Visualizations can directly represent many structural and behavioral properties. External visual representations, including diagrams, photographs, illustrations, flow charts, and graphs, are often used in science to both illustrate and explain concepts (e.g., Hegarty, Carpenter, & Just, 1990 Mayer, 1989). Given the inherent challenges in teaching and learning complex or invisible processes in science, educators have developed ways of representing these processes to enable and enhance student understanding. Learning from visual representations in STEM Visualizations have many advantages over verbal explanations for teaching can creating visual explanations promote learning? Although the teaching of STEM phenomena typically relies on visualizations, such as pictures, graphs, and diagrams, learning is typically revealed in words, both spoken and written. If the phenomena are macroscopic, sub-microscopic, or abstract, there is an additional level of difficulty. Learners must master not only the individual components of the system or process (structure) but also the interactions and mechanisms (function), which may be complex and frequently invisible. Mechanisms, processes, and behavior of complex systems present particular challenges. Chi, DeLeeuw, Chiu, & Lavancher, 1994 Hmelo-Silver & Pfeffer, 2004 Johnstone, 1991 Perkins & Grotzer, 2005). Creating visual explanations is likely to enhance students’ spatial thinking skills, skills that are increasingly needed in the contemporary and future world.Äynamic systems such as those in science and engineering, but also in history, politics, and other domains, are notoriously difficult to learn (e.g. Extensions of the technique to other domains should be possible. There are several notable differences between visual and verbal explanations visual explanations map thought more directly than words and provide checks for completeness and coherence as well as a platform for inference, notably from structure to process. Here we show: (1) creating explanations of STEM phenomena improves learning without additional teaching and (2) creating visual explanations is superior to creating verbal ones. Uncovering cognitive principles for effective teaching and learning is a central application of cognitive psychology. Together, the findings provide support for the use of learner-generated visual explanations as a powerful learning tool. The benefits should generalize to other domains like the social sciences, history, and archeology where important information can be visualized. The greater effectiveness of visual explanations appears attributable to the checks they provide for completeness and coherence as well as to their roles as platforms for inference. Visual explanations often included crucial yet invisible features. Creating a visual explanation was superior and benefitted participants of both high and low spatial ability. For the chemical system, creating both visual and verbal explanations improved learning without new teaching. For the mechanical system, creating a visual explanation increased understanding particularly for participants of low spatial ability. Both kinds of explanations were analyzed for content and learning assess by a post-test. We compared learning from creating visual or verbal explanations for two STEM domains, a mechanical system (bicycle pump) and a chemical system (bonding). Because visual explanations can show parts and processes of complex systems directly, creating them should have benefits beyond creating verbal explanations. While instruction typically involves visualizations, students usually explain in words. Mechanisms and processes outside student experience present particular challenges. Many topics in science are notoriously difficult for students to learn.
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