ANIMATION, AI AND STUDENT MOTIVATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

With the help of artificial intelligence, animation is increasingly being used for visual, interactive and personalized teaching. Nonetheless, the information on its effect on students` motivation is limited. This experiment study aims to find out whether instruction with instruction supported with AI-generated animation will increase student motivation and academic achievement as compared to conventional multimedia instruction. A total of 300 undergraduate respondents will be involved in the study. It will be executed at a pretest-posttest randomized controlled design. The respondents will be randomly assigned to either the AI-animation group, or the control group. Both study the same unit of work for the same time and do the same assessments. The experimental group receives lessons with AI-generated explanatory animations, while the control group gets slides with equivalent text and still images. Student motivation is measured using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory whereas academic achievement is measured using a curriculum-based test. We controlled for the pre-intervention scores when making comparisons of post-intervention results. Through artificial intelligence-based animation instruction, interests and enjoyment are expected to rise. The connection between achievement and instructional condition is mediated by motivational gains, research indicates. Given that the proposed research will occur within the context of an established organization developing a public-facing instructional animation for their client, the 2024 novel-a-day challenge. Educators, instructional designers and higher education institutions can benefit.