Diagrams improve posttest performance on posterior probability problems for students who answered the pretest correctly, whether or not the diagram text is redundant¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2013 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 For participants who answered the pretest correctly, diagrams produced higher posttest scores than text-only, with both diagram conditions benefiting (d = 1.01 and d = 1.26) and no difference between them. → Clinton 2013

Evidence¶

Clinton 2013¶

Clinton, V., Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2013). The effects of diagrams and questioning-while-reading on learning from a statistics lesson. In Martinez, M. & Castro Superfine, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois at Chicago. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED584483

q3 · i3 · causal · r2

ANOVA on posttest scores in the randomized experiment, pretest-correct subgroup (N = 47 per the Results section). Both diagram conditions beat text-only; the article reports "There was no difference between the two diagram conditions" and no effect of questioning.

"For participants who answered the pretest correctly, diagrams had a positive effect on posttest scores F(2, 45) = 8.26, p = .001. There was a benefit of diagrams both without and with redundant text compared to the text-only condition, t(28) = 3.04, p = .01,Cohen’s d = 1.01; t(28) = 3.98, p = .001, Cohen’s d = 1.26, respectively."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Redundant text in the diagram did not affect posttest accuracy or difficulty ratings — related
• Diagrams improved posttest accuracy only in the read-twice condition, not in the questioning conditions — related
• For students who answered the pretest incorrectly, diagrams helped only in the read-twice control condition and only when the diagram information was also presented in the text — related
• Elaborative interrogation produced lower posttest accuracy than reading the lesson twice in a written lesson on posterior probability — related
• Interviewed students responded positively to the EDI learning structure and the emphasis on diagrams — related