ANIMATION WITH CONCURRENT NARRATION VERSUS NARRATION IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION LESSON

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of two different teaching methods on students’ comprehension during Physical Education lesson: narration versus animation with concurrent narration, during teaching shot put event. Thirty primary school children (boys and girls) volunteered to participate in this study. In experiment students listened (narration) and viewed (animation with narration) the presentation of two shot putting styles. A problem-solving and a retention test were used to evaluate students’ comprehension. Results showed that students’ comprehension was better when shot putting styles were presented through a mixed model (animation and narration group) than a single (narration). The animation with concurrent narration group performed better than the narration group, in problem-solving (M = 4.91, SD = 1.36) and in retention test (M = 5.98, SD = 1.28) t(28) = 1.89 p<0.01. An instructional implication is that pictures with words is more effective way of teaching when they occur continuingly in time, than only words during Physical Education lesson.


INTRODUCTION
New technologies, educational software programs and Multimedia learning environments are based and apply the principle of Multimodality as a teaching method (Crafton, Brennan, & Silvers, 2007).Multimodality actually refers to a system of learning with multiple didactic teaching tools: visual like letters, graphs and pictures (static or animated), audile like voices and sounds and kinetic like hand making or hand solving (Cope, & Kalantzis, 2009).
According to Mayer and Moreno (2003), in a Multimedia learning environment information is presented in two or more perceptual modalities, visual (pictures, images, graphs) and auditory (sounds, words).Through technology information and knowledge is presented in multiple modalities using computer-based dynamic media such as animations and audio (Kay, 2012;Narayanan, & He-garty, 2002).Multimedia learning occurs when students build mental presentations from words and pictures that are presented to them.Students learn more deeply from a combination of words and pictures than from words alone, known as the multimedia effect (Mayer, 2003).
A cognitive theory of Multimedia learning known as Dual-coding theory, advanced by Paivio (1986) is based on main assumption that there are two separates channels (auditory and visual) processing information.In agreement with this theory, words and pictures activate independent visual and verbal codes.According to Dual-code theory, narration (verbal) is proceeded in the auditory-verbal channel.In some lessons, like History, Language, Geography and Religion, narration is the most common and effective style or method of teaching aiming to motivate children constructing knowledge (Bell, 2002;Zipes, 2013).However the effect of narration on students' learning performance is 136 controversial.There is empirical evidence that narration does not have positive effects on students' learning performance.Results showed that when students listen to or read only explanations that are presented to them as words are unable to remember most of the key ideas (Mayer, 1997;1999a;1999b).
Animation (visual) according to Dual-code theory is proceeded in the visual channel.One of the main reasons of the growing popularity of animated graphics seems to be the belief that animation is more interesting, aesthetically appealing and therefore more motivating when uses pedagogical agent (Kim, Yoon, Whang, Tversky, & Morrison, 2007; Young, & Pass, 2015).For some authors, children prefer animation due to its attractiveness (Perez, & White, 1985;Sirikasem, & Shebilske, 1991).However the effect of animation in students' comprehension is controversial (Betrancourt, 2005;Kim et al., 2007).Some studies showed significant and actual effects and improvement on students learning by animated graphics, on the other side some studies showed opposite results and detrimental to learning performance.Some basic problems of the experiments between static and animated graphs, is that studies that comparing animation have not equivalent procedures (Betrancourt, 2005; Mayer, Hegarty, Mayer, & Cambell, 2005).
The comparison between animation (pictures) and narration (words) has been investigated by many authors in a variety of lesson as Physics, Mathematics, Geometry, Biology, Astronomy and Mechanics (Kieras, 1992; Hegarty, Kriz, & Gate, 2003; Rebetez , Sangin, Betrancourt, & Dillenbourg, 2004; Rieber, 1990).Furthermore, the comparison between animation with concurrent narration (pictures with words) and narration (words) showed that a mixed information model (animation with narration) is more effective, than a single (narration only) information model (Mayer, 1989;Mayer, & Gallini, 1990;Mayer, & Anderson, 1992;Moreno, & Mayer, 1999).Students learn better when words and pictures are presented concurrently in time, rather than words only or pictures only are used as teaching methods (Moreno, & Mayer, 1999).
Physical Education lesson uses a variety of teaching styles renamed from Mosston and Ashworth's work (Metzler, 2011).Methods of teaching may include lecture method (words or narra-tion) and also observation or visualization method (models, video, computer-assisted instruction and animation).Narration during Physical Education lesson is often used in all ages and at any level of physical performance, for teaching new skills and also as a method of giving instructions.The use of animation during physical education lesson is performed by the method of display or by using a model-template to learn, improve or correct new skills.However, narration and animation methods of teaching through multimedia are both used in primary, secondary, high school and college to enhance students' motivation and also cognitive and physical performance through facilitation of active and experiential learning (Fiorentino, & Castelli, 2005;Goran, & Reynolds, 2005).Computer technology and multimedia instructional environments have become an integral part of Physical Education (Siskos, Antoniou, Papaioannou, & Laparidis, 2005).The effect of pictures with words (animation with narration) versus words only (narration) on students' performance during Physical Education lesson is missing form the present literature.
Therefore the purpose of the present study is to compare the effectiveness of animation with concurrent narration (pictures with words) and narration (words only) on students' performance during teaching Physical Education lesson.

