Work In Progress: The Effects of Embedded-Formatting Applied to Statics

John Martin; Anna Martin

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Curricular Innovations 1
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29182
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/29182
Download Count: 619

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Paper Authors

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John Martin Youngstown State University

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John Martin is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology at Youngstown State University. John has seven years of mechanical engineering experience.

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Anna Martin Kent State University, Kent

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Anna Martin is a doctoral student of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at Kent State University and a high-school social studies teacher at Canfield High School with 9 years of experience.

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Abstract

Worked examples have been shown to be very effective in order to reduce cognitive load (Carol 1994), however there are many instances where worked examples may be ineffective. One instance is where a worked example may contain a number of unique pieces of information, each being incomprehensible to the learner in isolation, therefore the learner must mentally integrate each piece in order to understand the instructional material. A classic example of this is having a picture of a graph consisting of lines and then separately below having a list of equations for each line. There is a need for the learner to mentally integrate the two different sources of information, which asserts an increased burden on cognitive load therefore stifling the learning process. This is what is referred to as the split-attention effect (Sweller 1998). One way that has been shown to alleviate this problem is the use of embedded-formatting (Mayer 1990). Embedded formatting is where the unique portions of information are physically integrated with one another in order to reduce cognitive load. So, for example the graph with line equations described earlier could be shown where the equations are displayed on the graph directly next to the line that it is defining, so that the reader does not have to integrate the two mentally - it can be done visually.

Statics is typically the first core engineering course civil and mechanical engineering students take, therefore much of the information in this class is novel to the learner. Worked examples are often used in textbooks and are very useful, but they generally consist of a free-body diagram (FBD) and then a separate list of accompanying equilibrium equations for that specific FBD. This requires the learner to mentally integrate the two novel sources of information in order to make sense of the worked example, which can cause cognitive overload or an overload on working memory. This study will focus on identifying the effectiveness of using embedded-formatting with regards to engineering Statics worked examples.

For this study a quantitative quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study will be utilized to gain a better understanding of the effects of applying embedded-formatting to worked examples of Statics problems on student learning. Students within two separate engineering Statics courses will be considered, where the first groups/class will be given worked examples utilizing embedded-formatting and the second group/class will be given traditional worked examples as part of their instructional material. Additionally, a subjective measure of cognitive load will be used to quantify between group cognitive loads, while a posttest will measure student learning of the topic in general. The instructional technique will serve as the independent variable consisting of two groups; while the engineering concept knowledge of Statics, along with the subjective cognitive load scores will serve as the dependent variables to be measured using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

References Carrol, W. (1994). Using worked examples as an instructional support in the algebra classroom, Journal of Educational Psychology, 86: 360-367.

Mayer, R., & Gallini, J. (1990). When is an illustration worth ten thousand words?, Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 715–726.

Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J. & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design, Educational Psychology Review, 10: 251-296.

Citation
Format

Martin, J., & Martin, A. (2017, June), Work In Progress: The Effects of Embedded-Formatting Applied to Statics Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--29182

TY - CPAPER
AB - Worked examples have been shown to be very effective in order to reduce cognitive load (Carol 1994), however there are many instances where worked examples may be ineffective. One instance is where a worked example may contain a number of unique pieces of information, each being incomprehensible to the learner in isolation, therefore the learner must mentally integrate each piece in order to understand the instructional material. A classic example of this is having a picture of a graph consisting of lines and then separately below having a list of equations for each line. There is a need for the learner to mentally integrate the two different sources of information, which asserts an increased burden on cognitive load therefore stifling the learning process. This is what is referred to as the split-attention effect (Sweller 1998). One way that has been shown to alleviate this problem is the use of embedded-formatting (Mayer 1990). Embedded formatting is where the unique portions of information are physically integrated with one another in order to reduce cognitive load. So, for example the graph with line equations described earlier could be shown where the equations are displayed on the graph directly next to the line that it is defining, so that the reader does not have to integrate the two mentally - it can be done visually.

Statics is typically the first core engineering course civil and mechanical engineering students take, therefore much of the information in this class is novel to the learner. Worked examples are often used in textbooks and are very useful, but they generally consist of a free-body diagram (FBD) and then a separate list of accompanying equilibrium equations for that specific FBD. This requires the learner to mentally integrate the two novel sources of information in order to make sense of the worked example, which can cause cognitive overload or an overload on working memory. This study will focus on identifying the effectiveness of using embedded-formatting with regards to engineering Statics worked examples.

For this study a quantitative quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study will be utilized to gain a better understanding of the effects of applying embedded-formatting to worked examples of Statics problems on student learning. Students within two separate engineering Statics courses will be considered, where the first groups/class will be given worked examples utilizing embedded-formatting and the second group/class will be given traditional worked examples as part of their instructional material. Additionally, a subjective measure of cognitive load will be used to quantify between group cognitive loads, while a posttest will measure student learning of the topic in general. The instructional technique will serve as the independent variable consisting of two groups; while the engineering concept knowledge of Statics, along with the subjective cognitive load scores will serve as the dependent variables to be measured using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

References
Carrol, W. (1994). Using worked examples as an instructional support in the algebra classroom, Journal of Educational Psychology, 86: 360-367.

Mayer, R., &amp; Gallini, J. (1990). When is an illustration worth ten thousand words?, Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 715–726.

Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J. &amp; Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design, Educational Psychology Review, 10: 251-296.

AU - John Martin
AU - Anna Martin
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work In Progress: The Effects of Embedded-Formatting Applied to Statics
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/29182
DO - 10.18260/1-2--29182
ER -