430 THE USE OF ANIMATIONS IN CHEMICAL EDUCATION Han Vermaat Henny Kramers-Pals University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Patricia Schank Stanford Research Institute Abstract A central issue in chemistry education is the relation between the macroscopic or real world and the molecular or nanoscopic world. New students could better understand chemistry and apply their chemistry understanding to solve problems if they were able to make deeper connections between these worlds. Animations can be used in chemical education so that students get a better knowledge of molecular processes by making better relations between the macroscopic and the nanoscopic world. Twenty 10 th grade, pre-university students from four different schools were distributed into four five- student groups, students of each group attended the same school. Group 1 received instruction on paper. Group 2 students were also provided with animations that showed nanoscopic processes. Group 3 received the same material as with Group 2, but the students were also required to complete assignments and perform a number of tasks for which they had to take a closer look at the animations. Students in Group 4 were required to do everything that Group 3 were required to do, and they were asked to make animations by themselves. The students were interviewed after instruction. Only two students (from Group 1 and 2) could give a complete, molecular explanation why ice floats on water when ice is melting. Six students (two from Group 1, three from Group 3 and one from Group 4) gave an explanation that was correct, but not complete. The other twelve students could not explain this phenomenon. Solid salt and distilled water are insulators, but a solution of salt in water conducts electricity. Students in Groups 3 and 4 could explain this when they were performing the tasks about the animations. The Group 4 students made animations that were close to the scientific accepted models, which strongly indicate that creating animations gives a strong learning effect. Nevertheless, there was not a very clear distinction between the four groups when students were interviewed two weeks after instruction. The students came from four different schools, and had therefore different backgrounds. There will be a follow up investigation in order to get a more homogenous group, which will result in stronger conclusions. Introduction A computer animation is a series of rapidly changing pictures on the computer screen, which gives an illusion of motion (Large, 1996). There have to be at least fifteen pictures per second for a fluent and continuous motion. According to Mayer and Moreno (2002) an animation has three characteristics. It is a picture, it shows apparent motion, and it is simulated. This means that an animation consists of objects that are drawn or created with some other simulation method. A video shows motion of real objects. Similarly, an illustration is a static picture of a drawn or simulated object, and a photo is a static picture of a real object. Computer animations can be used in instruction programs on CD-ROM or on the Internet. Movement of so-called gif-animations cannot be stopped; the animations cycle in a loop. Other animations play via a plug-in like QuickTime or Flash 1 . QuickTime animations can be stopped, so certain details can be viewed more closely. It is possible to play animations in programs such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player, and to copy frames of the movie. This allows students to interact with the animation. Animations can serve different roles in instruction. Weiss, Knowlton and Morrison (2000) mention decoration, gaining attention, motivation, extra information and clarification of complex knowledge or complex phenomena as potential roles of animation. Gaining attention is an important function, in which there must be overlap with the content of the accompanying text. If there is no overlap, the animation can distract from the instruction. Large (1996) argues that animations add to written information, but cannot replace it. Motion is the special quality of animations and therefore animations can promote learning of dynamic processes (Large, 1996). Since chemical processes at the molecular level are dynamic, impossible to see, and typically quite hard to imagine,