Gender and Spatial Ability and the Use of Specific Labels and Diagrammatic Arrows in a Micro-Level Chemistry Animation

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of using both specific labels and diagrammatic arrows in the animation of salt dissolution. Four different versions of the animation served as treatments that were developed based upon principles of educational technology and cognitive psychology. The researchers studied the effects of spatial ability (high or low) and gender in terms of interaction with the treatments and control using ANCOVA statistical procedure. The dependent variable was posttest knowledge conveyed in the animation. Participants were drawn from a college chemistry course for science majors. Overall, high spatial ability students performed better on the post-test than the low spatial ability students ( p = .001). In terms of gender, females outperformed males on the post-test ( p = .009). Students in the “arrows-only” treatment group tended to score lower on the post-test that the other groups ( p = .083). In the article the authors discuss how the principles of educational technology might account for these findings.