Interactive science multimedia and visuospatial processing

Diverse interactive multimedia products are developed for university students in health and natural sciences. These different multimedia tools allow exchanges of information with the students. In these exchanges, the students provide cognitive engagement, and the multimedia responds with feedback. The multimedia products that allow the highest levels of these interactions are simulations and videogames. We base this chapter on both multimedia tools and describe examples of effective high-level interactions. Nevertheless, we also note that too much interactivity can be detrimental, particularly for students with low visuospatial processing capacity. As predicted by cognitive load theory, these students may overwhelm their working memory capacity by trying to process the learning contents plus excessive interactive features. In short, properly designed simulations and videogames should seek a balance of productive engagement and responsive feedback. Examples of balanced multimedia have shown positive learning results across science topics. There is also accumulating evidence of the positive relationship between visuospatial processing and learning from interactive multimedia. As such, higher visuospatial processing abilities can foster learning from science simulations and understanding complex scientific visualizations. Also, playing videogames, particularly action videogames, can be effective for training visuospatial skills. We end this chapter by offering instructional implications and directions for future research.