ABSTRACT
The popularity of online learning has made web-based software training materials the primary learning resources adopted by computer users. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of various common representational formats of web-based instructions. The formats included static (textual manual with screenshots) and dynamic (animated demonstration, AD) instructions. The findings suggested that in learner-paced learning with sufficient learning time (a) both narrated and captioned AD formats tended to increase transfer performance; (b) the segmenting principle likely became less important for the static format; and (c) the modality principle likely became less important for the AD format. Implications for determining optimal AD segment length for student engagement and suggestions for possible factors to be included in future research are offered accordingly.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Chun-Ying Chen
Chun-Ying Chen is a professor in the Center for General Education at National Taichung University of Education in Taiwan. She earned her PhD in the Educational Technology Program at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA. Her research interests are web-based instructions, multimedia/hypermedia learning, computer-supported collaborative learning, and computer-mediated communications.
Ying-Hsing Yang
Ying-Hsing Yang is an associate professor in the Department of Education at National Taichung University of Education in Taiwan. His research interests include instructional assessment and teacher education.