Animation vs. Still Imagery
Discussion
1. Which video gave you a deeper understanding of heart function?
2. Still imagery has a place in instructional video. So does animation. When is it most beneficial to use animation? When is it beneficial to use simple still imagery? Explain
The Research
Some concepts, namely those in science make more sense in a video if they were presented as animations rather than still images (Pekdag & Francois, 2010). Take the human heart for example. Showing an image of the heart is helpful in some cases like in the identification of parts, but in real life, it is not a static image; it is constantly flexing and relaxing. In order for students to create a proper schema of how a human heart operates, an animation is necessary. Similarly, some math, physics, or chemistry problems should also be presented in motion. Showing a worked example as a still image might not be as helpful as walking through it step-by-step. In a survey of chemistry students who watched a variety of problem-solving videos, the most helpful parts for them were step-by-step explanations (Richards-Babb, Curtis, Smith & Mingming, 2014). Certain science phenomenon, mathematic processes, and anything else that is naturally in motion should be displayed in motion for students to understand it properly.