Describes a chemistry filmstrip program, available to students as a supplementary study aid; it involves the use of a multi-slide format with four frames per 35mm frame, a hand-held plastic viewer-magnifier, and printed explanations of the visuals. (MLH)

To hold student interest, distance learning instructors need to think and present ideas visually. Presentations should be limited to three or four key points that would benefit from visual depiction. Visual aids used for presentation may be image-related, concept-related, or arbitrary graphics. Sophistication of visual aid is not as important as…

Examines multimodal processing and its implications for listening skills development in a foreign or second language, and discusses how multimodal processing, as it relates to listening skills development, can be supported by multimedia technology. Highlights include visuals, text, video, schema, and chunking. (71 references) (Author/LRW)

Proposes that a semiotic approach can be used as a supplementary method in assessing the denotations and connotations of the signs and their relationships in computer learning environments. Utilizes the semiotic framework to study visual images, especially how multiple, interactive, and manipulative statistical representations affect the…

Examines the visual manual genre, discussing main forms and functions of step-by-step and guided tour manuals in detail. Examines whether a visual manual helps computer users realize tasks faster and more accurately than a non-visual manual. Finds no effects on accuracy, but speedier task execution by 35% for visual manuals. Concludes there is no…

Tests the effects on student performance when using graphs as part of a University of South Carolina (Columbia) principles of economics lecture. Finds in 1995 that students in the lecture with graphs had significantly lower gain scores than those in the no-graphs lecture. Finds no significant difference in 1997. (RLH)

Investigates how students interpret and analyze multivariate data organized in tables and the nature of external visual displays that they tend to create and use for this purpose. Reports that: (1) students based their conclusions on only part of the data; (2) students did not use either efficient or sufficient visual representations; and (3)…

Discussion of visual media and television literacy focuses on a course that was developed to improve the visual literacy of 12- and 13-year-old students in the United Kingdom. Testing for the experimental and control groups is explained, and implications for the development of television literacy are suggested. (23 references) (LRW)

Discusses how to use information graphics successfully. Describes how to conduct a survey and transform the results into an information graphic. (MM)

The use of visual aids in the teaching of second-language literature can add a dimension to learning by clarifying meaning and contexts and by deepening students' understanding of literature as an independent art form. (CB)

Discusses how to use text design to improve printed instructional materials. Topics discussed include text structuring; how readers process information; page layout; spacing; illustrative material; information mapping; verbal and visual cues; the use of headings; and typographical cues. (nine references) (LRW)

Presents an activity, involving pentagons and using a figure manipulator such as The Geometer's Sketchpad, that requires students to reason geometrically without making unsubstantiated assumptions based on diagrams. (MKR)

Describes the use of spreadsheets to discuss mathematical concepts without using algebraic notation. Presents examples using Fibonacci numbers and factorials. (MKR)

In a third-year medical school hematology course, handouts reproducing all or most of the 35mm slides used during the lecture are given at the beginning of class. The slides are reproduced on the left, with room for note-taking on the right. Despite some disadvantages, the method is seen as helpful. (Author/MSE)

Discussion of human-computer interfaces focuses on the use of graphical and direct manipulation approaches to improve the user interface. Topics discussed include information seeking; computerized search capabilities, including full-text string searches, index searches, and hypertext; Boolean expressions; dynamic or direct manipulation queries;…