Integrating spatially or temporally separated but related elements of instructional information produces a large average learning benefit for novices¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2006 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Across 50 independent effects from between-group randomized studies, redesigns that increased spatial or temporal contiguity of related information yielded a weighted mean effect of d = 0.85 on learning performance. → Ginns 2006

Evidence¶

Ginns 2006¶

Ginns, P. (2006). Integrating information: A meta-analysis of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects. Learning and Instruction, 16(6), 511-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.10.001

q3 · i3 · quant-synthesis · r2

Random-effects meta-analysis of 50 effects representing 2375 students from 29 journal articles, 1 conference paper, and 1 PhD thesis, all between-group studies with random assignment. The article reports "d = 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.68 – 1.02)" with significant heterogeneity (Q = 117.77), indicating moderators condition the mean effect.

"the weighted mean effect size of the 50 effects was large, d = 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.68 – 1.02), and the homogeneity statistic was highly significant, Q = 117.77, df = 49, p < 0.001"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Split Attention Effect Degrades Learning — related
• Cognitive Load Reduction Improves Learning — related
• Presenting related material contiguously in space and time yields large learning benefits — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• The learning benefit of increasing integration is substantially larger for high element interactivity (complex) materials than for low element interactivity materials — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Cognitive load effects including integration benefits may reverse for more experienced learners, whose schemas make integrated additional information redundant — related
• Spatial and temporal contiguity effects do not differ significantly in mean magnitude — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Split-attention and redundancy effects occur for high element interactivity material but disappear for low element interactivity material — related
• Contiguity effects show no statistically reliable difference between static and dynamic presentation of visual information — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• College students who study integrated annotated illustrations alongside science text generate approximately 50% more creative solutions on transfer problems than students who view the same illustrations separately after reading — related