CDLA · Module 2 — Learning science for digital media
People learn better from words and relevant graphics than from words alone, when the graphic does instructional work.
About 16 min
Practice in the lesson player
Sorting, matching, quizzes, and the module gate stay behind a free account so scored answers are not public. The teaching notes below are the same cited curriculum.
01
Mayer (2017) reviews twelve principles for computer-based multimedia. The first: people learn better from words and graphics than from words alone. The median effect size is d = 1.67, from five experimental comparisons. The graphics in those experiments explained something: how a pump works, how lightning forms. A stock photo of a smiling team is not that kind of graphic.
02
Mayer, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2017. Effects are often larger for learners with low prior knowledge.
Median d
Multimedia: 1.67
Temporal contiguity: 1.3
Redundancy: 0.87
Spatial contiguity: 0.79
Personalization: 0.79
Voice: 0.74
Modality: 0.72
Coherence: 0.7
Segmenting: 0.7
Signalling: 0.46
Pre-training: 0.46
Embodiment: 0.36
03
Earns the pixel: A labelled schematic of the panel the technician will open. · A side-by-side of a correctly and incorrectly completed form. · A timeline of the decision the learner must make.
Spends the pixel: A stock photo of a headset next to "Call centre module · A spinning 3D logo that does not show the interface. · A city skyline used as a "modern" background.
04
Cohen's d expresses a difference between groups in standard deviations. A median d of 0.70 means the typical experiment found the better design about 0.7 standard deviations ahead on a transfer test. It is not 70%, and medians hide spread. Three boundary conditions to remember: effects are usually stronger for novices than for experts; most experiments were short lessons with university students, so test with your own learners; and the graphic must be relevant. Adding an irrelevant picture can lower learning, which is the coherence principle working in the other direction.
05
In the module you are reviewing, count every graphic and sort them as instructional or decorative. For each decorative graphic on a content screen, write what an instructional graphic in the same space would show. Add the count and two examples to your design review.