METHOD Participants
Thirty (n=30) school children in the 5 th and 6 th grade from 4 primary public schools from the prefecture of Thessaloniki (Greece), were recruited for the purposes of this study with the design of random sampling.Children reported low levels of prior experience viewing and performing shot put event, due to the lack of teaching shot put event (Glide and Spin putting style) in the curriculum of Physical Education lesson during the current and previous years.Half of the subjects served in the Narration Group (words only) and half of the subjects served in the Animation with concurrent Narration Group (pictures with words).Groups were designed by the method of random selection.

Materials and Apparatus
The paper-and-pencil material consisted of a subject questionnaire, one test sheet containing questions and possible explanations-answers (problem-solving test) and a retention test.The questionnaire asked students to indicate their age and gender.It also contained a shot put event knowledge scale in which students were asked to rate on a 5-point scale (1=very little, 3=average, 5=very much) their level of knowledge of shot put event and to place check marks next to each of five shot put event-related items that presented to them (e.g., "I know the skills of throwing at the track and field sport", "I have thrown a heavy spherical object", "I know the putting styles", "I know when a shot is or not valid", "I know the phases of shot putting styles").
The problem-solving test contained the six (6) following questions: "What is the difference between the Glide and Spin putting style?", "What is the technique of Glide putting style during preparation phase?", "What is the technique of Glide shot putting style during release phase?","What is the technique of Spin putting style during preparation phase?", "What is the technique of Spin putting style during power position?","What will happen if during the throwing motion the athlete touches the top of the iron ring or throws on or outside of the foul lines?".The retention test sheet contained the following printed instruction: "Please write down a description of Glide and Spin putting style".
The computer-based material consisted of two video animations of the shot put event (Glide and Spin shot put technique), lasting approximately 2 min each.Multimedia programs constructed using Adobe Reader 12 Version (for Windows).The first animation portrayed a monochrome figure of an athlete during Glide shot put technique and it was intended to depict the basic phases of this putting style and some basic rules of the sport along with concurrent narration that was broken into 12 segments (Figure 1).The second animation portrayed a monochrome figure of an athlete during Spin shot put technique, and it was intended to depict the basic phases of this putting style and some basic rules of the sport along with concurrent narration that was broken into 11 segments (Figure 2).Narration material consisted of an approximately 325word description about Glide shot put technique, and it was intended to depict its basic phases and rules and 319-word description about Spin shot put technique, and it was intended to depict its basic phases and rules (Walmsley, 2004).Narration was presented in digitized speech spoken in a male voice lasting approximately 2 min each.During the narration all children received brief instructions keeping quiet and been concentrated on researcher's voice.
Selected animation frames and corresponding narration of Glide shot put technique follows.
Glide shot put technique.Preparation phase: place shot against neck and under the jaw with right hand, left hand support leg in tall position, bend over 45-90 o , back facing the direction of throwing, body weight in one leg, body in T-shape, swinging leg from outstretched position behind support leg (Figure 1).Glide Phase: support leg from a tall to a bent position, body unseats backwards, free leg is driven low towards the stopboard, support leg extends over its heel maintaining the circle, left and right feet land quickly one after the other (Figure 2).Power position: body weight is held on right foot, heel of the right foot and toe of the left foot are aligned, shoulder line behind hip line, head and left arm are facing towards the back of the circle, righ leg turn 90 0 toward the front of circle (Figure 3).4).Release phase: arm strike is initiated after full extension of the legs and trunk, left arm is braced and held close to trunk, throwing arm up approximately to 45 o angle, arm/hand is pushed out with the thumb pointing downwards, release shot forward pushing with right leg (Figure 5).

