Effect of visual cues and video solutions on conceptual tasks

TL;DR

This study examines how visual cues and video solutions influence students' ability to transfer physics knowledge to new problems, finding that combined visual cues and videos enhance transfer performance.

Contribution

It investigates the combined effect of visual cues and video explanations on improving physics transfer task performance, which is a novel approach.

Findings

Combined visual cues and videos improve transfer task accuracy.

Visual cues alone have a moderate effect on transfer performance.

Videos alone also enhance students' problem-solving skills.

Abstract

Transfer of learning is an important objective of education. However, students usually have difficulties in solving physics transfer tasks even after having solved similar problems previously. We investigated if instruction provided using videos containing detailed explanations of previously solved problems will improve students' performance in tackling near and far transfer tasks. We also investigated whether the combination of visual cues followed by video solutions yields further enhancement of students' performance. N=33 students in an algebra-based physics class participated in an interview containing two problem sets each with one initial task, a training session, and a near and far transfer task. For the training, students either received visual cues, visual cues and a video or only videos, depending on the condition. We compare students' correctness rate on near and far transfer tasks in the three conditions.