Effect of animation in enhancing descriptive and procedural texts in a multimedia learning environment

The third and final phase of a research project to investigate the role of animation in enhancing recall and comprehension of text by grade 6 primary school students is reported. This phase had three objectives: 1. to determine whether a complex description text is enhanced by animation so long as the animation exhibits close semantic links with the text, 2. to explore the importance of captions in linking an animation with a text so as to increase comprehension of that text, and 3. to investigate the relationship between students' spatial skills and their ability to recall and comprehend a text enhanced with still images and animation. A descriptive text on the structure and functions of the heart from Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia was linked to a still image of and two animation sequences developed by the research team and which were both more extensive and more completely integrated semantically with the text than in the original Compton's version.