Selected animation frames and corresponding narration of Spin shot put technique follows.
Spin-Rotation shot put technique.Preparation phase: stand at the near of circle, shoulders opposite throwing direction, place shot on the base of your fingers against your neck (right-handed throwers), throwing elbow pointed outward away from body, head up, shoulders level in same position, extend your left arm to the side, rotate your upper body one quarter turn to the right, bent right knee (Figure 7).Rotation (entry 1 & 2) phase: shift weight to left side as you pivot on, turn into the circle, then turn left foot, bent left knee slightly, flattern left foot, transfer the center of gravity to left side, begin pushing off right foot, land right foot in the middle of the circle, pivot and turn left leg (Figure 2).6): feet contact should be maintained as long as possible (explosive leg action may cause legs to come off ground at release), good follow-through is essential for balance, shot is is not valid if the athlete touches the top of the toeboard or outside the circle or if the ball falls outside of the borders to the left and to the right, but is valid if falls on the borders (foul line).Apparatus consisted of one Toshiba Satellite C55-B5298 laptop with 15-in., connected with a projector EPSON EH-TW570.Headphones FRISBY FS-75NU were plugged into the audio output of Toshiba laptop.A stopwatch was used to time the tests.

Procedure
Five days before the measures children and parents were both informed in writing and orally about the objectives and scopes of the study.An informed consent was given to child's parents.This form clearly stated that participation is voluntary and that child may be withdrawn at any time.Consent was obtained in accordance with the policies of the Ethics Committee of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Measures began early in the morning (09.00am).Students were randomly assigned to treatment groups (narration group and animation with concurrent narration group).They were instructed that they would receive a brief narration (narration group) about Glide and Spin shot put event and a brief multimedia presentation (animation with concurrent narration) about Glide and Spin shot put event, that they should pay attention and after the presentation that they have to answer some questions about the material.First, students completed the subject questionnaire at their own rates.Second, after receiving brief instructions, students (narration group) listened the narration of Glide and Spin shot put event three times by the researcher and half of the other students (animation with concurrent audio narration) viewed the animation with narration of Glide and Spin shot put event three times also.Narration and Animation presentations lasted approximately 2 min each.Third, students wrote answers to problem-solving in a period of 5 minutes.Fourth, after problem-solving students began to answer to retention test.Students were given 5 minutes to write as many solutions as possible to each question.During this time, students could not return to previous question or continue to the subsequent question.
In the questionnaire students rated their knowledge on shot put event as average and indicated that they had few experiences in the field with this event.Retention test was scored by determining how many of seven key ideas were included in the program.One (1) point was given for each of the following ideas: (a) body in T-shape (Glide style), rotation (Spin style), (b) shot placed against neck-under jaw, (c) throwing  Students received no more than 7 points overall.The problem-solving test was scored by tallying the number of acceptable answers to each of the six problem-solving questions.Students were given one (1) point for each acceptable answer.Example of acceptable answers for the six questions included respectively, the following: (a) Moving backwards (Glide) instead rotation (Spin), (b) Shot against neck-under jaw, bend over 45 0 -90 0 , back facing the direction of throwing, weight in one leg, body in T-shape, swinging leg behind support leg (c), Full extension of legs-trunk, throwing arm 45 0 angle, arm/hand is pushed out with the thumb pointing downwards (d), Stand near of circle, shoulders opposite throwing direction, place shot against neck, throwing elbow pointed outward away from body, head up, shoulders level in same position, extend your left arm to the side, rotate your upper body one quarter turn to the right, bent right knee (e), Left arm pointed toward the target, left leg straight and right knee bent, right shoulder lower than the left and parallel with ground, weight on right foot (f), Not valid, valid, not valid.Students received no more than 6 points overall.

RESULTS
This was an experimental research study which used the cause-effect relationship in a group of variables.In the present study the instructional method was stated as an independent variable having two levels: narration and animation with concurrent audio narration and as dependent variable was children's shot put event comprehension.
Table 1 shows the number of participants, examined according to treatment condition, gender and age.Statistical analysis included the use of T-test of Independent Samples.Statistical significant differences were found between the two treatment groups.Table 2 presents the mean scores and standard deviations for the two groups on retention and problem-solving test.Students in the animation with concurrent audio narration group performed better and remembered more ideas in the retention test (M = 5.98, SD = 1.28), than students in the narration group (M = 4.16, SD = 1.17), t(28) = 1.89 p<0.01.Also during problem-solving test students in the animation with concurrent narration group produced more creative answers (M = 4.91, SD = 1.36) than did the narration group (M = 3.27, SD = 1.04) t(28) = 1.89 p<0.01.

