Clark and Mayer summarize that research shows that people learn more and/or better from audio only teaching as opposed to audio and narrative. When there are words on the screen showing the same thing that is being said, this is redundancy and is ineffective. "The psychological advantage of presenting words in audio alone is that you avoid overloading the visual channel of working memory." (Clark & Mayer, 2008) In contrast to those who are audio learners, there are those who are visual learners. Because of this belief or knowledge, it is believed that, "words should always be presented in both spoken and printed form so learners an choose the presentation format that best matches their learning preferences." (Clark& Mayer, 2008) This idea is known as the hypothesis idea. It's all about the amount of information received.There are three different delivery routes for information. There is delivery by pictures, narration, and on-screen text. It is however possible to use the audio and narrative at the same time however, using the narrative and graphics will not. IN summary, it is best believed that text be presented in both formats for both audio and visual learners so that they have the chose as to which of the formats will be more effective for them.
Clark and Mayer talk about coherence as having a strong impact on learning. It calls for educators to be consistent and not overdo what needs to be taught. The coherence principle states that we should eliminate any unnecessary tools such as graphics, background music, or extraneous words. What ever is necessary to teach someone is all that is needed at that time for them to understand what is being taught. Anything extra seems to take away from what is being taught, and can be seen as a distraction to the goal of the lesson. Students learn better when extraneous material is excluded rather than included.
Using extraneous graphics can interfere with learning in three ways; distraction, disruption, and seduction. Distraction takes away the learners limited attention, disruption prevents them from building appropriate links among pieces of relevant material because irrelevant material is in the way, and seduction primes inappropriate existing knowledge. Background music can tend to overload working memory and seems to be distracting. Extraneous words aren’t needed because it may expand focus on what the learner really needs to know, so keeping it simple will better benefit the learner.
Overall, the designer should always consider the consequences of adding extraneous graphics, music, or words when creating content. There should be a focus on whether the additions will distract, disrupt, or seduce the learner’s process of knowledge construction (Clark & Mayer, 2008). The purpose of the coherence is to make the course effective and concise. Designers should focus on stimulating student’s interest without adding extraneous materials. They should find a way to add interesting words, sounds or graphics that match instructional goal while at the same time promote learners interest.
Patricia's Personal Reflection
I found that in both of the chapters, I have some personal experiences. In chapter 7, I find that I process information by visual learning. I have recently experienced where I rented a movie and noticed that the captions were on the movie. Same thing when its in a different language. I find myself paying attention to only the words on the screen and missing the movie itself. Its very frustrating and even if it is a movie that I really wanted to see, I will stop. Chapter 7 reminded me of that. In chapter 8, I find that it related to myself because I do not do well when there is no organization. I don't like confusion and I can't function efficiently or effectively. Syllabus and rubrics are my best friend with online courses. When it comes to noise in the background, I can not work in silence. Perhaps it has something to do with having children, but I can't even sleep without background noises. I have had instructors with my online course, who have presented the weekly class materials on a video and power points were also made available for the same information and then we had to turn around and read the chapter which was the long version of all of the other information that was received in the video and the powerpoint. It is a form of redundancy however,i almost always find that I learn and retain more information from the power point and the video.
As we talk about chapter 7 and 8, as it pertains to our groups ISD project, I find that we will be using a combination of the two. In particular in we have chosen to use media tools which will touch on the redundancy principle and not using the narration and text at the same time. We made a point to make sure that the information was clear and concise so that the learner can effectively retain the information being provided. One of the things that we are also doing is making sure that the information flows well and is coherent with the goal of the project. The tutorial will be set up to be easy to understand and maneuver through. We want the learner to understand at the end all of the basic concepts so that they can effectively integrate technology into their classrooms.
Marcus' Personal Reflection
My personal reflection on redundancy and coherence is thinking about the way we live today. So much goes on in our everyday lives that we lose focus on our purpose. So much habit (redundant) of doing things our way, which includes unnecessary (coherence) stuff that we miss out on what it is we really need to live. God’s plan for people is to live like Him, love one another, and be thankful of every day of life while being focused on the His word. But yet, we get distracted by the “good” things of the world and tend to get off track from what we stand for and how we should be.
References
Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley & sons. ISBN: 9780470874301.
