Mayer’s Multimedia Principles and The Cognitive Approach, Their Implications on ESP Computing Course at the RCT

Presented by ALRASHIDI, J

Contents:

1. The Cognitive Definition

2. The Assumption of a Cognitive of Multimedia Leaning

3. Some of the Multimedia Learning Principles

4. The Delivery System

5. Computing Lesson

6. The Conclusion

7. References

Cognitive Learning Theory

The cognitive theory is concerned with how people represent knowledge in their minds. So, it is interested in mental structures, and not just in behavior like the behaviorism.

Some of The cognivists get inspired by electronic computers and they model the human thinking as “ information processing”. They focus on how information is input through the senses, held in memory, whether short-term (RAM ) or long-term (ROM) and then processed.

The cognitive theory emphasizes the need to structure learning information in meaningful ways, in logical related chunks, rather than presenting it as large collection of discrete facts. This means relating the new information with what is already known facilitate understanding on the condition that learners should not be overloaded when facing new information so that they can retrieve the information easily when needed.

Based on cognitive theory James Hartley ( 1998 ) identifies several principles for learning:

Instruction should be clearly structured, showing the logical relationships between key concepts

prior knowledge is important and new information must fit with it to be effective.

individual differences in learning styles must be often considered.

feedback is important for the learners to know the results of their efforts

to sum up we can say that technological materials should be:1.Well structured2.Well sequenced3.Meet prior learners knowledge4.Varied to cope up with different learning styles5.Feedback is essential

According to Mayer

“People learn better when multimedia messages are designed in ways that are consistent with how the human mind works”.

The Assumption of a Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

Human possess separate channels for processing visual and auditory information. Accordingly, humans engage in active learning by attending to relevant incoming information and represnting it mentally with other knowledge.

Some of the Multimedia Learning Principles:

Mulimedia Principle:

Students learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.

In which one the message is clearer in 1 , 2 OR 3?

Individual Differences Principle:Design effects are stronger for low-knowledge learners than from high-knowledge learners and for high-spatial learners than for low-spatial learners.

The Spatial Contiguity Principle:

Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.

Which example is capable of conveying a better mental image?

butterfly

eggs

pupa

Adult emergin

g

The Modality Principle:

Students learn better from animation and narration than from animation and on-screen text.

The Delivery System:Instructional delivery involves both human and technology systems.

Information Delivery Tools & modes:•Printed words•Spoken words•Illustrations•Photos•Graphs•Animations•Videos•Narration•Computer screens•Amplified speakers

Computing Lesson :

In this lesson the ESP students of computing are asked to look to the given picture and read the part names.

Multimedia and Spatial principles are considered.

The delivery system is an illustration with printed words near the corresponding parts.

The prior knowledge of the students are put into account since they are specialized in computing.

Feedback is given in real-time or on the blackboard forums

The Computer System

The Motherboard Parts

The Conclusion:

It is better to present an explanation in words and picture than solely in words. In other words, presenting information in 2 modes is better than in one mode ( Mayer & Anderson, 1991, 1992).

Students who read a text containing illustrations near corresponding words are better in problem-solving than other students who simply read the text ( Mayer, 1989; Mayer& Gallini, 1990).

Fletchar & Tobias, 2005 argued that learning and understanding are enhanced by adding pictures to text rather than presenting a text alone.Bottom Line:We can say now the multimedia effects are onsistent with a cognitive theory of multimedia learning because students given multimedia explanations are able to build two mental representations:

•Verbal model•Visual modelAnd build a logical connection between them.

Mayer & Anderson, 1991

References

https://www.google.ie/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi

Fletcher, J.D., & Tobias, S. (2005). The multimedia principle. In R.E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 117-134). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Mayer, R.E., & Anderson R. B. (1992). The instructive animation: Helping students build connections between words and pictures in multimedia learning.  Journal of Educational Psychology.

By Mayer, Richard E.; Gallini, Joan K.Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 82(4), Dec 1990, 715-726.

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective, London: Routledge.