The effects of computer animation on adult learning and retrieval tasks
Journal of Computer Based Instruction
Assessing dynamics in computer-based instruction
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
External cognition: how do graphical representations work?
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
On designing comprehensible interactive hypermedia manuals
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Multimedia instruction: lessons from evaluation of a theory-based design
Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia
Animated demonstrations for learning procedural computer-based tasks
Human-Computer Interaction
Reasoning visually about spatial interactions
IJCAI'91 Proceedings of the 12th international joint conference on Artificial intelligence - Volume 1
An empirical study of narrative imagery in implicit and explicit contexts
Computers in Human Behavior
Twelve years of diagrams research
Journal of Visual Languages and Computing
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Static mixed-mode presentations consisting of verbal explanations illustrated with diagrams have long been used to communicate information. With the advent of multimedia, such presentations have become dynamic, by migrating from paper to the computer and by adding interactivity and animation. The conventional wisdom is that computer-based multimedia presentations are better than printed presentations. However, does the communicative power of mixed-mode representations stem from their careful design to match cognitive processes involved in comprehension or from their interactive and animated nature? This is an important issue that has never been investigated. This paper first presents a cognitive model of comprehension of mixed-mode representations. We describe how this model generates design guidelines for mixed-mode representations that present expository material in two domains - the concrete domain of mechanical systems and the abstract domain of computer algorithms. We then report on a series of studies that compared computer-based interactive multimedia presentations and their paper-based counterparts. Both were designed in accordance with the comprehension model and were compared against each other and against competing representational forms such as books, CD-ROMs, and animations. These studies indicate that the effectiveness of mixed-mode presentations has more to do with their match with comprehension processes than the medium of presentation. In other words, benefits of interactivity and animation are likely being overstated in the current milieu of fascination with multimedia.