Do the Details of Diagrams Influence How Far Students Generalize? (Poster 20)

• In Event: Saturday Poster Session 9:35 am
  In Poster Session: Learning Sciences SIG Poster Session 2: Co-Design, Math, Science, and Language Learning

Abstract

Prior work has found that people might learn better with rich concrete visualizations, but they generalize more broadly with bland abstract visualizations. However, they used expert judgement to define which items count as learning and generalization, which might not align with the perceptions of novices. I recruited 240 undergraduate students to learn about metamorphosis with a rich or bland diagram, and determine the similarity of the items. I found that, immediately and after a month delay, participants were more likely to extend the concept of metamorphosis to similar animals if they learned with the rich diagram, but to dissimilar animals if they learned with the bland diagram. This work highlights how student’s perceived similarity of items influences generalization.

Author

• David Menendez, University of California - Santa Cruz