Pictures with narration versus pictures with on-screen text during teaching mathematics

Ioannou Panagiotis,Rodiou Evdoxia,Iliou Theodoros

doi:10.17810/2015.48

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of two different teaching methods on students' comprehension in Mathematics: pictures with concurrent narration versus pictures with on-screen text, during teaching triangles, a lesson in Mathematics. Forty primary school children (boys and girls) selected to participate in this study. Students splitted into two experimental groups with the technique of simple random sampling. The first group consisted of students who viewed and listened (pictures with narration group), while the second group consisted of students who viewed (pictures with on-screen text) a presentation of triangles. A recall test was used to evaluate students' comprehension. The results showed that students' comprehension was better when triangles' presentation (pictures) was accompanied with spoken words, than with printed words. The pictures with narration group performed better than the pictures with on-screen text group, in recall test (M = 4.97, SD = 1.32) p<0.01. Results are consistent with the modality principle in which learners are more likely to build connections between corresponding words and pictures when words are presented in a spoken form (narration) simultaneously with pictures.

Highlights

One of the most important and basic principles of educationalists and those involved in the educational research, is the use of techniques which improve students' curiosity, motivation and learning process (Grimshaw, et al, 2007)
The results showed that when information is presented to students in a model, which combines pictures with words in a spoken form it is more effective than a method, which includes pictures with words in a printed form (Atkinson, 2002; Gambari, Ezenwa, & Anyanwu, 2014; Mayer & Moreno, 1998; Moreno & Mayer, 1999; Moreno, Mayer, & Lester, 2000)
Half of the subjects served in the pictures with narration group and half of the subjects served in the pictures with on‐text group

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important and basic principles of educationalists and those involved in the educational research, is the use of techniques which improve students' curiosity, motivation and learning process (Grimshaw, et al, 2007). According to Cope and Kalantzis (2009), Multimodality refers to a system of learning with multiple didactic teaching stimuli or tools: visual ones, such as letters, graphs and pictures (static or animated) and body posture, audible such as voices and sounds and kinetic such as hand making or hand solving. Those teaching stimuli are often referred to as modes, as organized sets of semiotic resources for meaning making (Jewitt, 2008). Due to the use of this teaching technique and principle, students' curiosity, motivation and generation of meaning is positively enhanced and learning is achieved by students through different ways (Picciano, 2009; Shah & Freedman, 2003)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion