There is a misunderstanding that learning styles should dictate how we design our online courses. Clark & Mayer (2016) state, “…the learning styles hypothesis … plays on the common sense argument that instruction should be flexible enough to support different learning styles.” (p. 135). However, as the authors explain, this hypothesis is not supported by research. In the following video presentation, I provide a brief explanation of their statement and a recommendation.
Thoughts on creating this presentation
When I designed this video presentation, I followed these two principles:
-The Modality principle states, “presenting words in audio rather than on‐screen text can result in significant learning gains.” (p. 113)
-The Redundancy principle “explain visuals with words in audio or text but not both” (p. 131).
Some factors that I took into consideration:
- Pronunciation and intonation. As a non-native English speaker, I decided to speak slowly and try to enunciate each word. There was a section that I encountered a problem reading my script, but I believe viewers will understand my accent. A possible solution is to provide closed captions. However, this will go against the redundancy principle.
- Images and on-screen text. I was careful in selecting images and text that should be on the screen. I believe there is a right balance. To assess this assumption, I can create a post-screening evaluation from viewers.
- There is always room for improvement. I can ask a native English speaker to read the script. Perhaps, I can select a different template design, different font and compress the video.
Reference
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. Wiley.
January 2021