2017 International Symposium on Educational Technology
Interactive Visualization and Its Application in Junior
Middle School Chemistry Teaching
Zhaoli Zhang, Zhifei Li*, Hai Liu IEEE Member, Jiangbo Shu
National Engineering Center for E-Learning, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
*E-mail: zhifei1993@gmail.com
Abstract—With the development of interactive visualization
technology, it is an excellent choice to apply it to the field of
education. In this paper, we first briefly introduce interactive
visualization and design principles. Then, we select participants
from junior high school in Wuhan (N=55) and use a between-
subjects design with participants assigned randomly to one of two
instructional conditions: interactive chemistry experiment
platform (ICEP) and PowerPoint. The results show that the
students who use the ICEP have better performance in learning
and applying knowledge compared with traditional teaching.
Finally, we propose the research direction of interactive
visualization in education field and hope to provide a reference
for the teachers and students to carry out research.
Keywords—interactive visualization; junior middle school
chemistry; applied research
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, interactive visualization teaching (IVT)
with computer has attracted a lot of attention. And its
application in education field is very extensive. From the
development of primary school space ability [1] to the applied
research of secondary physics [2] and science [3]. And even
the learning of object-oriented programming concepts in
university [4] are involved.
However, which kind of knowledge is beneficial to students
from IVT mode? We chose junior middle school chemistry as
experimental subjects. There is a reason that students need to
master the chemical formula spelling, chemical experiments in
the experiment and the necessary equipment at the same time.
Accordingly, we can compare the effects of IVT and traditional
teaching mode from these three aspects. It is hoped to provide
reference for teachers through IVT mode.
The paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we
introduce the interactive visualization and how to design an
interactive visualization tool. In order to verify the effect of
IVT mode, we devised a comparative experiment on middle
school chemistry and the detail processing is presented in
Section 3. Some results and discussions are given in Section 4,
followed by a brief conclusion and some prospects.
II. INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION EDUCATION
APPLICATION
Knowledge visualization, as the realization of interactive
visualization, is a subject of how to use visual representation to
promote the transfer and creation of group. Its development
trend is from the traditional static to dynamic, interactive form
and from two-dimensional to multi-dimensional [5]. And Its
presentations range from past tables, images to animations,
978-1-5090-3031-6/17 $31.00 © 2017 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ISET.2017.41
simulations and now interactive visualizations. At the same
time, the use of human-computer interaction technology is also
rising. We may soon see that VR & AR (virtual reality and
augmented reality) or other technologies apply to the field of
education.
Interactive visualization as a form of knowledge
visualization, its essence is through dynamic graphical
representation to visualize and emphasize the properties and
relationships between things. Through the man-machine
interaction way, it enables students to formulate and test their
hypotheses, analyze their findings, interpret and make sense of
their results, and draw their own conclusions. Accordingly, our
design of interactive visual learning tools should be considered
from the following aspects:
A. Visualization representation
Visual representation is the core of IVT. Only the
outstanding characterization design can play the remarkable
effect. On the one hand, the visual representation can promote
students' accurate understanding of the knowledge content
through the reasonable collocation of words and figures [6]. On
the other hand, the appropriate use of some labeling techniques
(fonts, colors, arrows, icons, etc.) can instruct students to take
care of relevant information which can reduce the external
cognitive load.
B. Human-computer interaction
Human-computer interaction is the foundation of IVT.
Excellent interaction can improve the students' enthusiasm and
sense of participation [7]. Through the interactive interface to
dynamically manipulate the visual tools, learners will form
different cognitive thinking and reasoning process for the
inherent knowledge [8]. And it should be learner-centered
when we design human-computer interaction system, which
allows students to control the pace and direction of their
explorations while making sense of an information space.
C. Function scalability
Scalability is the development direction of IVT. Previous
IVT research generally designed separate teaching tool for
specific knowledge, which can’t be applied to the teaching of
other knowledge. Accordingly, we should consider the design
of scalability which is as far as possible to support more
knowledge of learning. It can provide students with a rich
interactive visual learning environment.
143
 III. EXPERIMENT DESIGN
A. Research questions and hypotheses
This research was conducted in the traditional teaching
environment and interactive visual learning environment for
controlled experiments. In the experiment, the academic
achievement is used as the evaluation index of learning effect.
We calculated the students' chemical spelling, reaction
equation and experimental equipment. We want to know
whether IVT can help students understand and keep remember
the knowledge.
To answer these research questions, we used the following
types of visualizations teaching methods: (a) a IVT mode, (b) a
traditional mode. And we will test the students twice. The first
test is at the end of teaching and the second will be tested in a
month in the case of students without knowledge. The two
teaching methods had different degree of interaction and
learning from them was compared to answer the first research
question. And the two tests were compared to answer the
second research question. So we had the following hypotheses:
• H-1) For Knowledge at Learning level, students
learning with IVT will score higher as compared to
traditional teaching mode.
