The Effects of Emotional Design on Multimedia Learning and Appreciation of Chinese Poetry

Exploring the interplay of information relevance and colorfulness in multimedia learning

Introduction

Looking at recent developments in multimedia learning research, the interaction between cognitive and affective processes is examined more extensively. Based on the emotional design hypothesis, for example, using colors, in contrast to black and white representations, for designing learning materials can elicit positive emotions, guide attention, increase motivation, and foster learning. The attention-guiding effect of colors might not be beneficial when used in learning-irrelevant, decorative pictures. In such a case, the seductive detail effect suggests that interesting but irrelevant additions can hinder learning. Previous studies manipulated colors in the whole learning material independent of the relevance of the information. The present study aimed to examine the effect of color variations according to the relevance of the information presented.

Methods

With a 2 (colorfulness of learning-relevant information background: black and white vs. colored) × 2 (colorfulness of learning-irrelevant pictorial information: black/white vs. colored) between-subject design. The main and interaction effects of colors as attention guides of multimedia learning material on the formation of hurricanes were tested with two samples (128 university students and 140 secondary school students). The first sample is university students in laboratory conditions. The second sample is students in school classes. Besides learning outcomes, perceptions of cognitive load, metacognitive judgments, and affective states are measured.

Results

Results show that the interplay between information relevance and the colorfulness of representations affects learners' cognitive processes and metacognitive and affective perceptions.

Discussion

These findings have practical implications for the design of multimedia learning materials, highlighting the importance of considering the interplay between colorfulness and information relevance.

The role of the target language culture on Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry

As an important carrier of culture, poetry plays a significant role in deepening language learners' understanding of the target language culture as well as enhancing their language skills; however, the effect of the target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry remains unclear. The study served as an attempt to shed light on the point of whether the target language culture has different effects on high- and low-level Chinese Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry with the use of pictures related to Arabic culture and those not related to Arabic culture. In the current study, 40 Arabic learners (20 high-level and 20 low-level) scored the Arabic poem line based on their fondness for it after viewing two kinds of picture with electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Frontal alpha asymmetry index as a correlate of approach and avoidance related motivation measured by EEG power in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) was calculated for examining whether the behavioral results of Arabic learners' fondness for poetry are in line with the results of changes in the related EEG components. Behavioral results illustrated that low-level subjects showed significantly less liking for Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture compared to those not related to Arabic culture. The high-level subjects did not show a significant difference in the level of liking for Arabic poetry between the two cases. FAA results demonstrated that low-level subjects presented a significant avoidance-related responses to Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture in comparison to viewing pictures not related to Arabic culture; while the FAA values did not differ significantly between the two cases in high-level subjects, which is in line with behavioral results. The findings of this research can benefit teachers in motivating students to learn poetry in foreign language curriculum and also contribute to the literature on the effect of target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry.

Colors and Learner’s Gender Evoke Different Emotional and Cognitive Effects in Multimedia Learning

The emotional design principle avers that highly saturated warm colors in multimedia learning presentations can elevate affective-motivational, cognitive, and learning outcomes. While warm and achromatic grayscale color tones have been explored extensively, relatively less research examines the effects of cold colors in multimedia learning. This study explores how color tones (warm, cold, and achromatic grayscale) and learners’ gender influence positive emotions, intrinsic motivation, cognitive load, and transfer performance. An online experiment was conducted where learners pursuing IT courses in an Asian university ( $n=204$ ) engaged with either one of the multimedia learning lessons on distributed denial-of-service attack imbued with (1) a warm color tone, (2) a cold color tone, and (3) an achromatic grayscale color tone. Findings show that the cold color tone was associated with fewer enhanced positive emotion types than the other color tones. Compared to the achromatic grayscale color tone ( $M=2.38$ , $\text{SD}=1.88$ ), significantly higher extraneous cognitive load ratings were observed with the warm color tone ( $M=3.26$ , $\text{SD}=1.96$ ) and the cold color tone ( $M=3.24$ , $\text{SD}=2.18$ ). Following reports by some learners, this could be attributed to the overly vivid and saturated chromatic colors impairing the learners’ visual and cognitive processes, causing them to rate the multimedia learning experience with warm and cold color tones as more difficult than with the achromatic grayscale color tone. Male learners in the warm color tone condition ( $M=4.93$ , $\text{SD}=3.46$ ) performed marginally better on the transfer posttest than male learners in the cold color tone condition ( $M=3.49$ , $\text{SD}=3.45$ ) and male learners in the achromatic grayscale color tone condition ( $M=3.44$ , $\text{SD}=2.69$ ). In contrast, female learners in the warm color tone condition ( $M=1.75$ , $\text{SD}=1.62$ ) performed marginally worse than female learners in the cold color tone condition ( $M=3.83$ , $\text{SD}=3.92$ ) and significantly worse than female learners in the achromatic grayscale color tone condition ( $M=3.67$ , $\text{SD}=2.50$ ). Overall, these results show that gender can shape the effects of warm colors on learning—the warm color tone can enhance male learners’ but stifle female learners’ transfer performance. Moreover, this study aligns with recent studies that colors as an emotional design feature may lead to higher cognitive load ratings. This paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications and submits a future outlook for broadening the research domain.