Abstract An experiment examined the effects of visual signalling to relevant information in multiple external representations and the visual presence of an animated pedagogical agent (APA). Students learned electric circuit analysis using a computer‐based learning environment that includedCartesian graphs, equations and electric circuit diagrams. The experiment was a 2 (visual signalling, no visual signalling) × 2 (visualAPApresence, no visualAPApresence) between‐subjects design, resulting in four experimental conditions: visual signalling withAPApresence (APA + S), visual signalling withoutAPApresence (S), no visual signalling withAPApresence (APA) and no visual signalling withoutAPApresence (C). Signalling was provided via gestures of theAPAin theAPA + Scondition and via dynamic arrows in theScondition. To investigate potential moderating effects of prior knowledge onAPApresence and visual signalling factors, middle school students were grouped into low prior knowledge (LPK) and high prior knowledge (HPK) groups using scores on a domain pre‐test. Results revealed thatLPKstudents had higher post‐test scores after learning with visual signalling, resulting in equivalent post‐test performance to theirHPKcounterparts.LPKstudents also had higher post‐test scores, higher ratings of graphics understanding and lower perceived difficulty ratings in conditions that included the visual image of theAPA. Conversely,HPKstudents had better post‐test scores after learning without theAPA. These results indicate that the effectiveness of visual signalling techniques and the visual presence of anAPAis dependent on learner characteristics, including prior domain knowledge.
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