Should hand actions be observed when learning hand motor skills from instructional animations?

• Do learners need to observe hands in learning from animated hand manipulation tasks?
• Animations with and without hands were much more effective than equivalent statics.
• Learning from animations with hands was more efficient than without hands.

This study investigated whether the effectiveness of learning a hand-motor task through an instructional animation required observation of the hands or not. Cognitive load theory was used to predict that both animated conditions (with and without hands) would be equally effective, and that both animations would be superior to an equivalent static graphics presentation. 36 adults were randomly assigned to three groups (With-hands animation, No-hands animation, Statics graphics) and were required to learn how to tie two knots. Test results confirmed that both animations led to superior learning compared to the static presentation. However, the With-hands animation strategy had a further advantage in that it had higher instructional efficiency than the No-hands animation.