DISCUSSION
Multimedia instructional environments are widely recognized to improve the way and process of learning, comprehension and constructing knowledge (Mayer, 2009).Students in multimedia instructional environments are exposed to material in verbal-auditory (screen text, narration) and visual-pictoral forms (pictures, illustrations, videos and dynamic-animated pictures).Based on the principle of multimodality in a multimedia learning environment, knowledge may be presented in multiple ways (text, video, audio, image, interactive elements) making knowledge interest, curious and motivated (Johnson, Rickel, & Lester, 2000;Luke, 2003).
Dual Code theory of Paivio (1986) gives emphasis on a mixed model of knowledge, where both visual (pictures) and verbal (words, sounds) information is used to represent knowledge.Animation is usually proceeded in the visual-pictorial channel and on the other hand narration is proceeded in the auditory-verbal channel of learning and communication (Lang, 1995).There is growing research base showing that students learn more deeply from well-designed multimedia presentations (pictures with words and sounds) than from traditional verbal-only messages (Mandl & Levin, 1989;Mayer, 2009;Sweller, 1999).
The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of two different teaching methods: animation with concurrent audio narration (pictures with words) and narration (words only) on students' comprehension and learning performance during Physical Education lesson.Results showed that teaching method of animation with concurrent audio narration improved students' comprehension better than method of narration.Students who received information and knowledge through pictures and words, improved their comprehension and knowledge significantly in the problem-solving test (M = 4.91, SD = 1.36), than participants who received information through narration (words only) (M = 3.27, SD = 1.04) t(28) = 1.89 p<0.01.This result is in agreement with some surveys indicatinge that learning performance is improved when information is presented in a mixed model (animation and narration) known as multimedia effect, rather than a single model (Mayer, & Anderson, 1991;1992;Mayer, & Gallini, 1990;Mayer, 1989;Mayer, 1997;Mayer, 1999a).
The result of the present study is also in agreement with Dual-Code theory (Paivio, 1986).In the present study animation with concurrent narration group received information through words and pictures (visual and verbal codes).This result is in agreement with the predictions of the integrated dual-code hypothesis and in disagreement with the predictions of single code and separate dual-code hypothesis.A possible reason is that we hypothesize, that teaching with pictures with words (digital animation) encourages students to build connection between their verbal and visual channel of communication and incoming information, which supports problem-solving and retention tests.Through words (narration) and pictures (animation) knowledge is constructed in student's working memory in a more effective way (Baddeley, 1998;Paivio, 1986).
The result of this study is also in agreement with the new trend and principle of teaching in schools, the principle of Multimodality and Multiliteracy (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009;New London Group, 2000).It is well known that a multiple way of teaching methods and multiple teaching tools will create curiosity, motivate and improve knowledge, and make activities that children enjoy and respond to.Combining pictures with words (animation with narration), rather words only, is an effective method of teaching as students learn more deeply (Mayer, 2009).
Results of the present study are in accordance with results of other studies included Multimedia computer assisted instructions and their positive effect on students' achievement (Chu & Chen, 2000; Kim, & Lee, 2000; Siskos et al., 2005).The difference of the present study however with these studies is that those studies had a different methodology.It seems at least that Multimedia learning environment is useful during Physical Education lesson, particularly in teaching concepts and principles.
Future studies will be needed to explore the effectiveness of animation with or without concurrent narration method in lessons like Physical Education.As is mentioned, animation is a new trend, in accordance with a student oriented learning environment and more studies are needed to compare its effectiveness against other traditional and useful methods of teaching as narration.

CONCLUSION
Results of this study indicate that students learn better from pictures with words, rather than from words.In the present study there is consistent empirical evidence for the contiguity principle of multimedia learning: students learn better when words and pictures are presented contiguously in time (digital animation).In our study digital animation group performed better in the question sheet rather than the narration group.It seems that learning in a multiple way of teaching (dynamic pictures with words) improves comprehension better, rather than a single way of teaching or a single channel information delivery system (narration) during teaching Physical Education.Future studies will need to investigate the effects of those two teaching methods: animation with or without words and narration in an athletic environment.

Table 1 .
Descriptive characteristics of subjects examined as treatment condition, gender and age.

Table 2 .
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations on Retention and Problem-Solving tests for the treatment groups.