Background: Gestures are an integral component in human-to-human communication when the speaker is visually present to the listener. In the past several years, research has examined how computer-generated pedagogical agents can be designed to perform the four main gesture types and what this means for agent persona and learning outcomes. The…

Background: There are only few guidelines on how instructional videos should be designed to optimize learning. Recently, the effects of social cues on attention allocation and learning in instructional videos have been investigated. Due to inconsistent results, it has been suggested that the visual complexity of a video influences the effect of…

Background: Being easy to learn and fun, block-based programming tools are widely used to teach students introductory programming. Scratch and LEGO robots are two popular block-based programming tools. However, the objects they manipulate are completely different. Scratch manipulates graphical virtual sprites, whereas LEGO robots manipulate…

Background: Learning to use software using screencast videos with worked examples in the corresponding practice files presents a classic split-attention problem that requires learners to mentally integrate information from the video with a target application. While there is evidence that splitting attention either temporally or spatially adversely…

Background: The most challenging task in eye-tracking-based multimedia research is to establish a relationship between eye-tracking metrics (or cognitive processes) and learners' performance scores. Additionally, there are current debates about the effectiveness of animations (or simulations) in promoting learning in multimedia settings.…

Background: During digital reading on internet-connected devices, students may be exposed to a variety of on-screen distractions. Learning by reading can therefore become a fragmented experience with potentially negative consequences for reading processes and outcomes. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of on-screen distractions, as…

Recent studies exploring the effects of dynamic visualizations on learning compared with static visualizations have yielded mixed results. Procedural motor learning is one of the few fields in which dynamic representations have shown to be effective. Many of the studies have suggested that this advantage is mainly due to the activation of the…

Educational video games can impose high cognitive demands on its users. Two studies were conducted to examine the cognitive process involved in playing an educational digital game. Study 1 examined the effects of users' working memory capacity and gaming expertise on attention and comprehension of the educational messages. The results showed that…