Electrifying diagrams for learning: principles for effective representational systems

By P. Cheng. 2002

60 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Six characteristics of effective representational systems for conceptual learning in complex domains have been identified. Such representations should: (1) integrate levels of abstraction; (2) combine globally homogeneous with locally heterogeneous representation of concepts; (3) integrate alternative perspectives of the domain; (4) support malleable manipulation of expressions; (5) possess compact procedures; and (6) have uniform procedures. The characteristics were discovered by analysing and evaluating a novel diagrammatic representation that has been invented to support students' comprehension of electricity—AVOW diagrams (Amps, Volts, Ohms, Watts). A task analysis is presented that demonstrates that problem solving using a conventional algebraic approach demands more effort than AVOW diagrams. In an experiment comparing two groups of learners using the alternative approaches, the group using AVOW diagrams learned more than the group using equations and were better able to solve complex transfer problems and questions involving multiple constraints. Analysis of verbal protocols and work scratchings showed that the AVOW diagram group, in contrast to the equations group, acquired a coherently organised network of concepts, learnt effective problem solving procedures, and experienced more positive learning events. The six principles of effective representations were proposed on the basis of these findings. AVOW diagrams are Law Encoding Diagrams, a general class of representations that have been shown to support learning in other scientific domains.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1f84a9bdbd1c72c6f869af4e59b8e77c8e45ab3f

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

In Education

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Citations in the corpus

What kinds of perceptions and daily learning behaviors promote students' use of diagrams in mathematics problem solving? (2007, background): “…in no way guarantees the production of correct answers (as the P Dþ cases in the present study show), the above findings do add further supporting evidence to the notion that using diagrams in math word problem solving is largely beneficial (e.g., Cheng, 2002; Cox, 1999; Koedinger & Terao, 2002).”
The Cognitive Science of Visual-Spatial Displays: Implications for Design (2011, methodology): “The representational epistemic approach (Cheng, 2002; Cheng & Barone, 2004, 2007) emphasizes the importance of encoding the fundamental conceptual structure of a domain in the visual display.”
Using diagrams as tools for the solution of non-routine mathematical problems (2009, background): “On the other hand, a number of studies have shown that self-constructed diagrams are powerful heuristic strategies in problem solving (Cheng, 2002; Stern et al., 2003; Uesaka et al., 2007).”