Interaction Design III:

“The Cognitive Benefits of Interactive Videos: Learning to Tie Nautical Knots,” by Stephan Schwan and Roland Riempp

In their experiment, the authors aim to shed light on the relative impact of interactive vs. non-interactive video on the learning process.

The authors distinguish interactive media (i.e. “new media”) from non-interactive media as having the following characteristics:

• Non-linear structure (i.e. Hypertextuality)
• Consisting of multiple symbol systems
• Promoting interactivity and user control to determine what and how information is presented

The authors aspire to gauge the impact of interactivity and user control on learning. They state that a major advantage of media over direct experience lies in the ability “to intentionally shape, arrange, and optimize information with regard to the cognitive apparatus of its recipients” (295). Instructional designers can project only the information that is necessary for learning and leave out extraneous content thereby reducing germane cognitive load. On the flip side, if a presentation model is adopted where learners cannot pace a presentation in accordance with their cognitive skills, prior domain knowledge and metacognitive strategies, recipients may experience cognitive load anyway. By introducing interactivity in the learning context, the interplay of internal and external activities on the side of the learner is profoundly impacted. Kirsch and Maglio (1994), underscore the cognitive impact of user control on learning, stating that mental processes may be facilitated by reducing the number of mental processing steps. Others argue that interactive features increase the number of activities that learners must understand, thereby increasing cognitive load and outweighing the benefits of interactivity. The authors’ experiment hopes to shed light on the relative impact of interactivity given these contrasting arguments.

The experiment required learners to sit through 8 videos (2 X 4 factorial design). Four of the eight videos were interactive in nature and illustrated how to tie four types of nautical knots ranging in difficulty from easiest to most complex. The remaining four were non-interactive, illustrating how to tie each of the same knots. In the interactive videos learners could stop, rewind, fast-forward and view clips in slow-motion. The learner could stop the video midway through the video and practice. Learners were not allowed to control the non-interactive videos and could only practice each knot after viewing the entire video in full.

The results of the experiment illustrated that the inclusion of interactivity accelerated the process of skill acquisition. Learners made heavy use of the interactive features provided to reduce cognitive load, especially in the case of more difficult knots. Learners actively strategized to use interactivity to adapt the visual information to their cognitive processing needs. These processing needs were individual in nature, as indicated by the wide variance in viewing times across participants. Learning also proceeded in a more efficient manner because the interactive version allowed for learning to occur in line with the cognitive needs of the individual.