The Effects of Visual Cues and Learners' Field Dependence in Multiple External Representations Environment for Novice Program Comprehension

摘要

This study investigated the effects of visual cues in multiple external representations (MER) environment on the learning performance of novices' program comprehension. Program codes and flowchart diagrams were used as dual representations in multimedia environment to deliver lessons on C-Programming. 17 field independent participants and 16 field dependent participants were divided randomly to interact with either one of the two multimedia versions: visual-cued presentation or non-visual-cued presentation. Learning achievements of participants were then assessed in three different measures: drawing, terminology and comprehension. A 2 (multimedia condition) x 2 (field dependence) MANOVA showed that the performance of terminology and comprehension measures were significantly lower for participants in visual-cued than participants in non-visual-cued condition. Field dependence was also shown to be a factor in learning achievement; field independent learners outperformed field dependent learners in drawing measures. Implications of this study were discussed in terms of cognitive load and individual differences in MER learning.