Welcome to the Multimedia Principles of Learning. Today we will cover Modality and Redundancy.
This lesson will cover the Modality Principle, Redundancy Principle, and Exceptions to these rules. At the end of the instruction, students will be asked a series of questions to assess how ell they understand the principles.
When this lesson is complete, students viewing it will be able to define, identify, and apply the Modality and Redundancy Principles of Multimedia education.
What is Modality? Modality is defined as method, or manner. The modality principle addresses the manner, or method students use to learn. Modality Principle states that students learn better when text supporting multimedia learning is spoken as opposed to printed on screen... ...when the two types of elements will be used together.
Human beings have two channels they use to process learning. The visual/ pictorial, and th auditory/ verbal. By understanding this, and applying the modality principle, instructors and instructional designers provide their students with the best opportunity to learn.
When a graphic is supported by printed text, the learner must use the same learning channel; the visual channel, to process both the text and the supporting graphic. The result can be cognitive overload and a failure to learn.
When multimedia elements, like charts, graphs, or photography; are used to support learning, they become part of the cognitive load. The information they contain must be processed in order for the learner to assimilate the information presented. Applying the Modality Principle, multimedia instruction allows students to process the text using the auditory channel and the graphic using the visual channel. This reduces the cognitive load and improves student performance.
When text is printed on the same screen, as the graphic elements of a multimedia lesson, the demands on student’s processing ability can cause cognitive overload and result in a failure to learn.
Adhering to the Modality Principle of Multimedia learning, we provide narrated support for the graphic elements and take advantage of both the visual and auditory channels for information processing. This method produces the best results for most learners.
Redundancy is “the unnecessary repetition of an idea or information.” The Redundancy Principle tells us that student learning is improved when graphic lesson elements are accompanied by narration alone as opposed to instances where narration is accompanied by printed, on screen text.
The Redundancy Principle tells us to avoid using both printed text and audio support of graphics in a multimedia lesson. The text and narration are redundant, and the student’s attempt to compare printed text and audio narration wastes cognitive resources. Clarke & Mayer refer to this as Extraneous cognitive processing.
The Modality Principle does not apply if there is no graphic or photograph on screen. In the case of complex lessons, like math problems, words may appear as memory supports. Key word that help students organize a complicated problem are another exception to the modality principle. Directions for multi-step problems or lessons are also exceptions to the Modality and Redundancy Principles.
The Modality and Redundancy principles apply when using words to support graphic elements in multimedia instruction. It applies when graphics appear on screen at the same time words are to be used in support of the visual learning tool. In these cases, use narration, not on screen, printed text. Using text and graphics together on screen overloads the visual channel of our sensory memory. Using text and narration together violates the Redundancy Principle. These principles are not absolutes. They are narrowly employed when discussing multimedia lessons in which visual and verbal learning tools are used together.
Answer the following six questions based on the material presented in this block of multimedia instruction. These questions are for your benefit, so answer honestly. If you do not know the answers, repeat the lesson until you are able to answer all six correctly. This slide does not violate the modality Principle, or the Redundancy Principle because there is no graphic element present on the slide.
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