Interaction Design II:

“The Animation and Interactivity Principles in Multimedia Learning” by Mireille Betrancourt

The authors propose guidelines on when and how to design multimedia for instruction based on a review of the existing literature on the subject.

The scenarios that supports the use of animation include: When a phenomenon is not easily observable in real space and time; when the phenomenon is too dangerous or too costly to realize in a learning context; and when a concept is not inherently visual. Animation can also be used to enable learners to explore a phenomenon.

The author asserts that in many cases the inclusion of animation does not add any benefit as compared with static graphics. Cases where animation does prove helpful, are:

• When animation requires user input to help learners make predictions about the behavior of a system and reach a deeper understanding
• When users have control over the pace of animation. This allows learners to process a continuous flow of information without experiencing cognitive load. Keep in mind, however, that novices often do not have sufficient knowledge to identify the most significant parts of an animation in order to monitor control effectively.

Other guideslines that designers should follow include:

• Ensure contiguity between verbal and graphic information and use signaling to reinforce important information and logical links.
• Consider differences in expertise and in visua-spatial abilities. Novices are assisted by animation in order to formulate a mental model, while experts already have a mental model developed.
• Guide learners’ attention to important information using arrows or highlighting, as novices tend to focus their attention on perceptually salient information.

Animations require a great deal of cognitive load to comprehend and may not elicit any benefit as compared to static graphics. Two conditions should be considered when decided whether to use animation:

• If the phenomenon depicted involves change over time and it can be assumed that learners would not be able to infer the transitions between static steps.
• Learners are novices and cannot form a mental model independently, or if constructing a mental model would required excessive cognitive load.

The author derives five design principles of instruction animation from literature and research:

1. Apprehension principle: additional cosmetic features unnecessary to understanding a phenomenon should be removed from representations; graphic objects should follow the conventional graphic representations in the domain.
2. Congruence Principle: changes in the animation should map changes in the conceptual model: not changes in actual behavior of the phenomenon.
3. Interactivity Principle: Information is better understood if the animation gives learners control over the pace of animation.
4. Attention-Guiding Principle: It is important to guide learners in understanding an animation using perceptually salient features.
5. Flexibility Principle: Instructional materials should include options to activate animation on command.