A new application of the temporal contiguity effect in designing narrated slideshows.

Tzu-Chien Liu,Fred Paas,Yi-Chun Lin

doi:10.1007/s11423-021-10076-7

Abstract

We investigated whether the temporal contiguity effect, which holds that information sources, such as visual information and narration need to be temporally coordinated for learning to be effective, can also be found in narrated slideshows. A concurrent presentation-key point format (CPK), in which visual information sequentially appeared as key points on the slide with corresponding narration, was compared to a concurrent presentation-whole format (CPW), in which visual information was shown all at once on the slide with corresponding narration, and a sequential presentation format (SP), in which the narration was played first before all the corresponding visual information was presented at once. Ninety-nine undergraduates were randomly divided across the CPK, CPW and SP conditions. Results revealed that participants in the CPK group had higher post-test performance and learning efficiency than participants in the CPW and SP conditions. Performance in the CPW condition was higher than in the SP conditions, but only in terms of learning efficiency. The results suggested that the occurrence of the temporal contiguity effect not only depends on whether the presentation of narration and visual information in narrated slideshows is concurrent or not, but also on how concurrent it is.

Highlights

Digital learning has been a main solution for learning especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Mulenga & Marbán, 2020)
A unique characteristic of narrated slideshows is that verbal information is presented in a dynamic way, but visual information on the slide is often presented in a static way
Different from narrated animation, in which both visual and verbal information are presented dynamically, narrated slideshow consists of a combination of static visual information and dynamic verbal information

Summary

Introduction

Digital learning has been a main solution for learning especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Mulenga & Marbán, 2020). As one of the most common multimedia materials, narrated slideshows are widely used in different types of digital. Narrated slideshows which present static visual information accompanied by synchronized narration through computer are typically created with programs such as PowerPoint, Keynote or Prezi. A unique characteristic of narrated slideshows is that verbal information is presented in a dynamic way (i.e., narration), but visual information on the slide is often presented in a static way (i.e., static graphics). It’s very different from another often used format for digital learning, narrated animation, in which both verbal and visual information are all presented in a dynamic way (i.e., animation with narration) (e.g., Liu et al, 2021; Mayer & Anderson, 1991; Mayer et al, 1999)

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