Study on the effective use of video compared to traditional text and static graphics for instructing spatial tasks

by (Rodney Lee), 1976- Carroll

CARROLL, RODNEY L. Study on the Effective Use of Video Compared to Traditional Text and Static Graphics for Instructing Spatial Tasks (Under the direction of Dr. Eric Wiebe, Dr. William Deluca, and Charles Joyner). The purpose of the study was to compare two forms of instruction, static (illustration and text annotation) and dynamic (video with audio annotation), for instructing special tasks. With the advent of new technologies the Internet has become a place of sharing of ideas, communication, conducting business, research, entertainment, and education. Today students are exposed to many types of instruction including text, text and graphics, and electronic media. Distance Education is on the rise and the technology that enables it is becoming more advanced. By comparing static and dynamic instruction for, this study will help shed light on which medium is better for instructing spatial tasks. This study consisted of 24 male and female students at a technical college during the Spring 2003 quarter. They were randomly placed into a static instruction or dynamic instruction group. The two groups completed three origami paper-folding tasks, after which they answered a preferences questionnaire and then were asked to re-do the first origami task from memory. The results indicated an advantage for the dynamic modality in both time for task completion and accuracy. However, complexity of the third origami task and video resolution mitigated the effectiveness of the dynamic modality. No significant difference was seen in instructional modality preference or in memory retention for the task.