The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of interactive online learning tools on college student learning using flow as the guiding perspective. Study 1 was conducted to test the effect of online interactivity manipulated by dynamic visual learning tools on student's flow experience, level of telepresence, actual performance on tests,…

In view of potential demand for skilled engineers and competent researchers in the biofuels field, we have identified a significant gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education in chemical engineering. To help bridge this gap, we created educational materials that systematically integrate biofuels technologies into…

Adaptive e-Learning systems are able to adjust to a user's learning needs, usually by user modeling or tracking progress. Such learner-adaptive behavior has rapidly become a hot topic for e-Learning, furthered in part by the recent rapid increase in the use of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). A lack of general, individual, and situational data…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine if university students could accurately extract information from graphs presented in 2D or 3D formats with different colour hue variations or solid black and white. Design/methodology/approach: Participants are presented with 2D and 3D bar and pie charts in a PowerPoint presentation and are asked to…

This paper reviews research on learning from dynamic visual representations and offers principles for the design of animations and simulations that assure their educational effectiveness. In addition to established principles, new and revised design principle are presented that have been derived from recent research. Our review focuses on the…

Sensory overload and split attention result in reduced learning when instructors read slides with bullet points and complex graphs during a lecture. Conversely, slides containing relevant visual elements, when accompanied by instructor narration, use both the visual and verbal channels of a student's working memory, thus improving the chances of…

Understanding the user and customizing the interface to augment cognition and usability are goals of human computer interaction research and design. Yet, little is known about the influence of individual visual-verbal information presentation preferences on visual navigation and screen element usage. If consistent differences in visual navigation…

The biochemistry lecture is often the place where students receive the greatest exposure to the structural nature of biomolecules. The use of molecular visualization software and web-based animated tutorials has enhanced the way instructors teach this important area of structural biology. Using the software and tutorials in class is an excellent…