The Effects of Color on Learning Jeremy Armstrong Science Teacher, Etowah High School
Abstract Advertising uses color to persuade and to evoke response. The power of color to stimulate and motivate consumers might well be applied to the classroom environment, where motivation can be difficult to inspire in students. The effects of color in educational settings is documented in part by the three articles below, and can be shown to be a significant tool in enhancing retention and understanding of curriculum.
It has long been known that color can affect learning – just enter an elementary school classroom and you will see the riot of colorful shapes and words splashed around the space. The question of how to most effectively use it, however, is still being studied, especially with older learners. The three articles reviewed in this paper examine this issue in several ways; the actual measurable effects of color on retention, recognition and recall are documented numerically and statistically, beginning with the effects of color coding on multimedia learning.
An Eye-tracking Study of How Color Coding Affects Multimedia Learning The use of color-coding has long been known to enhance retention of information, but little has been done to assess how it works and what the actual effect was. In this study, Erol Ozcelik, Turkan Karakus, Engin Kursun, and Kursat Cagiltay (2009) use the science of eye-tracking to determine where the eye looks and how long it rests on each word. Using data collected from previous studies to analyze the tracking data, they set out to determine those variables.
Methodology Using color coding to highlight salient information in text-based material, Ozcelik et al (2009) emphasized selected aspects of the material used in the test. Using a Tobii 1750 eye tracker, the researchers measured both the number and duration of fixations on the material. Control was achieved by having one group read text that had no color coding. The participants were 52 undergraduate students (15 female and 37 male), all between 19 and 27 years of age. They voluntarily took part in the experiment for extra course credits. No participant reported color-blindness. Twenty-six randomly selected participants were assigned to the color-coded group, and the rest studied the conventional format. A pretest and post-test were utilized to determine retention. The test itself was conducted at three separate engineering schools in Turkey. Inter-rater variability was assessed to eliminate bias, and was determined to be 0.89, well within the acceptable parameters for the study. Raters were blind to who was reading color coded material and who was not.
Summary of results By processing the data collected and applying the results to the subsequent test results, they hoped to determine why the information was coded more effectively and what mechanism was responsible. Results suggested that while the total amount of fixation time was similar between the two groups, the length of fixation time on the color coded material was higher in the color coded group, suggesting that the material was not less difficult as a result of the coding, but that more time could be spent on processing salient material with less time spent determining which material was salient. The test scores for the highlighted group were on the average 13% higher than for the control group; both groups rated the material similarly with regard to difficulty.
Evaluation of the research The research was meticulously done, with substantial work done ahead of time to determine best practices before proceeding. The data was also meticulously handled, with great attention spent eliminating or explaining the effects of biases. However, it is evident that the research was designed only to be read by those comfortable with complex statistical functions and previous work done in the field. Use of color in this study was to emphasize text, but the effect of different colors was not studied. It is not known what color was used to emphasize the text. As a first article, it was bewildering in its complexity, and the one illustration provided was in Turkish. It took a lot of time to sort through the information, even with headings and summary statements to guide me.
What was learned The overall effect of color coding is to draw attention to specific bits of information and concentrate processing time where it will do the most good. This could also be accomplished by simply eliminating the unnecessary material or reducing its volume or complexity. This research gave me ideas on how to take standard material and differentiate it for ELLs or students with IEPs without actually rewriting any of the material or providing a scaffolding or summary.
Colour in Learning: It’s Effect on the Retention Rate of Graduate Students Unlike the previous study, this research study was to determine if color itself could influence the learning process. The independent variable was color at two levels: congruent colors (colors corresponding to the words) and incongruent colors (colors not related to the words). For the control, black and shades of grey were used. The dependent variable was the retention rate. The authors, Dr. Oluwakemi Olurinola and Dr. Omoniyi Tayo of the Department of Science and Technology Education, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria, set out to evaluate the type of color that was the most effective in enhancing learning: those colors that were congruent with the words they modified, such as using yellow ink for the word ‘yellow’, or those that were incongruent, e.g using purple ink for the word ‘grass’.
Methodology Using thirty randomly selected graduate students as subjects, the researchers divided them into three groups of ten, one group representing the congruent testing set, one group representing the incongruent testing set and the third as the control. Twenty words of no more than three syllables were used and the data collected was post-test only recall. All of the tests were printed on white paper with either chromatic or achromatic ink. The test subjects were given ten minutes to study the words, after which the sheets were collected. They were then asked to do simple arithmetic work for thirty minutes to prevent rehearsal and finally tested for recall. The hypothesis was that they did not expect to find any statistical difference between the test groups. ANOVA statistical analysis of the tests were conducted to determine validity, significance and variability.
