Using Mayer’s principles in web based
learning
1. Multimedia Principle: Students learn better from
words and pictures than from words alone.
The web module was
designed with relevant illustrations wherever needed to further explain
concepts in the module.
2. 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.
Graphics and text
were presented in an integrated manner so as to provide proper combination of
the information with both media types.
3. Temporal Contiguity Principle: Students learn
better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously
rather than successively.
Textual information presented together with illustrations
were presented simultaneously in order to provide students with strong visual
support for the textual information on the screen.
4. Coherence Principle:
Students learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds are excluded
rather than included. Images with conceptual relevance, and not merely topical
relevance, were included.
Sound effects were not added to ALL buttons as they would
distract students from the content and students could chose to have background
music playing.
5. Modality Principle: Students learn better from
animation and narration than from animation and on-screen text.
Wherever possible, content was presented visually (with
still or moving images) or aurally (with narration), and not merely onscreen
text.
6. Redundancy Principle: Students learn better from
animation and narration than from animation, narration, and on-screen text.
Content was presented with narration and animation/visual
images, instead of animation and text, so that students can listen to the
narration while looking at the animation/visual images and not be distracted by
identical textual information.
7. Individual Differences Principle: Design effects
are stronger for low-knowledge learners than for high-knowledge learners and
for high-spatial learners rather than for low-spatial learners.
The students were undergraduates in their first trimester of
classes in University. Therefore, they did not have much prior knowledge on the
subject matter and the multimedia web environment. Therefore, this web module
is considered a new way of learning to them.
