Abstract

In Experiments 1A and 1B, students read a concise booklet containing 653 words and 6 illustrations describing the formation, propagation, and dispersion of ocean waves (concise group) or an expanded booklet containing 327 additional words and 5 additional illustrations describing relevant mathematical formulas and computations interspersed throughout the lesson (expanded group). In Experiment 2, students viewed a multimedia presentation of narrated animations based on the concise or expanded booklet. In both studies, the expanded group performed more poorly than did the concise group on problem-solving transfer tests. The added quantitative details may have distracted the learner from constructing a qualitative model of the process of ocean waves.

Citation

Mayer, R.E. & Jackson, J. (2005). The Case for Coherence in Scientific Explanations: Quantitative Details Can Hurt Qualitative Understanding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 11(1), 13-18. Retrieved August 15, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/64723/.

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Keywords

• Learning Processes
• Mathematical Formulas
• Multimedia Instruction
• problem solving
• rhetoric
• Science Instruction
• Scientific Concepts
• teaching methods
• Test Results
• Transfer of Training