Summary of results It was determined that the hypothesis was not correct, and that a significant statistical difference existed between the three groups. The congruent group had the highest recall, while the incongruent group had the lowest recall.
Evaluation of the research The experiment, in stark contrast to the previous one, was not only simple, but comprehensible. Color affects retention significantly: positively when it is congruent to the material and negatively when it is incongruent with it. The authors warned that congruency could be culturally or socially determined, and that some congruence is personally defined, so continued research would be needed to determine if there were any universal or global congruences/incongruences one could expect if congruence were ‘hardwired’ into human neurophysiology.
What was learned If I am to select colors to draw attention to the material, I must be careful to pick colors that are congruent with the material, otherwise I risk increasing cognitive load or conflict with the meaning or content. Color should not be used randomly in presentations; it must be deliberate and controlled.
Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning This study is about connecting colors and shapes to emotions and learning. In particular, the authors, Jan L. Plass, Steffi Heidig, Elizabeth O. Hayward, Bruce D. Homer, and Enjoon Um were interested in expanding previous work they had done with evoking positive emotions with specific facial shapes and the positive effect of those emotions on learning. Using color categories like ‘warm’ and ‘cold’, they studied the impact of color and shape combinations on retention.
Methodology A testing population of 151 adult (>18) education students were placed into two groups, one for the six hypotheses being tested and one for control. Twenty of the students were male, the remainder female.
In study one, hypothesis one was that positive emotional design increased positive emotions experienced and retention as well. Hypothesis two was that positive emotions resulted in higher test scores and less perceived effort. Hypothesis three was that positive emotions would result in greater satisfaction.
In study two, hypothesis four was that warm colors produce more positive emotions than cold colors. Hypothesis five was that warmer colors would produce higher transfer test scores. Hypothesis six was that warmer colors would induce higher levels of satisfaction and lower perceived effort.
Using a two-minute video describing antigens and cellular activity as a result of infection with jellybean-shaped characters in one of the three color schemes, the researchers then conducted a short post-test for recall and then had the subjects take a multiple-choice test evaluating the emotional parameters of their experience.
Summary of results It was determined that the overall results were incredibly complex, with a lot of variables affecting other variables. Overall, warmer colors and shapes produced higher test results, more positive emotions and a greater satisfaction and lower perceived effort than either the cold colors or the achromatic control.
Evaluation of the research The experiment was simply too complex. Too many variables and half a dozen hypotheses made the work unmanageably long and almost not worth the effort to read. While much was learned, little of value was produced. Most of the information was already available through different studies already conducted by other researchers; most of the work here was actually confirmatory, evidenced by the unanimous validation of all six hypotheses.
What was learned I learned that sometimes original work is not the objective of research; sometimes the idea is to get one’s name in print and validate the groundbreaking work of other researchers using different methodologies. This is neither good nor bad, it simply describes the current state of research and research funding in the academic arena today. All I learned was that warm colors and cartoon-y shapes make happy people learn better in a managed environment and they tend to report being happy afterwards. Not a huge discovery, if you ask me. I was disappointed by the outcome – it seemed so specific to multimedia learning and referenced studies by both Mayer and Moreno, the latter being involved in another paper with the principal author of this piece.
Reflection The articles were widely different, and the study methodologies dissimilar to the extreme. I learned that there are only a handful of original studies out there on the subject, and they are simple, well done and universally referenced. Of the three articles, the second from Nigeria had the best science. This was not a difficult assignment; it took up a lot of time, but the overall learning experience was positive. I enjoy reading and spent a fair amount of time editing scientific articles for three journals back in the eighties. I would have rejected the third article for lack of focus and recommended that the researchers restrict themselves to a single hypothesis. The first article needed to include the data as an appendix – it was simply too massive to facilitate readability of the work and could have been presented in a more summative fashion in the body of the text. The second article was what I like in research – clarity of purpose and simplicity of presentation.
References Oszelik, E., Turkan, K., Kursun, E., & Kagiltay, K. (2009). An eye-tracking study of how color coding affects multimedia learning. Computers & Education,53. doi:DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.03.002 · Source: DBLP.
Olurinola, O., Dr., & Tayo, O., Dr. (2015). Colour in Learning: It’s Effect on the Retention Rate of Graduate Students. Journal of Education and Practice,6(14). Retrieved March & april, 2017, from www.iiste.org. Plass, J. L., Heidig, S., Hayward, E. O., Homer, B. D., & Um, E. (2013). Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning. Learning and Instruction,30, 1-13. doi:http://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.02.006