Presenter: Jonathan P. San Diego (Research Fellow)
Moderator: Prof. Diana Laurillard

Computer-based Multiple External Representations (MERs) have been found in some cases to help and in others to hinder the learning process. Previous literature has shown that two of the possible reasons for the inconsistencies have been related to the different ways of presenting MERs in a computer environment (e.g. static, dynamic, interactive, etc.) and to the different degrees of interactivity that different types of presentation require. A study conducted in 2003, analysing video data of learners’ use of computer-based MERs during problem solving, emphasises the need to identify which representation is being considered by a learner as utterances are made, and to examine more closely learners’ movement between representations. This research focuses on the relationship between learning strategy and the use of representations during learners’ problem solving.

Rich data were collected using a variety of technologies: learners’ shifts in attention were recorded using an unobtrusive eye-tracking device and screen capture software; keyboard and mouse actions were logged automatically; utterances and gestures were video recorded; notes and sketches were recorded in real-time using a Tablet PC. The application of this novel combination of data capture techniques allowed detailed analysis that related what learners say, do, see, and write during problem solving. A framework of strategies was derived, and innovative, integrated analysis methods were applied to tease out how interaction influences strategy and how strategy choice changes over the course of mathematical problem solving.

The study involved completion of three tasks by eighteen participants using multiple mathematical representations (numbers, graphs and algebra) presented in different computer-based ‘instantiations’: Static (non-moving, non-changing, non-interactive); Dynamic (capable of animation following keyboard inputs); Interactive (directly manipulable using a mouse).

A detailed analysis showed that both representation and instantiation have an impact on strategy choice. It identified differences between different types of instantiation in (i) expression of inferences, (ii) construction of visual images, and (iii) attention to representations. One of the important findings of the research is that learners are less likely to use imagining strategies when representational instantiation is interactive. The results may provide some explanation of how interactivity helps or hinders learners’ understanding of computer-based multiple external representations.

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