Project Activities
In Year 1, the research team will conduct Study 1, an analysis of ten middle school mathematics and life science textbooks. They will code for different types of spatial arrangements of visuals to identify the types of spatial arrangements most commonly used in textbooks. In addition, the research team will conduct four experiments (one each year) with middle school students to understand whether arranging visuals in a way that should facilitate students' ability to see alignment across the visuals or in a way that may impede their ability to see alignment across the visuals affects learning in life science and algebra.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This research will take place in suburban and urban middle schools in California and Illinois as well as in university research laboratories.
Sample
Researchers plan to recruit 410 middle school students (approximately 30 students in Year 1 and 80 students in Year 2 to participate in laboratory studies, and 550 students across Years 3 and 4 to participate in classroom studies).
Due to the exploratory nature of this research, there is no intervention. The malleable factor of interest is the spatial arrangement of visuals, such as worked examples and diagrams, in mathematics and science content areas. The findings from this research could provide guidance to teachers and curriculum developers around the optimal arrangement of visuals in textbooks and other instructional materials.
Research design and methods
In Year 1, the research team will examine ten middle school mathematics and life science textbooks, coding different types of spatial arrangements of visuals to identify the types of spatial arrangements most commonly used in textbooks. In addition, the research team will conduct four experiments (one each year; referred to as Studies 2-5) with students to understand whether arranging visuals in a way that should facilitate students' ability to see alignment across the visuals or in a way that may impede their ability to see alignment across the visuals affects learning in life science and algebra. Study 2 uses a within-subjects design while Studies 3-5 use a between-subjects design (i.e., students are randomly assigned to condition). Studies 2 and 4 focus on life science diagrams while Studies 3 and 5 focus on algebraic worked examples. Studies 2 and 3 take place in the laboratory in a single session. Studies 3 and 5 take place in the classroom and span multiple days. Across all studies, students will complete pre-tests and engage in a task where they interact with visuals presented in a spatial arrangement dictated by condition. For Studies 3-5, students will complete post-tests after interacting with the visuals.
Control condition
Across Studies 2-5, a condition where visuals are arranged in a way that should facilitate students' ability to see alignment across the visuals is compared to a condition where visuals are arranged in a way that may impede their ability to see alignment across the visuals.
Key measures
Key measures consist of the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test, researcher-developed measures of procedural and conceptual algebraic knowledge (, the Assessing Contextual Reasoning about Natural Selection instrument, reaction time and accuracy of spotting anomalous features in skeletal structures, similarity ratings and categorizations of skeletal structures, and student explanations of their comparisons and categorizations. A textbook analysis will involve coding of math and life science visuals.
Data analytic strategy
The primary analytic strategy will involve fitting Analysis of Covariance models, with additional random effect terms to account for the nested structure of the design where appropriate.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Researchers will produce preliminary evidence of optimal spatial arrangements of visuals in mathematics and science, and peer-reviewed publications.
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Selected Publications:
Journal articles
Jee, B. D., Matlen, B. J., Greenlaw, M., Simms, N., & Gentner, D. (2022). Spatial supports for comparison in educational science images. Instructional Science, 50(6), 807-827.
Matlen, B. J., Gentner, D., & Franconeri, S. L. (2020). Spatial alignment facilitates visual comparison. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(5), 443. Full text
Simms, N. K., Matlen, B. J., Jee, B. D., & Gentner, D. (2023). Spatial alignment supports comparison of life science images. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 29(4), 747.
Zheng, Y., Matlen, B., & Gentner, D. (2022). Spatial alignment facilitates visual comparison in children. Cognitive Science, 46(8), e13182.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
