Two experiments are reported that investigated the relative effectiveness of a realistic dynamic visualization as opposed to a schematic visualization for learning about cell replication (mitosis). In Experiment 1, 37 university students watched either realistic or schematic visualizations. Students' subjective task demands ratings as well as…

New technologies enable flexible combinations of text and interactive or non-interactive pictures. The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) whether adding pictures to texts is generally beneficial for learning or whether it can also have detrimental effects, (b) how interactivity of pictures affects learning, (c) whether the…

Studied the extent to which collaborative knowledge construction can be fostered by providing students with visualization tools as structural support. Results for 32 college students working in dyads show that providing a content-specific visualization tool improves both the process and the outcome of the cooperative effort. (SLD)