Pictorial Aids for Learning by Doing in a Multimedia Geology Simulation Game
R.E. Mayer, P. Mautone, W. Prothero 2002 Journal of Educational Psychology v. 94, n. 1, p. 171-185.

How can we help students learn to solve authentic geology problems within a virtual environment? This article describes the results of various scaffolding methods for students who were asked to survey an area of a planet's surface to identify the presence of various geological features such as a trench, ridge, basin, island, or seamount. Students who received prior pictorial representations of each of the possible features (pictorial scaffolding) performed more accurately than students who did not, but there was no significant effect for including verbal statements about strategies for drawing lines and points (strategic scaffolding). Some cognitive apprenticeship techniques (such as pictorial scaffolding) are useful aids to learning in computer-based geology simulations.

Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Physical , Geoscience:Geology, Geography:Physical, Education
Resource Type: Pedagogic Resources:Research Results, Journal Article
Special Interest: Spatial Thinking
Research on Learning: Instructional Design:Use of Technology, Ways Of Learning:Verbal, Instructional Design:Scaffolding, Cognitive Domain:Knowledge Transfer, How information is organized:Mental models, Spatial Intelligence:Maps, Ways Of Learning:Visual Learning
Theme: Teach the Earth:Course Topics:Oceanography