• H-2) For Knowledge at Understand and Remember
level, students learning with IVT will behave better as
compared to traditional teaching mode.
B. Participants and materials
In this experiment, 55 junior students were selected as the
experimental subjects from a middle school. In order to strictly
control and balance unrelated variables, we divided the
students into experimental group and control group according
to the principle of normal performance and gender ratio, in
which 27 students in the experimental group and 28 students in
the control group. They were taught by the same teacher.
The chemistry experiment platform which is developed by
National Engineering Center for E-Learning is shown as Fig. 1.
This tool can interactively and dynamically perform some
complex and abstract chemical experiments which can help
teachers and students achieve personalized teaching and
learning.
C. Procedure
In order to avoid the influence of irrelevant variables,
teachers, textbooks, class hours and test papers of the
experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG) are
completely consistent throughout the teaching process. In order
not to alter student behavior, we do not inform the students that
they are in a teaching experiment.
In the course of experiment, the EG adopts the IVT mode
which uses the chemical experiment platform to carry on the
experiment teaching in the computer classroom. And the CG
still follow the traditional teaching model for teaching. Two
groups of students both have two classes for teaching. And we
will leave plenty of time for teachers and students
communicating and discussing.
After the end of teaching, teachers will use the unified
questionnaire for students to have a 30 minutes closed-book
test. The contents of the questionnaire include three parts,
namely the chemical formula spelling, chemical reaction
equation and experimental instrument selection. The total score
of the questionnaire is 50, including 10 for “chemical formula
spelling”, 20 for “chemical reaction equation” and 20 for
“experimental instrument selection”.
One month after the experiment, we conducted a test once
again in the case of students not prepared in advance. The
content and time are the same as the first test. And the total and
each part of scores were recorded once again. Accordingly, the
data were conducted using statistical software Data Processing
SPSS23.0. And the results are presented in the next section.

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

A. Initial-test results
Independent sample t-test was used to compare the
experimental conditions. Means and standard deviations for the
knowledge are depicted in Table I. And we have the following
results: for “chemical formula spelling”, there was no
statistically significant difference between the test scores
(t=0.124, p>0.05). However, as the test score for “chemical
reaction equation” showed statistically significant difference
(t=2.085, p<0.05). And for “experimental instrument selection”,
there was especial significant difference between the test scores
(t=2.848, p<0.01). There was also significant difference for
“total scores” (t=2.235, p<0.05).
TABLE I. INITIAL-TEST RESULTS OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-TEST
Group Spelling Reaction Equipment Total
EG M 8.41 17.15 17.91 43.46
˄˅䘹ᤙԚಘ ˄˅␫࣐㦟૱ ˄˅ᔰ࿻ᇎ傼 ˄˅␫࣐⌘䟺
SD 1.11 1.63 2.14 4.52
Fig. 1. Interactive chemistry experiment platform. Function 1 denotes that CG M 8.38 16.36 16.46 41.20
we can choose experimental instruments according to the needs. SD 0.79 1.15 1.57 2.76
Function 2 and function 3 presents that right-click the instrument to add t 0.124 2.085* 2.848** 2.235*
the chemicals and start the experiment. And We can add comments after Sig. 0.902 0.042 0.006 0.031
the experiment through function 4. Note: * p<0.05, **p<0.01, M: Mean, SD: Standard deviation

144
 From the results of initial-test, hypotheses H-1 was
supported by the results obtained. The use of IVT compared to
the traditional teaching has a better effect which can generally
improve the students' ability to learn chemistry experiments,
especially for the category of “chemical reaction equation” and
“experimental instrument selection”.
B. Re-test results
To test whether students learning with IVT will behave
better as compared to traditional teaching mode for knowledge
at understand and remember level. The re-test was conducted
in the case of students not prepared in advance. Table II gave
the following results: the mean score of the experimental group
was still higher than that of the control group and there were
especial significant differences (t=3.114, p<0.01). From the
results of the various categories of knowledge, there was no
significant difference in the mean score of “chemical formula
spelling” between the two groups (t=0.681, p>0.05). And the
average score of the "chemical reaction equation" was same
significant differences from the initial test result (t=2.118,
p<0.05). While the mean score of "experimental instrument
selection" was extremely significant difference (t=4.098,
p<0.001).
