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Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions
Published on: June 21, 2019
Concrete and abstract visualizations in history learning tasks.
Maaike E Prangsma1, Carla A M van Boxtel, Gellof Kanselaar
1Amsterdam School of Communications Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. M.E.Prangsma@uva.nl
The British Journal of Educational Psychology
|November 26, 2008
Summary
Visualizations in history learning tasks did not significantly improve student knowledge or retention. Combining text with abstract or concrete visuals did not yield better learning outcomes compared to text alone.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- History Education
Background:
- History learning necessitates understanding complex phenomena, abstract concepts, and their interrelations.
- Students often struggle with grasping, applying, and connecting intricate historical developments and structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of tasks incorporating abstract and/or concrete visualizations on learning historical developments and structures.
- To test the hypothesis that visualizations enhance history knowledge acquisition and retention.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 104 first-year vocational middle school pupils, working in randomly assigned pairs.
- Pairs engaged in learning tasks after reading a text, assigned to one of four conditions: Textual, Concrete visualized, Abstract visualized, or Combined.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were observed in post-test and retention test scores between the groups.
- Some significant differences were noted in the evaluation questionnaire responses.
Conclusions:
- Integrating text with various visualizations in learning tasks does not consistently improve history learning outcomes.
- Potential explanations include the study's setting, the ambiguous semiotics of historical concepts, and challenges in unequivocally visualizing abstract historical ideas.
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