Manipulating Multimedia: How Gestural Control Impacts Attention and Learning

• In Event: 61.086 - Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: 61.086-11 - Gesture, Graphing, Tablets, Assessment, Games, and Engagement

Abstract

In this study, 37 elementary school students used iPads to view a multimedia presentation on a scientific topic. In one condition the students controlled the pacing of textual information, but only watched an accompanying simulation (passive condition) while in the other condition controlled both pacing and the simulation through a conceptually congruent gesture (gesture condition). Eye-tracking data from 11 students provided evidence that students in the gesture condition engaged in off-task behaviors for significantly shorter period of time than those in the passive condition. While neither condition performed better on a post-test of comprehension, students in the gesture condition inferred the main idea of the presentation better than student in the passive condition at a marginally significant level.

Authors

• Benjamin Paul Friedman, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Alison Lee, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Lenin Compres, Teachers College, Columbia University

• John B. Black, Teachers College, Columbia University