Multimedia Design Journal: Coherence Principle #1

The C0herence Principle

From my understanding, the Coherence principle is knowing when and when not to add extraneous information to a project. They argument made in the book brings the notion that because students are used to having video games and youtube, they need lots of bells and whistles. This can lead to the addition of elements that are completely unecessary in order to make the project feel more interesting. For example when looking back at the HTML Editor video I created, I link out to a youtube video of a cat playing piano.

The Idea was that this video is long, and the voice in pretty monotone. Having something fun may peak interest. It got the okay from my colleagues but in retrospect maybe that bit was unnecessary.

We could never decide of a royalty free form of music to use in the background, Clark & Mayer recommends no background music be used as it is no stong evidence to support that it helps.

Source:

Peng Liu: Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, Coherence Priciple

e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer

 

 

Multimedia Design Journal: Redundancy Principle

The Reduncy Principle ask that you avoid the the use of onscreen text if graphics are associated with narration. It is grounded in the reasoning that one may distract from the other causing the learner to lose some of the information. You can miss important facts if you try read during narration.

The use of the term “redundancy” come from there being multiple chanels displaying delivering the same information at once

A: Graphic

B: Text

C: Narration

it is redundant to have multiple channels feed you the same information at once, and you actually lose information by trying to split focus. Interestingly in is cited in the book, that there is no solid evidence about learning styles. It states that in a study by Plasher, McDaniel Rorher & Bjork (2008), they were under unable to find solid proof that visual learners learn best through visuals and so on. So it is best to use multiple methods when crafting a learning module, following the cognitive theory, that believes that people have separate channels to process information and they should all be acknowledged, but to much can cause an overload.

Example: HTML EDITOR: Marcus Thompson

In the image below is a frame from the HTML editor tutorial i created. As you can see this it uses the graphical interface and an accompanied audio track to explain the tools.

There is a subtitle track included but it is not need. It would be break the redundancy rule because it is the same verbatim information as the audio track. In this situation were from required to have a subtitle track for compliance reasons. I believe that would be a common reason to break the rule. We did not have to software to make the subtitle track optional.

Here is the PDF document which contained the same information as the video:

 

Ref: : e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer

 

 

 

Multimedia Design Journal: The Modality Principle

Modality is particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed. On the subject of Instructional Design, the Modality Principle refers to the usage of audio as speech, rather than on screen text. The key word being “rather”, as opposed to in combination with.

In certain situation absorbing visual information from both text and graphics can be overwhelming. For example if the graphical information is a excel spread sheet with multiple figures, it would be more beneficial to have the audio explain the graph rather than text.

The problem with the Modality Principle is that it is not always applicable for various reasons. The addition of sound can come with technological restraints in creating the audio and implementation. As a Instructional design professional we were always required to have audio, video, subtitles and a printed version of all the resources we develop. The Modality Principle can also have a negative effect on how people learn. An Instructional designer does not just present information, it presents information based on how people learn. It’s all about picking the best strategy based on what the information is.

Like all design principles, the purpose is to make content easier to absorb, but there is still much to be learned about when to use audio over graphics, text etc.

EXTRA CREDITS:

A Youtube channel created by video game design educators and professionals, using nothing but Voice over and various diagrams to graphics to explain concepts in game of design and issues in the industry. They make a conscious choice to deliver ideas that could be expressed as a blog post or essay style, because it makes it more interesting and easy to absorb

What Extra Credits does is proper captioning. The youtube auto close caption feature does not work very well.

Ref: : e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer

The Modality Principle J. Walter; BSU

Multimedia Design Journal: Contiguity Principle #1

Multimedia Journal #2

 

Contiguity Principle:

 

“The Contiguity Principle involves the need to coordinate printed words and graphics” (Carter p. 93). In psychology, Contiguity refers to the sequential occurrence or proximity of stimulus and response, causing their association in the mind. Essential its how your brain connects content based on how it is displayed on the page. The less work it takes for your brain to make connections between the type and the graphics, the easier it is to understand.

 

The key message I believe Cater and Mayer are going for on the subject is when developing material; Keep the Graphic and text in the same screen, with no scrolling or pop-ups. In audio, Make sure what the person hears corresponds with what they are being showed and the timing is in sync.

Example: Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Dr. Gregory M. Francom

Here we have to images displaying the same information, however how the text is used to delivery the information is different. The first image is an example of the Contiguity principle in action. The arrangement of the type with the image changes how the information is received. Having the name of brain quadrants directly attached to the graphic can be easier to understand.

Ref: :

e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Dr. Gregory M. Francom

Multimedia Design Journal: Contiguity principle #2

The second Contiguity principle is the content and the text must be in sync. Do not separate type and sound, or sound and animation. They should play in harmony and, what you see on your screen should always be in sync with what you are hearing.

My favorite example of the Contiguity principle s the video series Crash Course,

I believe crash course is an excellent example of Instructional Design in general, but upon breaking down the elements in this rule, The video is perfectly scripted so that the data and animations that are displayed on the screen are also are perfectly insync and are explained as they appear on the screen.

Ref: Chapter: e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer

 

Multimedia Design Journal: Multimedia Principle

The Multimedia Principle:

From my understanding of the Clark & Meyer Text &, along with some of the other information, I gathered from the web. The Multimedia principle is the use of of text and imagery together to create an engaging multimedia presentation:

Example

soruce: E-Learning Presentation

How This Example Doesn’t Work:

When Looking for E-learning presentation on the general web, you will encounter tons of power points like this one. Very dense with information. congested. It is covered with various changing logos through out and the the only imagery is clip art. The Multimedia principle wants you to make wise choices when using media in a presentation. The graphics are purely decrotive and used for branding and it hurts the placement of the text. The presentation gives tons of descriptions of what stuff is, but not once shows a visual example.

Ref: Chapter 4: e-Learning and the  Science of Instruction; Ruth Colvin Clark • Richard E. Mayer (p69)

Murry Pryor; The Multinedia Principle

 

 

Instructions: Project 1: Graphic (MEDT 7468)

For this graphic, I really wanted to capture myself. What better way to do that than featuring yourself. This image was drawn in pencil. Then inked in pen. I took a picture of it with my phone. Traced the outline in Illustrator and finally added the type in color in Photoshop.

I believe that this choice of imagery conveys my light hearted personality The choice to spell my name in lower caps is also, a purposeful choice that is intended to present my self as casual. The font choice is Century Gothic, in both the upper and lower case type. I really like to modern feel of a strong san-serif font. The font and background color and type face is also consistent with some of my previous branding choices (www.iammarc.us)