Intervening visual units were moderately common and appeared more often in structure diagrams than process diagrams¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r1–r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Structure diagrams were more likely to contain intervening units (39%) than process diagrams (10%) and photos (30%). → Benjamin D. Jee 2022 q3 i? The presence of intervening units did not vary significantly with spatial placement type, so a tradeoff between direct placement and intervening units was not supported. → Benjamin D. Jee 2022 (2)

Evidence¶

Benjamin D. Jee 2022¶

Benjamin D. Jee, Bryan J. Matlen, Monica Greenlaw, Nina Simms, Dedre Gentner. (2022). Spatial supports for comparison in educational science images. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-022-09599-0

q3 · i? · associational · r1

Analysis of intervening units (units occupying the space between a matched pair) across the 72-image placement data set by figure type. The article reports structure diagrams at "12 of 31; 39%" versus process diagrams at "3 of 31; 10%", χ2(2, N = 72) = 7.12, p = 0.03.

"There was a slight but significant relationship between the frequency of images with intervening units and the figure type, χ2(2, N = 72) = 7.12, p = 0.03. Structure diagrams were more likely to contain intervening units (12 of 31; 39%) than process diagrams (3 of 31; 10%) and photos (3 out of 10; 30%)."

Benjamin D. Jee 2022 (2)¶

Benjamin D. Jee, Bryan J. Matlen, Monica Greenlaw, Nina Simms, Dedre Gentner. (2022). Spatial supports for comparison in educational science images. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-022-09599-0

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Null result from the same data set: 14 of 47 direct-only images (30%), 4 of 18 impeded-only (22%), and 0 of 7 mixed images contained intervening units, but the association with placement type was not significant, χ2(2, N = 72) = 2.98, p = .23; equivalence was not tested.

"Although this pattern is consistent with the possibility of a tradeoff, the presence of intervening units did not vary significantly with spatial placement type, χ2(2, N = 72) = 2.98, p = .23."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Comparison prompts are strongly concentrated in process diagrams (93%) and rare in photos (20%)
• Fewer than half of textbook images requiring comparison have an optimal spatial layout (direct placement) for structural alignment
• Over a third of images in middle school life science textbooks prompt students to compare visual units
• Anatomy images were more likely than evolution images to have direct placement only — related