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Six Principles of Effective e-Learning: What Works and Why by Ruth Clark : Learning Solutions Magazine

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Six Principles of E ective e-Learning: What Works and Why

by Ruth Clark
September 10, 2002

TakeanyeLessonshowittofivepeopleandaskthemwhattheythink.Mybetisyouwillgetfivedifferentopinionsabout
thequalityofthecourseware.But,wait!Whatifthefivereviewersareeducationalexpertsspecialistswithadvanced
degreesintrainingandeducation?Nowyoumightexpectagreaterconsensus.Basedonmyexperienceoverthepastthree
yearsreviewingcourseswithexperts,Ipredictalittlemoreagreementbutitsnotlikelytobeanythingclosetoaconsensus.

Unlikeclassroomtraining,eLearningisveryvisible.Whilemuchoftheclassroomexperienceispackaged
intheinstructor,andinfactvariesfromclasstoclass,youcaneasilyseeandhearallelementsofe
Learning.Everythingfromscreencolortocontentaccuracytothetypesofpracticesisreadilyavailablefor
scrutiny.Ibelievethatthishighvisibilitywillprovetobeagoodthing.Withthismuchmoreaccessible
instructionalenvironment,wewillbeabletomorereadilyidentifyeffectiveandineffectivetraining.Butto
doso,wehavetomovebeyondarelianceonenduser(orevenexpert)opinions.Afterayearofworkona
commissiontaskedtoidentifythequalitiesofeffectiveeLearning,andhearingagreatdealof(often
contradictory)views,IdecidedIneededfeweropinionsandmoredata.
DecisionsabouteLearningcoursewaremustbeginwithanunderstandingofhowthemindworksduring
learningandofwhatresearchdatatellusaboutwhatfactorsleadtolearning.Thisiswheredecisions
mustbegin.Naturallyfactorsotherthanpsychologicaleffectivenesscomeintoplayinyourmultimedia
learningdecisions.Forexample,instructionalstrategieswillbeshapedbyparametersofthetechnology
likebandwidthandhardware,andbyenvironmentalfactorssuchasbudget,time,andorganizational
culture.

What is e-Learning?
SincethetermeLearningisusedinconsistently,letsstartwithabasicdefinition.Forthepurposesofthis
discussion,eLearningiscontentandinstructionalmethodsdeliveredonacomputer(whetheronCDROM,
theInternet,oranintranet),anddesignedtobuildknowledgeandskillsrelatedtoindividualor
organizationalgoals.Thisdefinitionaddresses:
Thewhat:trainingdeliveredindigitalform,
Thehow:contentandinstructionalmethodstohelplearnthecontent,and
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Thewhy:toimproveorganizationalperformancebybuildingjobrelevantknowledgeandskillsinworkers.
Inthisarticle,themainfocusandexamplesaredrawnfrombusinessselfstudycoursewarethatmay
includesynchronousorasynchronouscommunicationoptions.Forexample,thescreeninFigure1ispart
ofaWebdeliveredcoursedesignedtoteachtheuseofsoftwarecalledDreamweavertocreateWeb
pages.ThemaincontentisthestepsneededtoperformthisparticulartaskwithDreamweaver.The
instructionalmethodsincludeademonstrationofhowtoperformthestepsalongwithanopportunityto
practiceandgetfeedbackonyouraccuracy.

Figure1PracticeexercisefromaneLessononDreamweaver.WithpermissionfromElementK.

ThereisadistinctionamongthreeimportantelementsofaneLesson:theinstructionalmethods,the
instructionalmedia,andmediaelements.Inspiteofoptimisticprojectionsofthepositiveimpactof
technologyonlearning,therealityhasnotliveduptoexpectations.FromfilmtotheInternet,eachnew
waveoftechnologyhasstimulatedprospectsofrevolutionsinlearning.Butresearchcomparinglearning
fromonemediumsuchastheclassroomwithanothermediumsuchastheInternetgenerallyfailsto
demonstratesignificantadvantagesforanyparticulartechnology.Theserepeatedfailuresleadusto
abandonatechnologycenteredapproachtolearninginfavorofalearnercenteredapproach.Having
participatedinmanypoortrainingsessionsintheclassroomandonthecomputer,werecognizethatits
notthemediumthatcauseslearning.Ratheritisthedesignofthelessonitselfandthebestuseof
instructionalmethodsthatmakethedifference.Alearnercenteredapproachsuggeststhatwedesign
lessonsthataccommodatehumanlearningprocessesregardlessofthemediainvolved.
Instructionalmethodsarethetechniquesusedtohelplearnersprocessnewinformationinwaysthatlead
tolearning.Instructionalmethodsincludetheuseoftechniquessuchasexamples,practiceexercises,
simulations,andanalogies.
Instructionalmediaarethedeliveryagentsthatcontainthecontentandtheinstructionalmethodsincluding
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computers,workbooks,andeveninstructors.Notallmediacancarryallinstructionalmethodswithequal
effectiveness.Foreachnewtechnologythatappearsonthescene,wetypicallystartbytreatingitlike
oldermediawithwhichwearefamiliar.Forexample,muchearlyWebbasedtraininglookedalotlike
booksmostlyusingtextonascreentocommunicatecontent.Asthetechnologybehindagiven
mediummatures,wegetbetteratexploitingthefeaturesuniquetothatmediumforlearning.
Athirdcomponentofmultimedialearningisthemediaelements.Themediaelementsrefertothetext,
graphics,andaudiousedtopresentcontentandinstructionalmethods.ForexampleintheDreamweaver
screenshowninFigure1,thecontentisthestepsneededtoperformtheparticulartaskwhichisthefocus
ofthislesson.Theinstructionalmethodsincludeademonstrationandsimulationpracticewithfeedback.
Themediaelementsincludeagraphicofthescreenand(duringthedemonstration)audionarrationthat
explainsthestepsseenintheanimation.
Forthepasttenyears,RichardMayerandhiscolleaguesattheUniversityofCaliforniaatSantaBarbara
haveconductedaseriesofcontrolledexperimentsonhowtobestuseaudio,text,andgraphicsto
optimizelearninginmultimedia.SixmediaelementprinciplescanbedefinedbasedonMayerswork.
Whatfollowsisasummaryoftheseprinciplesalongwithsupportingexamples,psychologicalrationale,
andresearch.Usethisinformationasguidelinesregardingthebenefitsofgraphics,theplacementoftext
andgraphicsonthescreen,andthebestwaytopresentwordsthatdescribegraphicsamongothers.

The multimedia principle: Adding graphics to words can improve learning.

Bygraphicswerefertoavarietyofillustrationsincludingstillgraphicssuchaslinedrawings,charts,and
photographsandmotiongraphicssuchasanimationandvideo.Researchhasshownthatgraphicscan
improvelearning.Thetrickistouseillustrationsthatarecongruentwiththeinstructionalmessage.Images
addedforentertainmentordramaticvaluenotonlydontimprovelearningbuttheycanactuallydepress
learning(seethecoherenceprinciplebelow).

The research
Mayercomparedlearningaboutvariousmechanicalandscientificprocessesincludinghowabicyclepump
worksandhowlightningforms,fromlessonsthatusedwordsaloneorusedwordsandpictures(including
stillgraphicsandanimations).Inmostcaseshefoundmuchimprovedunderstandingwhenpictureswere
included.Infact,hefoundanaveragegainof89%ontransfertestsfromlearnerswhostudiedlessons
withtextandgraphicscomparedtolearnerswhoselessonswerelimitedtotextalone.Thereforewehave
empiricalsupportthatshoulddiscouragetheuseofscreensandscreensoftextasaneffectivelearning
environment.Howevernotallpicturesareequallyeffective.Wewillneedmoreprinciplestoseehowto
bestmakeuseofvisualstopromotelearning.

The psychology
Learningoccursbytheencodingofnewinformationinpermanentmemorycalledlongtermmemory.
AccordingtoatheorycalledDualEncoding,contentcommunicatedwithtextandgraphicssendstwo
codesaverbalcodeandavisualcode.Havingtwoopportunitiesforencodingintolongtermmemory
increaseslearning.

The application
Whilegraphicscanboostlearning,itwillbeimportanttoselectthekindofgraphicthatiscongruentwith
thetextandwiththelearninggoal.AsIlldiscussbelow,graphicsthatareirrelevantorgratuitousactually
depresslearning.Considerselectingyourgraphicsbasedonthetypeofcontentyouareteaching.Table1
summarizessomegraphicsthatworkwelltoillustratefivekeycontenttypes:facts,concepts,processes,
procedures,andprinciples.Processesforexample,areeffectivelyillustratedbyanimationsorbystill
graphicsthatshowchangethrougharrows.Figure2showsaneffectiveillustrationofaprocessine
Learning.

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Figure2eLearningillustratingabiologicalprocess.

The contiguity principle: placing text near graphics improves learning.

Contiguityreferstothealignmentofgraphicsandtextonthescreen.OftenineLearningwhenascrolling
screenisused,thewordsareplacedatthetopandtheillustrationisplacedunderthewordssothatwhen
youseethetextyoucantseethegraphicandviceversa.Thisisacommonviolationofthecontiguity
principlethatstatesthatgraphicsandtextrelatedtothegraphicsshouldbeplacedclosetoeachotheron
thescreen.

The research
Mayercomparedlearningaboutthesciencetopicsdescribedaboveinversionswheretextwasplaced
separatefromthevisualswithversionswheretextwasintegratedonthescreennearthevisuals.The
visualsandtextwereidenticalinbothversions.Hefoundthattheintegratedversionsweremoreeffective.
Infiveoutoffivestudies,learningfromscreensthatintegratedwordsnearthevisualsyieldedanaverage
improvementof68%.

