Introductory circuit analysis learning from abstract and contextualized circuit representations: Effects of diagram labels

engineering symbols. They are also often unaccustomed to instruc-tional materials consisting of a combination of text, diagrams, and equations. This raises the question of whether instruction on ele-mentary electrical circuit analysis for novice learners should em-ploy contextualized representations of the circuits with familiar components, such as batteries, or employ abstract representations with the abstract engineering terms and symbols. A further ques-tion is if text labels in the circuit diagrams would aid these learners. This study examined these research questions with a “2 3 ” exper-or contextualized) were considered under three types of diagram labeling (no labels, static labels, or interactive labels). The design was implemented in an instructional module on elementary circuit analysis for novice learners. Results indicated that abstract rep-resentations led to higher near- and far-transfer post-test scores, and that interactive (student-generated) labeling resulted in higher near-transfer scores than either the no-labels or static-labels condi-tions. These findings suggest that abstract representations promote the development of deep, transferrable knowledge and that gener-ative methods of integration, such as interactive diagram labeling, can facilitate learning with multiple external representations. Index Terms—Circuit analysis instruction, circuit diagram, diagram label, electrical circuit analysis, multiple external representations, novice learner