Abstracts - Earli

visualisations are not limited to supporting the construction of dynamic mental models but can alsolead to the construction of static mental models. This symposium will argue for a unified approachto dealing with visualizations with a special focus on constructing dynamic mental models fromvisualizations, regardless whether these visualizations are static or dynamic. It will analyze thenature of dynamic mental models in different domains using different methodological approaches,and it will focus on the question how dynamic perceptual schemata and prior knowledge aboutdynamic events can be used in the construction of dynamic mental models from external visualdisplays. Instead of the simple, but misleading research question, whether dynamic visualizationsare more effective than static ones or not for the construction of dynamic mental models, thesymposium will address the question, when (i.e. under which conditions) which kind ofvisualization will be more beneficial for the construction of dynamic mental models.Temporal manipulations for instructional design: Effects of presentation speedSebastian Fischer, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, GermanyStephan Schwan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, GermanyTime-related design techniques of dynamic visualisations should provide various ways of adaptinganimations for specific instructional purposes. To put forward empirical investigations of thesedesign techniques, altering presentation speed was chosen as a nowadays easy to achieve temporalmanipulation, applicable to films and various dynamic visualisations. A complex mechanicalsystem, a pendulum clock, was presented in a between subject design. To consider nañve conceptsand to capture change of concepts, first prior knowledge on the working of a pendulum clock wasrecorded. Then the system was presented for 10 minutes as (a) static picture, (b) realistic-time or(c) time-lapse animation. During observation think aloud protocols and gaze movements werecaptured. No additional textual or auditory instructions were provided. Afterwards subjects wereasked to provide a written explanation of how the clock functions. These were analysed regardingconcepts on the main functional components of the clock, which are weight, pendulum andescapement. Comparison of both animation conditions replicated previous findings that higherpresentation speed improves understanding, particularly concerning the role of the weight.Surprisingly the static condition was found to be as good as the time-lapse condition in reportingcorrect concepts: written explanations only differed slightly in their emphasis of the different parts.However when taking misconceptions into account, the time-lapse condition differs in tendencyfrom both other conditions in reporting less false concepts on the pendulum. Gaze tracking dataprovide insights in effects of presentation speed on distribution of attention on the different partsof the clock. Here a general influence is found, albeit being not as tightly linked to reportedconcepts as expected. The role of bottom-up aspects like perceptual attributes of the dynamicvisualisation, and top-down processing influenced by background knowledge about themechanical system are discussed.Animations and temporal manipulation: Supporting comprehension of complex dynamicinformationRichard K. Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, AustraliaWolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, GermanyThis investigation explored the effect of playing speed on learner extraction of information froman animation depicting the operation of a complex dynamic device. The focus was upon whatlevels of information were available to learners at different speeds as a foundation for mentalmodel construction. Teacher education students who were novices with respect to the depictedsubject matter viewed sets of four successive presentations of normal speed and half-speed– 189 –