Static/animated diagrams and their effect on students perceptions of conceptual understanding in computer aided learning (CAL) environments

This study investigated the affect of static/animated diagrams on conceptual understanding. Conceptual understanding was defined as the objective accuracy of reported test answers and confidence estimates for perceived understanding. Subjects were asked to view either a static or animated diagram of a toilet flushing and refilling and were later asked to answer three questions and provide confidence estimates of their performance for each question. There was no significant difference between the two conditions for two test questions, the final test question found significantly higher scores for the static condition. Confident estimates reported by users were however affected by the diagrammatic display. Those in the animated condition consistently overestimated their test performance whilst those in the static condition consistently underestimated. These results suggest that the use of animated/static diagrams in educational environments should be treated with caution and that measures of confidence estimates may provide an insight into subjects' perceptions of their own conceptual learning in a CAL environment.