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A. B. ABLE. E. L. 2008. FAMIS Animations as Teaching Tools and Laboratory Exercises:. Their Value and How to Make Them. Danton H. O’Day , PhD Department of Biology University of Toronto at Mississauga. Things I’ll Talk About. FAMIS Teaching Animations Animating with PowerPoint
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A B ABLE E L 2008
FAMIS Animations as Teaching Tools and Laboratory Exercises: Their Value and How to Make Them Danton H. O’Day, PhDDepartment of BiologyUniversity of Toronto at Mississauga
Things I’ll Talk About • FAMIS Teaching Animations • Animating with PowerPoint • Pedagogical Parameters • Some Research Data • Student Comments • Future Research: A Call to Arms
FAMIS ANIMATIONS = FOCUSSED = ACCURATE = MODIFIABLE = INEXPENSIVE = SIMPLE • F • A • M • I • S
Making FAMIS Animations .avi.mov.wmv.flv .swf PowerPoint CamtasiaStudio
Custom Animation Click onCustomAnimation Click onAddEffect HighlightItem Click onEntrance, Emphasis, Exitor CustomPath
Use of Custom Animationin a Single Slide I Ron GonzalezGraduate Student UTM
S H Cys Cys Disulfide Formation
O ADP O P O O ATP Phosphorylation O Thr H Ser O H ProteinKinase
Use of Custom Animationin a Single Slide II Nima VaezzadehUndergraduate Student UTM
0137 BUS
Animations: A Complete Story • A teaching animation covers a complete concept or event • It is made up of a series of component slides or cels • Animation occurs within slide: e.g., Custom Animation • Animation occurs by changing slides
Value of Animations • Another means of communication • Facilitate understanding during lecture • Bring dynamic events to life • Give insight words & static images can’t • Value for web-based/distance learning • Provide greater “AccessAbility” • Value as a study tool for students
Why Make Your Own Animations? • To communicate dynamic events • To reveal complex interactions • To save lecture time • No available animation exists • Available animations aren’t suitable An Example
A Professor is not a molecule… Or, how I made a fool of myself and then I made a movie….
Existing Animation Packages • Need to learn new program/approach • Steep learning curve for most • Most are relatively expensive • Producing animations is time-consuming • Once completed, animation not open to revisions/updates My Goal: Develop an easy method for making my own animations
Pedagogical Parameters • Stage-appropriate material (Tversky & Morrison, 2002) • Images & text adjacent (Mayer, 2003) • Term (Text) spoken as it appears (Mayer, 2003) • Oral narration in conversational tone (Sweller, 1994; Lowe, 2003) • Give student some control (Tversky & Morrison, 2002) • Use visual cues to reflect change (e.g., Colour/Shape; Wilson-Pauwels, 1997)
Use Common Sense • Know your goals • Consider your audience • Keep it simple • Keep it short • Focus & make goals clear • Remember: You’re not in competition with Dreamworks or Pixar Studios
Camtasia™ Studio www.techsmith.com • PowerPoint™ 2003 or higher add-on • When animation ready: click “Record” • Recording starts and stops with presentation • Export animation in any current movie format • Education pricing: $179USD • 30 day free trial (full version) • Lot’s of other academic uses for program
Research Part I:Animation vs Static Graphics • Students viewed either graphic with text or the animation with narration • Students filled out anonymous questionnaire:-Specific questions (10 questions)-Opinion questions-Control questions-Comments
Questionnaire Results Group Treatment A (n = 21) Graphic viewed 1 to 2 times maximum B (n = 16) Graphic viewed 3 or more times over 15 minutes C (n = 16) Animation viewed 1 to 2 times maximum D (n = 33) Animation viewed 3 or more times over 15 minutes ANOVA 1-wayanalysis of variance: D significantlydifferent from A,B,C
Student Comments • Animation was better than graphic (77%) • Many spontaneous comments on high quality of the animation • Prefer access to both graphic & animation • Each has its place/value • Issues with computer access for viewing animation
Research Part II: Long Term Retention Initial Exposure Retention Graphic Graphic Animation Animation 100 80 60 Mean ± SEM (%) 40 20 0 Apoptosis Cholesterol Influenza Legend orNarration? No No Yes No No
Research Part II: Summary • Long-term retention is better with animation than graphic whether or not a figure legend was present • FAMIS animations rival even 3D
Future Research: Call to Arms • Length of animation • 2D vs 3D • Value of sounds • Value of classroom discussion • Interactivity • Other?
Animations as Lab/Tutorial Exercises • Students can easily make animations • Serve as long-term or short-term project • Animate a pathway or event or process • Students show & tell—to share info./ideas • Result: -in-depth understanding of topic-learn how to translate info to animation-learn how to communicate complex ideas to others-skills learned are transferable
emaildanton.oday@utoronto.ca Special Thanks • Aldona Budniak • Nima Vaezzadeh AcknowledgementThis work was supported by a grant from theInformation Technology Courseware Development Fund
References • Lowe, 2003. Learning & Instruction 13: 157-176. • Mayer, 2003. Learning & Instruction 13: • O’Day, 2006. CBE—Life Sciences Education 5: 255-263 • O’Day, 2007. CBE—Life Sciences Education 6: 217-223 • O’Day, 2008. American Biology Teacher 70: 286-290 • Sweller, 1994. Learning & Instruction. 4: 295-312. • Tversky & Morrison, 2002. Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 57: 247-262. • Wilson-Pauwels, L. 1997. Journal of Biomedical Communication. 24: 12-16.