Abstract
This study, the purpose of which is to determine an efficient instructional design for different levels of spatial abilities, investigates: (1) the main effects of visual treatments in simulation environments on comprehension and the transfer of chemistry knowledge and (2) the interaction effects of the visual treatments and the learners' spatial abilities. Two hundred and fifty-seven middle school students were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions. The results indicated: (1) a significant main effect of the treatment condition for both comprehension (p < 0.001) and transfer (p < 0.005) tests, where the treatment group performed better than the control group and (2) a significant interaction effect (p < 0.05) between the instructional treatment conditions and level of spatial ability for the comprehension test: Low spatial ability learners performed better in the treatment group than in the control group, whereas high spatial ability learners performed similarly regardless of the instructional conditions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 467-479 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Instructional Science |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2007 |
Keywords
- Instructional design
- Multimedia learning
- Spatial ability