discussion in class. The pre-and post-test data indicate that while both groups showed learning gains regardless of the provided mode of instruction, those who received the animations obtained higher scores than the control group.

Teaching two basic nanotechnology concepts in secondary school by using a variety of teaching methods

“…Using simulations instead of traditional teaching (Gregorius et al, 2010) and a variety of teaching methods in the nanotechnology lessons may lead to a positive change in their chemistry lessons as well. When they begin to teach a new subject they had never taught, they are more likely and willing to adopt new pedagogical approaches.…”

How Does the Order of Viewing Two Computer Animations of the Same Oxidation-Reduction Reaction Affect Students’ Particulate-Level Explanations?

“…Research evaluating the effectiveness of computer animations depicting the behavior of atoms, molecules, and ions has shown that these visualization techniques can improve students' particulate-level explanations of chemical phenomena (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). In his review of the chemical education research involving the use of computer animations, Sanger (14) summarized the evidence for the effectiveness of particulate-level computer animations compared to instruction without particulate drawings and to instruction with static particulate drawings, and found that although computer animations can sometimes introduce new misconceptions, these animations appear to be useful in helping students to develop particulate-level understanding of many chemical reactions.…”

Representational challenges in animated chemistry: self-generated animations as a means to encourage students’ reflections on sub-micro processes in laboratory exercises

“…A drawback of static representations is that they do not directly visualise the motion of molecules or how chemical systems change over time (Williamson and Abraham, 1995;Akaygun, 2004, 2005;Suits and Sanger, 2013;McElhaney et al, 2015). Accordingly, animations have become particularly valuable to represent these aspects (Russell et al, 1997;Sanger and Greenbowe, 2000;Yang et al, 2004;Tasker and Dalton, 2006;Gregorius et al, 2010aGregorius et al, , 2010bJones, 2013;Levy, 2013;McElhaney et al, 2015). Importantly, they can support students in connecting the macro and sub-micro levels (Williamson and Abraham, 1995;Dori et al, 2003;Kelly et al, 2004;Kelly and Jones, 2008;Barak and Hussein-Farraj, 2013).…”