The impact of animation interactivity on novices' learning of introductory statistics

This study examined the impact of animation interactivity on novices' learning of introductory statistics. The interactive animation program used in this study was created with Adobe Flash following Mayer's multimedia design principles as well as Kristof and Satran's interactivity theory. This study was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there any difference in achievement improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 2) Is there any difference in confidence improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 3) Is there any difference in program perception among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? This study was a one-way design where the independent variable was animation interactivity. In addition to a control group (Static Group) which was provided with only static materials, there were three groups with different levels of animation interactivity: 1) animation with simple interactivity (Simple Animation Group), 2) animation with input manipulation (Input Group), and 3) animation with practice and feedback (Practice Group). A sample of 123 college students participated in the study and was randomly assigned into four groups. The students used the animation program in the computer lab and then took online surveys and tests for evaluation. The subject matter of the animation program was on Principles of Hypothesis Testing (concepts of the type I error, type II error and p-value), a difficult topic for novice learners. The data collected in this study included 1) achievement and confidence pre-test scores, 2) achievement and confidence post-test scores, and 3) program perception scores. The Web log data was recorded as an additional qualitative source. The data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis (MANOVA) and univariate analysis (ANOVA). The findings were as follows: 1) Animation interactivity impacted students' improvement on understanding (p = .006) and lower-level applying (p = .042), and 2) animation interactivity did not significantly impact student confidence and program perception. Students' lack of cognitive skills and the time limit might decrease the effect of the interactive animation. This study hoped to broaden theories on interactive learning and serve as a reference for future statistics curriculum designers and textbook publishers.

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