Data for meta-analysis: Signaling text-picture relations in multimedia learning

The signaling principle recommends emphasizing relevant aspects of a multimedia message by means of signals (e.g., color coding). We determined the effectiveness of signals that highlight correspondences between text and pictures as well as its possible boundary conditions by means of a meta-analysis. To this end, 1,060 potentially relevant articles were identified in a comprehensive search. After rating the studies based on inclusion criteria and correcting for biases, 27 studies were included into the meta-analysis yielding 45 pair-wise comparisons with N = 2,464 participants. Domain-specific prior knowledge, pacing of the materials, pictorial format, mapping requirements, and distinctiveness of signals were coded as moderators. For transfer and comprehension performance a positive small-to-medium effect size (r = 0.17, 95% CI [.11, .22]) favoring signaled multimedia material was found, which was moderated by prior knowledge. The findings support the effectiveness of the signaling principle in particular for learners with low prior knowledge.

信号提示原则（signaling principle）主张通过信号（例如色彩编码）突出多媒体信息中的相关内容。本研究采用元分析方法，考察了用于凸显文本与图片间对应关系的信号提示的有效性及其潜在边界条件。为此，本研究通过全面检索共识别出1060篇潜在相关文献。经基于纳入标准的研究评级与偏差校正后，最终有27项研究被纳入本次元分析，共得到45组配对比较数据，总样本量为2464名被试。本研究将领域特异性先前知识、材料呈现节奏、图片格式、映射要求以及信号辨识度编码为调节变量。针对迁移与理解绩效的分析结果显示，使用信号提示的多媒体材料存在正向中小幅度效应量（r=0.17，95%置信区间[0.11, 0.22]），且该效应受先前知识的调节。本研究结果证实了信号提示原则的有效性，尤其适用于先前知识水平较低的学习者。