How drawing and/or explaining help undergraduate students learn chemistry

This study investigates the effects of generative learning strategies—drawing, self-explaining, and explaining to others—on student learning outcomes, with particular attention to the moderating role of prior knowledge. Grounded in the generative learning theory (Mayer & Fiorella, 2015, 2016) and the sense-making framework (Fiorella, 2023), the study employed a 2 (drawing vs. no drawing) × 3 (self-explaining vs. explaining to others vs. no explaining) between-subjects experimental design. Participants read an illustrated chemistry text and were assigned to one of six instructional conditions: control, self-explaining only (SE), explaining to others (EO), drawing only (DO), self-explaining plus drawing (DSE), and explaining to others plus drawing (DEO). The study assessed posttest performance, as well as the quality of learner-generated explanations and drawings. Contrary to expectations, no significant main effects were found for drawing or explaining activities. However, a significant interaction between drawing and explaining, and a three-way interaction with prior knowledge, revealed that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on how they are combined and the learner’s prior knowledge. Learner-generated drawings hindered learning when combined with self-explaining for students with low prior knowledge, while supported learning for those with high prior knowledge. In contrast, explaining to others combined with learner-generated drawings was more beneficial for students with low prior knowledge than for those with high prior knowledge. These findings suggest boundary conditions for the effective application of dual generative learning strategies in chemistry learning, in which learning includes processing complex visual content. Additional analyses showed that the quality of drawings and explanations did not significantly correlate with learning outcomes, highlighting the influence of other factors such as prior knowledge and the medium of production. The results also reveal several potential limitations. Explicit instruction such as comparison to instructor-provided examples may promote superficial comparisons rather than meaningful reflection, probably depending on students’ prior knowledge levels. The interpretations of the comparisons between groups in the study may be different from the previous typical research on multiple generative learning strategies because students created explanations with the presence of instructor-provide visuals or learner-generated visuals.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Chen, Runzhi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cromley, Jennifer
• Lane, Chad
• D'Angelo, Cynthia
• Fiorella, Logan
• Adams, Gretchen

• Generative learning
• multimedia learning
• STEM education
• learning strategy
• illustrated text

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Runzhi Chen

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129553

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129553