Learner control principle #1: Give Experienced Learners Control

Clark and Mayer (2011) on page 319 of our textbook recommend giving learners the option of going beyond the essential content, or giving them the option to skip segments of instruction that they may not need to review. To implement this suggestion it is necessary for the designer to cue learners as to what parts of the instruction is necessary for completion, and which parts can be skipped by either novice learners or by experienced learners. This is valuable when the instruction is intended to be used by students with different backgrounds. Otherwise, novice learners may become discouraged by segments of instruction that are difficult and not essential to their instructional purposes. And experienced learners should not be forced to plow through material they already know.

Source: Kahn Academy -- Linear Regressing and Correlation

In the example shown when a learner begins to view this part of the course (a 7-minute video) he or she is told that the mathematics is relatively difficult and that it is not necessary to view this particular video in order to continue and complete the course. In other words, this is made available for students who what to "drill down" on the mathematics behind a specific concept. Without such guidance, students may be unable to discern what content is essential (to complete course objectives) and what segments can be skipped. Without that information, novice students may become bogged down in material that is not necessary, and experienced students may not realize that a particular segment is likely to be of special interest to them. 

References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Practice principle #2: Mirror the Job

Clark and Mayer (2011) on page 262 if our textbook, explain that skill building requires practice on the component skills that make up a part of a specific work domain. If the intent is to improve the work performances of learners, it is not enough to "only" provide them information and expect them to be able to recall the information. A skill is an ability that can be transferred and practiced in a relevant context. Designers of training programs should keep in mind th ways employees will apply new knowledge in their job tasks.

Source: Dick Marks -- How to Greet Customers YouTube video

In the video above, Dick Marks's instructional intent is clearly work-related. The video includes multiple examples of people practicing the target skills. Each example provides the learners both context and example of performance. Upon completion of this training, learners should not only be able to recall the information but realize almost instinctively when it is appropriate to perform these skills on the job.

References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Practice principle #1: Add Sufficient Practice Interactions to e-Larning to Achieve the Objective

Beginning on page 257 of our textbook Clark and Mayer identify the benefits of practice and the challenges of designing practice into instructional materials. It is not enough for most learners to only see the explanation of the performance of a complex cognitive process. Nor is it enough for learners to solve only one such problem. To remember how to apply and repeat the performance later, it is often necessary to complete many variations of the same performance. Only then is it likely that the process and its performance will "stick" in the mind of the learner.

Source: "MySecretMath Tutor YouTube video - Statistics - Find the z Score

The need to find a z score is a common and frequent need in statistical problems regarding probabilities. The performance involves multiple "elements" that are not familiar to many learners. It is likely that learners will only master the process by having seen and worked through the process many times. This is an important example of the kind of learning objective that is likely to require including many opportunities for practice into design of a course.


References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Worked example principle #4: Apply Multimedia Principles to Examples

Beginning on page 235 Clark and Mayer present a kind of meta-principle. The incorporate their own Multimedia Principles into their Worked Example Principles. We remember that the authors recommend against the presentation of both spoken text and written text in parallel. This perhaps either "chokes" working memory, but more likely taxes the part of the brain that processes language. According to the Multimedia Principle, it is okay to present learners with either spoken words with visuals; or written text with visuals. The worked example principle #4 simply is an application of that multimedia principle in the context of an example.

Source: Kahn Academy Sampling Distribution Example Problem

The video above is an example of applying multimedia principle to an example. The instructor speaks to learners while writing on the working surface. The learner is able to receive associated information via both hearing and sight. There is no written text on the page.If a learner is deaf, he or she can use closed captions. The problem there is that in that situation the learner must move her eyes back and forth between the what the instructor is drawing and the written explanation of what the instructor is saying, via closed captions.


References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Worked Example Priniciple 3: Include Instructional Explanation of Worked Examples in Some Situations

Clark and Mayer (2011) on page 234 of our textbook recommend adding instructional explanations to worked examples. Research indicates that this is important when conceptual understanding is the immediate goal of the instruction. This can be especially valuable in lessons regarding mathematics.

Source: Kahn Academy- GMAT Preparation: Math 1

In the video above, Mr. Kahn is verbally demonstrating how to reason through a word problem while making written notation about his line of reasoning. He is modeling what should become the student's thought processes. The goal is conceptual understanding. He is providing scaffolding for the student, so the student will develop the ability and confidence to think through and solve similar problems on the GMAT standardized test. This is a good example of Worked Example Principle 3.



References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Segmenting Principle: Break a Continuous Lesson into Bite-Size Segments

Clark and Mayer (2011) recommend on page 207 and following that complex lessons including multiple major aspects be presented to learners in a logical sequence of segments. This is especially important when designing instruction for learners who are novice in the subject-area. By presenting complex information in a logical sequence of parts, learners are less likely to become confused and frustrated.

 Kahn Academy's course on the Chemistry of Life appears to present the first lesson by breaking down the content into three segments -- Periodic table, Atom, and Element.

Source: Kahn Academy - Chemistry of Life

However, the video presentation of the first lesson is not segmented, but rather proceeds upon a "fabric of instruction" that weaves together the concepts featured in the lesson. Assuming that the learners already have a basic understanding of these concepts, this is not a "bad" or incorrect design. However, I believe that if the intended audience was people for whom these concepts were not already somewhat familiar, a segmented approach to instruction would be more effective.

References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Personalization Principle #2: Use Effective On-Screen Coaches to Promote Learning

Clark and Mayer (2011) suggest or recommend the use of pedagogical agents in the design and development of online instructional materials (p 193). Their major interest is such agents regards their abilities to employ sound instructional techniques that foster learning.The authors do not address the question of the ages of the learners who may benefit from the use of such agents. Nor do the authors adequately address the necessary nature of interaction of the agent with learners (in my opinion).

Direct link to example above

The example above is from the Oddcast company that sells hosting services for its variety of agents, used for marketing and other purposes. I used one of their agents with some of my adult students years ago. The response of the students was remarkably underwhelming. In fact, no one provided any feedback to me at all. The instructional capacities of my agent, "Alvin" were limited. In the absence of any feedback, and faced with a monthly charge for Oddcast hosting, Alvin was of short duration. My guess is that such instructional resources work better with children, and that unless the programming behind the avatar allows it to provide highly personalized feedback to learners, the novelty does not last long. I believe that the demonstration above is an adequate example of the use of an avatar for marketing or instructional purposes.

References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven Guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.