We examined whether the perceptual richness of a diagram influences children's learning and transfer of knowledge about metamorphosis. First and second graders who saw the rich diagram during the lesson learned more than those who saw the bland diagram during the lesson. Fourth and fifth graders who saw the bland diagram during the lesson incorrectly transferred more than those who saw the rich diagram during the lesson.
We examined the diagrams found in biology books and online to see if their design alligned with research-based practices. We found that many diagrams had perceptually rich backgrounds, which prior research suggests might hinder learning.
We examined whether the perceptual richness of a diagram influences adults' learning and transfer of knowledge about metamorphosis. Adults who saw the bland diagram during the lesson accurately transferred more than adults who saw the rich diagram during the lesson.
We examined whether strategy adoption depends on the confluence of many factors, including the context in which a target strategy is introduced, characteristics of the learner, and characteristics of the strategy itself.
A selective review of research on three classes of factors that may influence processes of strategy change in mathematical problem solving: contextual factors, individual factors, and metacognitive factors.
We manipulated perceptions of variability by priming students before a lesson and by highlighting variability in the diagrams used during the lesson. Priming led to more endorsement of metamorphosis, but only among those with high prior knowledge.
We find that individuals evaluate strategies mainly on two dimensions: Intuitiveness and Efficiency.