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The Impact of Emotional Design on the Effectiveness of Instructional Materials

Simionescu, Dana Cristiana
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9281-6303
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1585757840646923

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Instructional Technology (Education).
Emotional design refers to those features of design that do not have any specific informational or pedagogical function, but are aimed at stimulating the affective dimension of learning. In this study, I investigated the effect of two types of emotional design of learning materials on undergraduate students’ learning outcomes and perceptions, within the theoretical framework of the Cognitive Affective Theory of Learning with Multimedia (Moreno, 2007; Moreno & Mayer, 2007). The research design was experimental, with participants randomly assigned to each condition. The independent variable was the type of design of the learning materials (a short biology lesson). The materials were designed in four versions: plain lesson consisting of text with simple black and white graphics; text with images that were designed based one emotional design principles for visual design (using warm colors and anthropomorphisms); text with simple black and white graphics plus basic storytelling elements (a character, a very simple plot, and narrative tenses); lesson with both enhanced graphics and storytelling elements. After studying the lesson, the students were tested on retention and transfer, once immediately after the lesson and once after one week. The students were also asked to rate the effectiveness of the instructional content and the visual design of the content. The dependent variables were the scores on the retention and transfer tests, immediate and delayed, and the student ratings for content effectiveness and for visual design. Both the immediate and delayed retention scores were based on the answer to an open question asking students to recall the process in detail. The immediate transfer score was based on the answers to five open questions, and the delayed transfer score was based on the answers to five multiple-choice questions. The number of valid cases was 220 for the initial task and 143 for the delayed task. The results showed that graphical emotional design and storytelling may contribute to improved learning outcomes by promoting positive affect. Recommendations were made for future research to further investigate these effects, and for practitioners to try and incorporate emotional design in their learning materials.
Kessler Greg (Committee Chair)
Brooks Gordon (Committee Member)
Moore David (Committee Member)
Girton Sam (Committee Member)
208 p.
Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Technology; Instructional Design
emotional design; instructional design; visual design; storytelling; colors; anthropomorphisms

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Simionescu, D. C. (2020). The Impact of Emotional Design on the Effectiveness of Instructional Materials [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1585757840646923

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Simionescu, Dana. The Impact of Emotional Design on the Effectiveness of Instructional Materials. 2020. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1585757840646923.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Simionescu, Dana. "The Impact of Emotional Design on the Effectiveness of Instructional Materials." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1585757840646923

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1585757840646923
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.