Does animation enhance learning? A meta-analysis

• A meta-analysis was conducted to review the effect of animation on learning.
• Overall positive effect of animation was found in multimedia material.
• Animation found to be superior when learning with iconic visualizations.
• Learning enhanced with animation when no accompanying text was provided.
• Necessity to better describe visualizations in papers, whether static or animated.

This meta-analysis investigated whether animation is beneficial overall for learning compared to static graphics, while also identifying moderator factors affecting the global effect. A systematic search was conducted for experimental studies comparing the impact of animated vs. static graphics displays in the context of knowledge acquisition. A total of 50 papers were considered, and consecutively 61 primary studies (N = 7036), yielding 140 pair-wise comparisons of animated vs. static graphic visualizations in multimedia instructional material were analyzed using a random-effects model. An overall positive effect of animation over static graphics was found, with a Hedges’s g effect size of 0.226 (95% confidence interval = 0.12–0.33). Additional moderator analyses indicated substantial effect sizes when the animation was system-paced (g = 0.309), when it was coupled with auditory commentary (g = 0.336) or when the instruction did not include any accompanying text (g = 0.883).