TABLE II. RE-TEST RESULTS OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-TEST
Group Spelling Reaction Equipment
EG
M 6.87 15.32 15.87
SD 1.12 2.43 2.81
M 6.64 13.64 12.50
CG
SD 1.34 3.37 3.26
t 0.618 2.118* 4.098***
Sig. 0.499 0.039 0.000
Note: * p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, M: Mean, SD: Standard deviation
In sum, according to the results of re-test, hypotheses H-2
was supported by the results obtained. The students of IVT
mode can master the knowledge of each category of chemistry
experiment better than the traditional teaching method.
Especially in the “total scores” and "experimental instrument
selection" has produced a more significant difference. This
demonstrates that IVT mode has an advantage over traditional
teaching methods in understanding the memory of knowledge
over a long period of time.
C. Discussion
“Chemical formula spelling”, “chemical reaction equation”
and “experimental instrument selection” represent the process
of learning and application for conceptual knowledge and
procedural knowledge. From the EG and CG of statistical
results we can find that through the IVT model of academic
performance has no effect for conceptual knowledge. However,
it is helpful to study and apply the procedural knowledge such
as chemistry experiment. Therefore, IVT can’t improve
students' academic performance in all aspects. It is more
suitable for the study of the principle and process of things.
Information can be completed to the conversion of
knowledge on the basis of understanding. The re-test results are
in the case of students who were not prepared, which can
reflect the content of the teaching students to understand the
extent of memory to a certain extent. Through IVT that
students’ re-test results have a certain degree of decline
compared to initial test results. However, students behave
superior in the understanding and memorizing of knowledge
compared to the traditional teaching model.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Interactive visualization, as a tool for visualizing
knowledge, has great potential in the field of education. On the
one hand, it provides students with independent learning and
inquiry learning environment, so that students can fully
divergent thinking, improve the enthusiasm of students to learn
and fully tap the depth of learning. On the other hand, the role
of teachers in the learning process has also changed from the
original knowledge of the instructor into student learning
activities, organizers, guides and participants. Concurrently,
interactive visualization has the advantage of visual
representation, which promotes the transfer and creation of
knowledge between people.
In this paper, three aspects of interactive visual teaching
design are proposed to be considered: (1) visual representation
is the core of IVT, (2) human-computer interaction is the
foundation of IVT, (3) scalability is the development direction
of IVT. In order to study the difference between IVT mode and
traditional teaching mode, we use junior middle school
chemistry experiment platform to compare the students'
“chemical formula spelling”, “chemical reaction equation” and
Total “experimental instrument selection”. And the results show that
38.06 interactive visualization promotes students' learning and
5.40 application of procedural knowledge and facilitates the
32.43
7.75
students' understanding and memorizing of information to
3.114** knowledge.
0.003
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for
their valuable suggestions. This research was partially funded
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under
Grant (No. 61505064), the National Natural Science
Foundation of Hubei Province under Grant (No. 2016CFB497),
the Project of the Program for National Key Technology
Research and Development Program (2013BAH72B01,
2014BAH22F01, 2015BAK07B03, 2015BAH33F02), and
Specific funding for education science research by self-
determined research funds of CCNU from the colleges’ basic
research and operation of MOE (No. CCNU16JYKX031,
CCNU16JYKX027).
REFERENCES
[1] S. Zander, S. Wetzel, and S. Bertel, "Rotate it! – Effects of touch-based
gestures on elementary school students' solving of mental rotation
tasks," Computers & Education, vol. 103, pp. 158-169, 2016.
[2] R. Pinter, D. Radosav, and S. Maravi, "Interactive animation in
developing e-learning contents," in MIPRO, 2010 Proceedings of the
33rd International Convention, 2010, pp. 1007-1010.
[3] G. Korakakis, A. Boudouvis, J. Palyvos, and E. A. Pavlatou, "The
impact of 3D visualization types in instructional multimedia applications
for teaching science," Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol.
31, pp. 145-149, 2012.
[4] W. E. Moussa, R. M. Almalki, M. A. Alamoudi, and A. Allinjawi,
"Proposing a 3d interactive visualization tool for learning oop concepts,"
in 2016 13th Learning and Technology Conference (L&T), 2016, pp. 1-
7.
[5] M. Eppler and R. Burkard, "Knowledge visualization: towards a new
discipline and its fields of application." University of Lugano, Lugano,
2004.
145
[6] T. Kühl, K. Scheiter, P. Gerjets, and S. Gemballa, "Can differences in
learning strategies explain the benefits of learning from static and
dynamic visualizations?," Computers & Education, vol. 56, pp. 176-187,
2011.
[7] R. Lindgren, M. Tscholl, S. Wang, and E. Johnson, "Enhancing learning
and engagement through embodied interaction within a mixed reality
simulation," Computers & Education, vol. 95, pp. 174-187, 2016.
[8] M. Bailey, "Interaction design : beyond human-computer interaction,"
vol. 2002, pp. 369-378, 2011.

146