Instructional Message Design: Issues and Trends

Editor's Notes

• #5: Before starting to discuss message design, lets define its key concepts. They are: message, learning and instruction, media and message design
• #6: In message design, there are senders and receivers as you can see. There is also message sent from sender to receivers. In this picture, boxes over the truck is the message. Message is signs or symbols that modify behavior in cognitive, affective or psychomotor instructional domains Media is carrier of the message from transmitter to receiver like a truck in this picture.
• #7: Purpose of the message learning can be instruction or both of them. What is the difference between learning and instruction? Instruction is a way of organizing and sequencing information for the learner which may include examples, practice and feedback Learning results from effective coding, organization, integration and translation of information
• #8: Message design for instruction deals with mostly attention, perception and comprehension. This puts most of the emphasis and effort on the physical form of the message. Message design for learning addresses cognitive process required of retention and retrieval. It is most concerned with inductive composition of the message
• #9: Message design for instruction deals with mostly attention, perception and comprehension. This puts most of the emphasis and effort on the physical form of the message. Message design for learning addresses cognitive process required of retention and retrieval. It is most concerned with inductive composition of the message
• #10: Message design is one step in the instructional development process. In this process we try to develop specifications determined in design process. Message design for instruction deals with those external factors out of the control of the learner which can facilitate learning, while message design for learning deals those strategies which activate factors to have learning actually occur.
• #11: We defined key concepts, now let’s examine key principles in message design. We will divide key principles to message design for instruction, learning and both instruction and learning.
• #12: Involves planning for the manipulation of the physical form of message. Typographical principles come into play in different media such as text design, screen design, and video design.
• #13: There is a infographic regarding course description. Lets discuss it with respect to Balance, Consistency, headings, typefaces and size, use of white space, color, content
• #14: Involves the planning for inductive composition of the message which induces to the learner to meaningfully relate the target information to the old. In this way they organize and ellaborate new information.
• #15: One of the strategies in message design for learning is generative learning strategies. Learners in these designs are not passive recipient of information, they are active participants in the learning process to integrate and translate information. Examples of strategies learners use to generate meaning are
• #16: Other strategy in message design for learning is structural communication. It can be used to achieve higher-order learning objectives in different educational contexts including high-level decision making. 1. Intention: The opening statement, which defines what is to be studied, provides an overview 2. Presentation: The material, experience, exercise, case study, etc. which supplies the essential facts and concepts of the domain being studied. 3. Response array: A randomized array of items which summarize key parts, concepts or principles from the knowledge base that is being used and studied in the exercise. Often it resembles a "key point summary" of the Presentation. 4. Questions: A set of problems for solution which allow multiple responses and viewpoints. To respond to a question, a student selects a number of items from the Response Array. 5. Diagnostics: The author gives values of "essential", "relevant", "irrelevant" and "misleading" to the items of the Response Array. 6. Discussion: Constructive comments are given to discuss in depth the rationale for including or excluding certain items 7. Viewpoints: An outline of the author's, and other alternative viewpoints in the literature can be given.
• #19: Addressees message design from both an instructional and learning perspectiveby combining their principles The framework includes attention, perception, learning and concept formation.
• #21: Firstly, lets remember cognitive theory of multimedia learning? What cognitive theory of multimedia learning tells us? What are its assumptions? – Dual channel assumption, limited capacity assumption, active processing assumption
• #22: Two week ago, we learnt cognitive theory of multimedia learning. It focuses on cognitive processes and ignores affective processes. There was such cricitisim.
• #23: Then, Moreno developed cognitive effective theory of multimedia learning, which takes both cognitive and affective processes into account.
• #24: Let’s fill the blanks in cognitive-affective theory of multimedia learning.
