5 reasons WHY VISUALISERS help students learn

Visualisers are all the rage at the moment – and like numerous new things in education, they could either be a fad or a genuinely helpful tool. As they are becoming much more and much more popular, we thought we’d explore the psychological benefits of using them. Can using them in your classroom increase how much students learn? We set out to examine and here is what we found:

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Visualisers: A 30 second recap

If you haven’t seen one already, a visualiser is a mounted video camera that displays an image of whatever is under it onto the smart board so that the whole class can see. They’re becoming so popular that numerous teachers are starting to promise off PowerPoint in favour of them.

Here are 5 psychological reasons why that might be the case:

 

Help decrease Cognitive load by Minimising the Redundancy Effect

Cognitive load theory is becoming increasingly popular within education. It highlights how our working memory has a limited capacity and that, if students are presented with too much information, they may suffer from cognitive overload, which causes learning to slow down or stop.

An essential part of cognitive load theory is the Redundancy Effect, which states that giving students irrelevant information whilst they are learning something will clog up their working memory. This implies they are much more likely to remember the redundant parts of the lesson instead.

An interesting study investigated the effect of PowerPoint animations and sound effects on memory recall. We think that these two findings in particular stand out:

Students who received lessons with no background music or sounds were able to recall 76% much more than those who had a lesson that had both.

Groups who had lessons with background music learnt less than those who did not. The latter group was able to recall 11% much more information and did 29% better on subsequent tests.

But how does this link to visualisers?

The process of using a visualiser strips away the unnecessary bells and whistles of PowerPoint effects that may Camiseta Selección de fútbol de Ghana actually hinder learning.  Instead, using a visualiser helps a teacher to emphasise the information that you want the students to focus on. quite literally, you are removing the redundant information from the students’ focus and replacing it with what’s important.

 

Help decrease Cognitive load by Making worked examples simpler

Worked examples are where novice students are given the step-by-step assistance needed to answer a question. This reduces cognitive overload as research has shown that, without it, students typically focus all of their attention on solving the problem, which leaves little room in their working memory to store the actual steps they used.

Using a visualiser implies that teachers are able to initially model the technique needed to resolve a problem. Also, as students may not understand this the first time, it allows teachers to model and present alternative techniques at Camiseta West Ham United short notice.

Flexibility and adaptability are two enormous abilities that underpin an effective teacher, even much more so in today’s ever-changing environment. Pre-set PowerPoints are rigid by their very nature. Visualisers make it simpler to make live adjustments but also pitch your lesson at the best level based on how the class respond.

 

Provide better quality Feedback

A visualiser allows teachers to show all students what the gold conventional of works looks like, implying they can give quick group feedback. This also helps teachers to maintain high expectations, but crucially to keep these expectations sensible as the students understand they are achievable.

An amazing added effect of this is how it links with students’ self-efficacy. If pitched correctly, by showing students their peers’ gold conventional work on a visualiser, this can increase their motivation and confidence. This is referred to as a vicarious experience. The idea here is to get students thinking that they too can achieve, because they are at the same level as what you are showing. This ought to shift a student’s thinking to ‘If they can do it, I can do Camiseta Brighton & Hove Albion FC it too’.

 

Utilise the production Effect

The production effect refers to the process of producing something from the new material learnt as a way to help embed it into one’s long term memory. An example of harnessing this effect would be a teacher drawing out a diagram in real-time. This could allow the students to do the same (without feeling rushed as happens with PowerPoint animations). As an additional bonus, when students see themselves completing a task (especially when it is new), their confidence is improved going forwards.

 

A helpful tool for developing Metacognition

Developing metacognitive learners is now seen as the bedrock for deeper learning, primarily because it has been positively associated with academic performance.

Visualisers help to improve studentsnull

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