ANIMATION, INCIDENTAL-LEARNING, AND CONTINUING MOTIVATION

The effects of animated presentations on incidental learning and the degree to which various computer practice activities contain intrinsically motivating characteristics as measured by continuing motivation were studied. A total of 70 4th grades participated in an introductory lesson on Newton's laws of motion. Between-subjects factors consisted of visual presentation (static graphic vs. animated graphic) and practice order (questions/simulation vs. simulation/questions). Within-subjects factors consisted of learning intent (intentional vs. incidental) and test interval (immediate vs. delayed). Results showed that students successfully extracted incidental information from animated graphics without risk to intentional learning but were also more prone to developing a scientific misconception. In addition, when placed in a free-choice situation, students overwhelmingly chose to return to the practice activity consisting of the computer simulation.