Search of the Emotional Design Effect in Programming Revised

Abstract

In this paper, we validate and extend previous findings on using emotional design in online learning materials by using a randomized controlled trial in the context of a partially-online university level programming course. For students who did not master the content beforehand, our results echo previous observations: emotional design material was not perceived more favourably, while materials' perceived quality was correlated with learning outcomes. Emotionally designed material lead to better learning outcomes per unit of time, but it didn't affect students navigation in the material. 1 EMOTIONAL DESIGN IN ONLINE LEARNING With the increasing distribution-both spatial and temporal-of learning that is both allowed for and caused by online learning, the role of the lecturer is largely overtaken by the online learning material. In the light of the effect of emotions on learning outcomes [9], it seems reasonable to expect that eliciting an emotional response from the students with the online learning material would be similarly beneficial. Indeed, this can been achieved by what is known as emotional design of (online) learning materials, often defined as "redesigning the graphics [...] to enhance the level of personification and visual appeal of the essential elements in the lesson" [6]. The use of emotional design in on-line learning has gained wide attraction in the recent years [11, 10, 8, 5, 7, 4]. The effect of text-accompanying images on learning has been studied for decades, with a multitude of results that are somewhat hard to interpret as a whole. However the general trend seems to be that properly chosen textaccompanying images can result in better learning outcomes for students [3]. At the same time, even subject matter experts have trouble identifying problems students might have with certain text-image combinations [2]. This indicates that the interactions between the text and the accompanying visuals are complex and hard to understand. As Haaranen et al. after applying emotional