The HG2S Training Blog

Researcher Stephen Mahar of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and his colleagues have tested the effect of routine garden-variety animations on the learning of new concepts. Often used by presenters and designers in classrooms and training sessions, these stock slide show animations commonly found in programs like PowerPoint might have a negative effect on student learning.

The team used two versions of a presentation prepared in Microsoft PowerPoint, one with animation, the other without. Students were shown one version of the presentation and tested for comprehension and recall. Apparently, recall of static graphics was much better resulting in higher test scores among the group using non-animated presentation. There are some questions concerning what precisely was being animated (that is, why was animation employed?) and what was the nature of the animation? Further, Mahar et al. go on to suggest that the animation acted as a distraction rather than an enhancement given the nature of the material being presented (factual and “incremental”). Mahar and et. conclude that although the animations were received well by the audience, the benefit to learning is not only missing, it is counter-productive.

The researchers caution that the study evaluated teaching new concepts and it is possible that training more akin to a procedure, method or technique might prove a better match for animated graphics. A follow-up study is planned.

A report of this study is published in the International Journal of Innovation and Learning (“The dark side of custom animation” in Int. J. Innovation and Learning, 2009, 6, 581-592 ). See also: “Less is More When Developing PowerPoint Animations.”