Eugenio María de Hostos- A puertorican educational philosopher

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Chapter 6, The Modality Principle

Chapter 6

Applying the Modality Principle, present words as audio narration

 rather than on-screen text

Summary

             The purpose of this chapter is to explain what modality principle is and when instructional designers or teachers need to apply if use multimedia presentations. Also, why this principle is important if the teachers expect students learn while using technology in the classroom. Last, how the evidence from research support the importance of considering the modality principle for the benefit of students learning.

             The modality principle exposes that students learn better if the teacher presents words in audio modality than on-screen text. This principle responds, especially, to the cognitive theory which explains students learn better if teachers recognize that learning depends not only in the information delivery.  It is important to meet a balance between the presentation of the course information and how the students process the content during the learning experience. The authors share that multimedia presentations design is strongly influenced by the information acquisition approach fomenting that the purpose of instruction is to deliver information.  However, the students learn better from the basis of the cognitive approach because is considering how people process the information and not the information they need to process. Specifically, the people use two different channels to process the information; for example, auditory/verbal and visual/pictorial.  Then, teachers and instructional designers need to consider both channels of information processing to avoid a cognitive overload in learners because each channel, used in an independently way, is limited (Clark & Mayer, 2011).

             Accordingly with the previous information, the best multimedia presentation meets the modality principle recommendations if it has a balance between graphics (pictorial) and audio.   In other words, teachers do not respond to cognitive theory if includes both text and graphics because are using the same visual channel. When this principle applies in multimedia presentations? The modality principle applies if the material has a grade of difficult to students and the use of visual (pictorial) with audio resources provides students to focus and follow the content and class explanation. When teachers will consider including text to multimedia presentations? This principle details the importance of integrate some text to the presentation if the information is relevant to students and is difficult for them to remember for future reference; for example, technical and unfamiliar words, also, formulas (mathematics and statistics) (Clark & Mayer, 2011).

            The evidence from research demonstrates the importance of this principle in the design of multimedia presentations and students learning. Harskamp, Mayer and Suhre ( as cited in Clark & Mayer, 2011) expose that students from a high school learned less from a biology presentation which only included on-screen text than other which included illustrations with narration.  Other research, Schmidt-Weigand, Kohnert and Glowalla (as cited in Clark & Mayer, 2011) is consistent with cognitive theory approach because students focused better on the graphs since they had no text; on the other hand, by including text they found it difficult to understand the content of the graphics. Another research, Mayer (as cited in Clark & Mayer, 2011) compared 21 experiments in which the researcher included graphics and text in contrast with audio (narration) and graphics. The results showed a median of 97% demonstrating students learned better the information to solve problems using both graphics and audio channels.   

 Reflection

            The modality principle is an important point in the designing of multimedia presentations in both online and traditional courses. It is great for me, as an educator, to reflect how I usually prepare the presentations for my own students. How I respond to a paradigm such as the acquisition of information when I design a presentation as part of the course.  All this, despite the fact that as an educator I recognize the important of learning theories, for example, the cognitive theory and its importance in the designing of instructional materials. Why I could not recognized how the cognitive theory explains the way I need to design presentations considering, equally, both auditory and visual channel; because the purpose is that students learn deeply. As a result of this learning experience, I will consider the modality principle as part of the information to apply during the planning and designing of presentations. This principle can be relevant to my ISD project if as part of the instructional strategies the team includes a multimedia presentation to presents teachers different examples about “Genius Hour” projects. The presentation can provide images of   projects made by students incorporating a description in audio.  

 Reference

Clark, R.C, & Mayer, R.E.  (2011). Applying the modality principle, present

          words as audio narration rather than on-screen text.  E-Learning and

          the science of instruction, (pp. 115-130).  San Francisco, CA: 

         John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

                                                                             

Assessment VB References

References

 

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tool based on data mining techniques for supporting web-based learning.

Computers and Education,  52(1), 256-273. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu

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 Roblyer, M.D.  (2016).  Online models, courses and programs.  Integrating

 educational technology into teaching (pp. 231-257).  New Jersey, USA:

 Pearson Education, Inc.

 

Steel, C.H., & Levy, M. (2013).  Language students and their technologies:

Charting the evolution 2006-2011.  Journal of Eurocall, 25(3), 306-320.  Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1753043061?pq-

origsite=summon&accountid=12085

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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