Are there metacognitive benefits of learner‐ and instructor‐generated visualizations?

Fiorella, Logan; Jaeger, Allison J.

This study explored how different formats of instructional visuals affect the accuracy of students' metacognitive judgments. Undergraduates (n = 133) studied a series of five biology texts and made judgments of learning. Students were assigned randomly to study the texts only (text only), study the texts with provided visuals (provided visuals group), study the texts and generate their own visuals (learner‐generated visuals group), or study the texts and observe animations of instructor‐generated visuals (instructor‐generated visuals group). After studying the texts and making judgments of learning, all students completed multiple‐choice comprehension tests on each text. The learner‐generated and instructor‐generated visuals groups exhibited significantly higher relative judgment accuracy than the text only and provided visuals groups, though this effect was relatively small. The learner‐generated visuals group also required more study time and was more likely to report the use of visual cues when making their judgments of learning.

JUDGMENT (Psychology); COMPREHENSION testing; DATA visualization

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2023, Vol 37, Issue 6, p1430

0888-4080

Academic Journal

10.1002/acp.4135