Impact of computer animations in cognitive learning: differentiation

Abstract

In mathematic courses, construction of some concepts by the students in a meaningful way may be complicated. In such circumstances, to embody the concepts application of the required technologies may reinforce learning process. Onset of learning process over daily life events of the student's environment may lure their attention and may enable them to gain from the preliminary knowledge. Therefore, a good initiation may be realized in the course of meaningful learning. The underlying meaning of the abstract concepts by computer animations may be accomplished in class environments. That study is conducted searching out to discover the effects of animations over the learning process in mathematic courses. The study was performed over the 58 university freshman students selected randomly. Thirty-two students constituted the experiment group and 26 students constituted the control group. Computer animations-aided instruction model in constructive form were applied on the experiment group and non-computer-aided instruction model in constructive form were implemented on the control group. Student academic success via a test method developed by explored group with confidence rate .819 (Cronbach's alpha) revealed that data were evaluated by two-way variance analyses. The findings provided from the final test shows that the experiment group students were significantly higher according to the control group students in terms of academic success average scores. Computer animations were observed to be significant to assimilate the derivative concept in a discrete way over the students, to appeal their attention, animations of real life events observed to transform the abstract meanings in the events to a concrete manner. Students of whom the concrete stage is constructed meaningfully found to be tactful in reaching to semi-abstract and abstract stages.

Keywords:

• differentiation
• animations in mathematics
• computer assisted learning