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Instruction on software usage has long been dominated by the paper-based tutorial. This dominance is now being challenged with the rise of facilities for producing and publishing recorded demonstrations (video). Typically, each instructional medium has its own qualities. The present study aimed to optimize the design of a video tutorial for software training by attending to both its strengths and its weaknesses vis-à-vis a paper-based tutorial. Based on a distinction between two functionally different components in software tutorials, four tutorial configurations were compared: Paper-based, Mixed A (paper-based preview and video procedure), Mixed B (video preview and paper-based procedure), and Video. The 111 fifth and sixth grade participants (mean age 11.8) received instructions about Word's formatting options. The findings indicated significant and substantial improvements from pre-test to training in all conditions. In addition, participants in the Mixed A, Mixed B, and Video conditions outperformed those in the Paper-based condition. Significant and substantial learning gains were found from pre-test to post-test. Both the Mixed B and Video conditions outperformed the Paper-based condition. The success of the Mixed A, Mixed B, and Video tutorials is ascribed to the use of design guidelines for software training that direct the designer to optimize video's strong qualities and moderate or reduce its relative weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, the effects of different types of support for learning from multiple representations in a simulation-based learning environment were examined. The study extends known research by examining the use of dynamic representations instead of static representations and it examines the role of the complexity of the domain and the learning environment. In three experimental conditions, the same learning environment, that of the physics topic of moments, was presented with separate, non-linked representations (S-NL condition), with separate, dynamically linked representations (S-DL condition), and with integrated, dynamically linked representations (I-DL condition). The learning environment was divided into low complexity and high complexity parts. Subjects were 72 students from middle vocational training (aged 16–18). Overall, the I-DL condition showed the best learning performance. Subjects in the I-DL condition, compared to the S-NL condition, showed better learning results on posttest items measuring domain knowledge. A trend in favor of the I-DL condition compared to the S-NL condition was found on posttest items measuring subjects'' ability to translate between different representations. A subjective measure of experienced difficulty showed that subjects in the I-DL condition experienced the learning environment as easiest to work with. The complexity of the learning environment and domain interacted with the effects of the experimental conditions. Differences between conditions were only found on the test items that corresponded to the high complexity part of the learning environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract This study investigated the contribution of practice in learning from Demonstration-Based Training (DBT) videos for software training. An experiment with three conditions is reported: practice followed by video (practice-video), video followed by practice (videopractice), and video only. The combination of practice and video was expected to enhance learning more than the video only condition. Also, practice-after was expected to be more effective than practice-before. The 82 participants, elementary students (mean age 11.2), achieved significant learning gains, reaching moderate to high levels of success on the immediate and delayed post-tests, and the transfer test. No practice effect was found. Also, there was no difference in test performance between practice conditions. The discussion advances several options for enhancing the effectiveness of the DBT-videos. Highlights • Investigates the role of practice in videos for software training. • Investigates the presence and timing of practice. • Confirms earlier effectiveness findings for video-based instructions. • Fails to find evidence of the contribution of practice for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]