{"id":6263,"date":"2021-08-31T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=6263"},"modified":"2021-07-29T16:30:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T21:30:44","slug":"rich-or-bland-which-diagrams-helps-students-learn-deeply-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/rich-or-bland-which-diagrams-helps-students-learn-deeply-2\/","title":{"rendered":"“Rich” or “Bland”: Which Diagrams Helps Students Learn Deeply? [Reposted]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a practical question: should the diagrams we use with students be detailed, colorful, bright, <\/em>and specific<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Or, should they be simple, black and white, somewhat abstract<\/em>?<\/p>\n

We might reasonably assume that DETAILS and COLORS attract students’ attention. If so, they could help students learn.<\/p>\n

We might, instead, worry that DETAILS and COLORS focus students’ attention on surface features<\/strong>, not deep structures<\/strong>. If so, students might learn a specific idea<\/em>, but not transfer their learning to a new context<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In other words: richly-decorated diagrams might offer short-term benefits (attention!), but result in long-term limitations (difficulties with transfer). If so, blandly-decorated diagrams might be the better pedagogical choice.<\/p>\n

Today’s Research<\/h2>\n

Scholars in Wisconsin — led by David Menendez — have explored this question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Specifically, they asked college students to watch a brief video about metamorphosis. (They explained that the video was meant for younger students, so that the cool college kids wouldn’t be insulted by the simplicity of the topic.)<\/p>\n

For half the students, that video showed only the black-and-white diagram to the left; for the other half, the video showed the colors and dots.<\/p>\n

Did the different diagrams shape the students’ learning<\/em>? Did it shape their ability to transfer that learning<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Results, Please…<\/h2>\n

No, and yes. Well, mostly<\/em> yes.<\/p>\n

In other words: students who watched both videos learned about ladybug<\/em> metamorphosis equally well.<\/p>\n

But — and this is a BIG but — students who watched the video with the “rich” diagram\u00a0did not transfer their learning to other species<\/em> as well as students who saw the “bland” diagram.<\/p>\n

In other words: the bright colors and specifics of the rich diagram seem to limit metamorphosis to\u00a0this specific species<\/em> right here<\/em>. An abstract representation allowed for more successful transfer of these concepts to other species.<\/p>\n

In sum: to encourage transfer, we should use “bland,” abstract diagrams.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By the way: Team Menendez tested this hypothesis with both in-person learners and online learners<\/strong>. They got (largely) the same result.<\/p>\n

So: if you’re teaching face-to-face or remotely, this research can guide your thinking.<\/p>\n

Some Caveats<\/h2>\n

First<\/strong>: as is often the case, this effect depended on the students’\u00a0prior knowledge<\/em>. Students who knew a lot about metamorphosis weren’t as distracted by the “rich” details.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: like much psychology research, this study worked with\u00a0college students<\/em>. Will its core concepts work with younger students?<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Team Menendez has others studies underway to answer that very question. Watch This Space!<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>: Like much psychology research, this study looked at\u00a0STEM materials<\/em>. Will it work in the humanities?<\/p>\n

What, after all, is the detail-free version of a poem? How do you study a presidency without specifics and details?<\/p>\n

When I asked Menendez that question, he referred me to a study<\/a> about reader illustrations. I’ll be writing about this soon.<\/p>\n

In Sum<\/h2>\n

Like seductive details<\/a>, “rich” diagrams might seem like a good teaching idea to increase interest and attention.<\/p>\n

Alas, that perceptual richness seems to help in the short term but interfere with transfer over time.<\/p>\n

To promote transfer, teach with “bland” diagrams — and use a different strategy to grab the students’ interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorful diagrams might raise students’ interest. What do those diagrams do for their learning?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15,100],"class_list":["post-6263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-classroom-advice","tag-online-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6264,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6263\/revisions\/6264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}