Learner Control Influences Instructional Efficiency When Learning With a Pedagogical Agent

• In Event: 58.066 - Evaluating Multimedia Learning and Instructional Design Principles

Abstract

The amount of control a learner should have over their multimedia learning environment has long been debated. In this study, we examine the influence of varied levels of learner control when viewing an instructional video containing a pedagogical agent. Pedagogical agents are virtual characters embedded in learning environments with the goal of increasing the social and pedagogical affordances of the environment. The results of a randomized pretest-posttest three group experiment showed that increasing learner control was not associated with more instructionally efficient conditions. Rather, the condition with limited learner control was consistently more instructionally efficient (d > .62, p < .05) than the either the system-paced condition or the condition with additional learner control across three different measures.

Authors

• Noah L. Schroeder, Wright State University

• Scotty D. Craig, Arizona State University

• Joshua Chin, Arizona State University