Evaluation of Educational Animations: Taxonomy and Recommendations

Animations can communicate movement, changes in status, and various other temporal changes more effectively than static images. The potential for the use of computer animations in training and education in laboratory settings is tremendous. For example, algorithm animations have been used in computer science to make visible the essential steps of an algorithm. The need exists for a systematic approach to categorize and evaluate the effectiveness of an animation with respect to the subject matter. The goal of an animation is to communicate a message to the user. The effectiveness of the animation is determined by the extent to which its message is understood by the user. To facilitate evaluations of animations, a taxonomy is presented that outlines the critical elements of the interaction scenario, the objects, and the animations involved in a view. Suggestions for its use in evaluation of animation views accompany the taxonomy.

[1]  John T. Stasko.  Tango: A Framework and System for Algorithm Animation , 1990, Computer.

[2]  Ronald Baecker,et al.  Bringing icons to life , 1991, CHI.

[3]  Lloyd P. Rieber,et al.  The effects of computer animation on adult learning and retrieval tasks , 1990 .

[4]  Robert Duisberg,et al.  Animating Programs Using Smalltalk , 1985, Computer.

[5]  Austin Henderson,et al.  Rooms: the use of multiple virtual workspaces to reduce space contention in a window-based graphical user interface , 1986, TOGS.

[6]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  The future of interactive systems and the emergence of direct manipulation , 1982 .

[7]  George McCleary,et al.  An Effective Graphic "Vocabulary" , 1983, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[8]  Lloyd P. Rieber,et al.  Using Computer Animated Graphics in Science Instruction with Children , 1990 .

[9]  John T. Stasko,et al.  Assessing Program Visualization Systems as Instructional Aids , 1992, ICCAL.

[10]  B. Marx.  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information , 1985 .

[11]  John D. Gould,et al.  How to design usable systems , 1995 .

[12]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction , 1998 .

[13]  R. Shepard.  Recognition memory for words, sentences, and pictures , 1967 .

[14]  Jock D. Mackinlay,et al.  Rapid controlled movement through a virtual 3D workspace , 1990, SIGGRAPH.

[15]  Lloyd P. Rieber,et al.  Animation, incidental learning, and continuing motivation , 1991 .

[16]  Kenneth N. Lodding,et al.  Iconic Interfacing , 1983, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[17]  R. A. Duisberg,et al.  Animated graphical interfaces using temporal constraints , 1986, CHI '86.

[18]  John Hershberger,et al.  Color and sound in algorithm animation , 1992, Computer.

[19]  L. Standing.  Learning 10000 pictures , 1973 .

[20]  M. H. Brown.  Perspectives on algorithm animation , 1988, CHI '88.

[21]  David Gittins,et al.  Icon-Based Human-Computer Interaction , 1986, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[22]  Donald E. Knuth,et al.  Sorting and Searching , 1973 .

[23]  L. Standing.  Learning 10,000 pictures. , 1973, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[24]  Edward R. Tufte,et al.  Envisioning Information , 1990 .

[25]  Stephen J. Westerman,et al.  Individual differences in human-computer interaction , 1993 .

[26]  M. Pressley.  Imagery and Children’s Learning: Putting the Picture in Developmental Perspective , 1977 .

[27]  Robert Sedgewick,et al.  Techniques for Algorithm Animation , 1985, IEEE Software.

[28]  Lloyd P. Rieber,et al.  Animation in computer-based instruction , 1990 .

[29]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages , 1983, Computer.

[30]  E. Helttula,et al.  Graphical specification of algorithm animations with ALADDIN , 1989, [1989] Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Volume II: Software Track.

[31]  Marc H. Brown,et al.  Exploring algorithms using Balsa-II , 1988, Computer.

[32]  John D. Gould.  Chapter 35 – How to Design Usable Systems , 1988 .

[33]  Gerald M. Murch.  Physiological principles for the effective use of color , 1984, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[34]  Daniel Thalmann,et al.  Computer animation - theory and practice , 1985, Computer science workbench.

[35]  Tyler Blake,et al.  Motion in Instructional Media: Some Subject-Display Mode Interactions , 1977 .

[36]  Louis M. Gomez,et al.  Learning to Use a Text Editor: Some Learner Characteristics That Predict Success , 1986, Hum. Comput. Interact..