A picture is worth a thousand connections: the facilitative effects of diagrams on mental model development and task performance

Fiore, Stephen M.; Cuevas, Haydee M.; Oser, Randall L.

doi:10.1016/s0747-5632(02)00054-7

Cited by 64 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…There are several approaches that have been proposed to assess people's cognitive maps, such as sketch drawings, interviews, and task performance (Billinghurst and Weghorst 1995;Tversky and Lee 1998;Fiore et al 2003). One popular approach is to present people with tasks or a test about the physical or conceptual structure (Fiore et al 2003).…”

Section: Mathematical Visualizations and Mental Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Role of Interaction in Enhancing the Epistemic Utility of 3D Mathematical Visualizations

Liang

Sedig

2010

Int J Comput Math Learning

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Many epistemic activities, such as spatial reasoning, sense-making, problem solving, and learning, are information-based. In the context of epistemic activities involving mathematical information, learners often use interactive 3D mathematical visualizations (MVs). However, performing such activities is not always easy. Although it is generally accepted that making these visualizations interactive can improve their utility, it is still not clear what role interaction plays in such activities. Interacting with MVs can be viewed as performing low-level epistemic actions on them. In this paper, an epistemic action signifies an external action that modifies a given MV in a way that renders learners' mental processing of the visualization easier, faster, and more reliable. Several, combined epistemic actions then, when performed together, support broader, higher-level epistemic activities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that interaction plays in supporting learners to perform epistemic activities, specifically spatial reasoning involving 3D MVs. In particular, this research investigates how the provision of multiple interactions affects the utility of 3D MVs and what the usage patterns of these interactions are. To this end, an empirical study requiring learners to perform spatial reasoning tasks with 3D lattice structures was conducted. The study compared one experimental group with two control groups. The experimental group worked with a visualization tool which provided participants with multiple ways of interacting with the 3D lattices. One control group worked with a second version of the visualization tool which only provided one interaction. Another control group worked with 3D physical models of the visualized lattices. The results of the study indicate that providing learners with multiple interactions can significantly affect and improve performance of spatial reasoning with 3D MVs. Among other findings and conclusions, this research suggests that one of the central roles of interaction is allowing learners to perform low-level epistemic actions on MVs in order to carry out higher-level cognitive and epistemic activities. The results of this study have implications for how other 3D mathematical visualization tools should be designed.

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Section: Mathematical Visualizations and Mental Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One popular approach is to present people with tasks or a test about the physical or conceptual structure (Fiore et al 2003). This approach assumes people will rely on their cognitive map to assist them in carrying out the tasks or answering the questions on a test.…”

Section: Mathematical Visualizations and Mental Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Interaction in Enhancing the Epistemic Utility of 3D Mathematical Visualizations

Liang

Sedig

2010

Int J Comput Math Learning

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“…Current organizational jobs demand higher levels of knowledge, as well as the capacity to access multiple types of knowledge (i.e., job breadth) in an efficient and effective way. Given that the manner in which knowledge is organized (above and beyond the knowledge itself) impacts the effective use and recall of that information (Cuevas, Fiore, & Oser, 2001;Fiore, Cuevas, & Oser, 2003;Scielzo, Fiore, Cuevas, & Salas, 2002), investigation into the impact mental model formation has on performance is warranted.…”

Section: Mental Models and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and Performance: Assessing the Mediating Role of Mental Model Formation in the Personality-Performance Relationship

Cartaya¹

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“…Referent or expert models represent the "ideal" card sort model for a given domain. Data has consistently shown that similarity to an expert model is positively related to performance on measures of knowledge acquisition (Fiore et al, 2003;Fiore, Cuevas, Scielzo, & Salas, 2002). In addition to a performance measure, comparing a user's model to a referent or expert model can serve other evaluation purposes.…”

Section: Evaluating Card Sortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other researchers believe the contrary. For example, as Fiore, Cuevas, and Oser (2003) note, "although a somewhat limited method, because users are forced to group together items rather rigidly . .…”

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confidence: 99%

TPL—KATS-card sort: A tool for assessing structural knowledge

Harper

Jentsch

Berry

et al. 2003

Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers

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The study of how individuals organize knowledge has been a popular endeavor for several decades. As a result, techniques have been developed to assess how individuals represent and organize knowledge internally. Although several conceptual knowledge elicitation methods have been developed and used to assess the organization of knowledge, their use is often labor intensive and time consuming. Presented here is a software tool that was developed to reduce the problems associated with manually administering the conceptual knowledge elicitation technique, or card sorting. The TPL-KATS-card sort software not only simplifies the administration of the task, but also adds features to the card-sorting task such as media insertion, time stamping, and instructorless administration. In the present article, an introduction to the card-sorting technique is provided, the new software tool is described, and the advantages of the software are detailed.

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A picture is worth a thousand connections: the facilitative effects of diagrams on mental model development and task performance

Cited by 64 publications

References 20 publications

Role of Interaction in Enhancing the Epistemic Utility of 3D Mathematical Visualizations

Role of Interaction in Enhancing the Epistemic Utility of 3D Mathematical Visualizations

Personality and Performance: Assessing the Mediating Role of Mental Model Formation in the Personality-Performance Relationship

TPL—KATS-card sort: A tool for assessing structural knowledge

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