• #25: Compare it with cognitive theory of multimedia learning (words, pictures)
• #26: Compare it with cognitive theory of multimedia learning (ears, eyes)
• #27: Self-regulation, motivation and affect
• #29: Dual coding (learners can represent knowledge in verbal and visual codes) Active Processing (Meaningful learning occurs when the learner spends conscious effort in selecting, organizing and integrating new information with existing knowlede) Affective mediation (motivational factors mediate learning by increasing or decreasing cognitive engagement) Metacognitive mediation (metacognitive factors mediate learning by regulating cognitive processing and affect) Individual differences (differences in learners’ prior knowledge and traits such as cognitive styles and abilities may affect learning)
• #30: Affective factors mediate learning by impacting cognitive engagement. Confusion is an affective state that can be beneficial to learning.
• #31: Why? What can we say about this findings? Although decorative illustrations affect learners’ situational interest positively, it is not correlated with near transfer. There is indirect positive effect of decorative illustrations on far transfer that is mediated by increased situational interest. Decorative illustrations can affect learning both negatively and positively if learners have sufficient resource to process intresting but irrevelant material. Therefore, interaction between cognitive and affective factors should be taken account.
• #35: What is media, method and modality? Media: Physical system or vehicle used to deliver instruction Method: Techniques embedded in different media to promote students’ understanding Modality: The sensory channel that is initally used by learners when they process information. When verbal information is printed, it is presented in visual modality. If it is spoken, it is presented in auditory channel.
• #36: Modality principle says that in multimedia presentation, the words should be presented auditorily rather than visually. Why? Let’s remember previous theories and their relationship between modality principle.
• #37: Baddeley: Visual-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop Dual processing model of working memory: Visual and auditory channels CATML: independent information pprocessing channels and dual coding (learners can represent knowledge in verbal and visual codes)
• #38: Now let’s define two hypothesis. Which hypothesis is supported by modality principle? Method-affects-learning or media-affects-learning? Why? Method-affects-learning hypothesis is if instructional methods promote appropriate cognitive processing during learning, the type of media does not matter. Media-affects-learning hypothesis is about that higher technologies are more effective learning tools than older technologies.
• #39: Let’s think Fatih project. What are the reasons for failure in Fatih project? They can be attributed to Method-affects-learning or media-affects-learning hypothesis?
• #40: Studies conducted with different media (desktop computer, animated pedagogical agent and head-mounted display) confirmed that modality principle is an effective instructional method.
• #41: Researches say that …. Why?
• #45: Dual coding theory: there are two cognitive subsystems (one processes nonverbal objects or events, such as images and the other one processes verbal language and audio Cognitive load theory: It is affected by intrinsic, germane and extraneous load. Informal and formal learning: Formal learning occurs under management of a teacher whereas informal learning occurs under self-management of the learner
• #46: Let’s use our smart phones for formal learning in this course. Kahoot activity Formal learning: Interaction among content, students and teachers fosters. For example; instant information feedback systems where students’ responses are used to provide real-time advice to the teachers, content based pushing services which allow students and teachers to access a shared database of learning resources anytime , anywhere by mobile phones
• #47: Let’s watch a video about how mobile technologies can foster situated learning http://ecolearn.gse.harvard.edu/ecoMOBILE/video.php
• #48: Mobile devices enable us to access social networks, web 2.0 application and share multimedia learning content 4G fast networks. We can use different mobile devices with the Internet connection or stand alone
• #49: Learning content should work on a variety of mobile phones
• #50: PDA can be an excellent tool for mlearning. It can resolve several of the possible issues associated with small screens. Successive approximations
• #51: Older learners with diminished eyesight and dexterity may have difficulty interacting with smart phone’s small keyboard and screen
• #52: 4G enables lieve video connections and makes higher capacity data transmission possible. It allows more sophisticated programs to run in computers.
• #54: A video in one of the courses in Coursera, and how it appears in a smart phone (Captions)
• #55: Another example regarding captions
• #56: Use of color, text, icons
• #57: Coherence (eliminate extraneous content to promote coherence)
• #58: Image, text length
• #59: A screenshot from a tablet computer. Use of color, ..