The psychology
Learningoccursinhumansbywayofworkingmemorywhichistheactivepartofourmemorysystem.You
haveprobablyheardofsevenplusorminustwo.Thisreferstotheseverelimitsplacedonworking
memory.Workingmemoryisnotveryefficient,andcanonlyholdseven(plusorminustwo)factsoritems
atatime.
Sinceworkingmemorycapacityisneededforlearningtooccur,whenworkingmemorybecomes
overloaded,learningisdepressed.Ifwordsandthevisualstheydescribeareseparatefromeachother,
thelearnerneedstoexpendextracognitiveresourcestointegratethem.Incontrast,inmaterialsinwhich
thewordsandgraphicsareplacedcontiguously,theintegrationisdoneforthelearner.Thereforethe
learnerisfreetospendthosescarcecognitiveresourcesonlearning.

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The application
Asmentionedabove,scrollingscreenssometimesviolatethecontiguityprinciplebyseparatingtextand
relatedvisuals.Butitisnotthescrollingscreenitselfwhichistoblame.Onewaytousescrollingscreens
effectivelyistoembedsmallergraphicsonthescreenwithrelatedtextcloseby.Forexample,ascreen
frommyonlinedesigncourseisshowninFigure3.Youcanseethatthevisualhasbeenreducedand
placedonthescreennearthetext.

Figure3Anexampleofapplicationofthecontiguityprinciple.

The modality principle: explaining graphics with audio improves learning.

Ifyouhavethetechnicalcapabilitiestouseothermodalitieslikeaudio,itcansubstantiallyimprove
learningoutcomes.Thisisespeciallytrueofaudionarrationofananimationoracomplexvisualinatopic
thatisrelativelycomplexandunfamiliartothelearner.

The research
MayercomparedlearningfromtwoeLearningversionsthatexplainedgraphicswithexactlythesame
wordsonlythemodalitywaschanged.Thushecomparedlearningfromversionsthatexplained
animationswithwordsintextwithversionsthatexplainedanimationswithwordsinaudio.Inall
comparisons,thenarratedversionsyieldedbetterlearningwithanaverageimprovementof80%.

The psychology
Asdescribedunderthecontiguityprinciple,workingmemoryisalimitedresourcethatmustbepreserved
forlearningpurposes.Cognitivepsychologistshavelearnedthatworkingmemoryhastwosubstorage
areasoneforvisualinformationandoneforphoneticinformation.Onewaytostretchthecapacityof
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workingmemoryistoutilizebothofthesestorageareas.Figure4illustrateshowtheuseofgraphicswhich
entervisualmemoryandaudiowhichentersphoneticmemorymaximizeworkingmemorycapacity.

Figure4Visualandsupportingauditoryinformationmaximizeworkingmemoryresources.

The application
Audioshouldbeusedinsituationswhereoverloadislikely.Forexample,ifyouarewatchingananimated
demonstrationofmaybefiveorsixstepstouseasoftwareapplication,youneedtofocusyourvisual
resourcesontheanimation.Ifyouhavetoreadtextandatthesametimewatchtheanimation,overloadis
morelikelythanwhenyoucanheartheanimationbeingnarrated.
Thisdoesnotmeanthattextshouldneverbeused.Forexample,someinformationineLearning,suchas
directionstoanexercise,needstobeavailabletothelearneroveralongerperiodoftime.Anywordsthat
areneededasreferenceshouldbepresentedintext.Also,whenusingaudiotoexplainananimation,a
replayoptionshouldbeavailableforlearnerstoheartheexplanationagain.

The redundancy principle: explaining graphics with audio and redundant text can
hurt learning.
SomeeLessonsprovidewordsintextandinaudiothatreadsthetext.Thismightseemlikeagoodwayto
presentinformationinseveralformatsandthusimprovelearning.Controlledresearchhowever,indicates
thatlearningisactuallydepressedwhenagraphicisexplainedbyacombinationoftextandnarrationthat
readsthetext.

The research
InstudiesconductedbyMayerandbyothers,researchershavefoundthatbettertransferlearningis
realizedwhengraphicsareexplainedbyaudioaloneratherthanbyaudioandtext.Mayerfoundsimilar
resultsintwostudiesforanaveragegainof79%.
ThereareexceptionstotheredundancyprincipleasrecentlyreportedbyRoxanaMorenoandMayer.Ina
comparisonofascientificexplanationpresentedwithnarrationaloneandwithnarrationandtext,learning
wassignificantlybetterinconditionsthatincludedbothnarrationandtext.
Theresearchersconcludethat,Aneffectivetechniquetopromotebroaderlearningwithmultimedia
explanationsistousetheauditoryandvisualmodalitiessimultaneouslyforverbalinformationifnoother
visualmaterialispresentedconcurrently.Thereforetherewillbelimitedsituationsinwhichnarrationof
onscreentextcouldbehelpfultolearningsuchaswhenthereisnographiconthescreenorwhenreaders
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lackgoodreadingskills.

The psychology
AsillustratedinFigure5,overloadofthevisualandauditorycomponentsofworkingmemoryoccursifan
onscreengraphicisexplainedbybothtext(whichentersthevisualcenter)andnarration.Howeverifthere
isnoonscreenvisual,thenoverloadwouldnotresultandbecausedualcodeswouldbeprovided,
learningwouldbeincreased.

Figure5Presentingwordsintextandaudiocanoverloadworkingmemoryinpresenceofgraphics.

The application
Ingeneral,itsadvisabletoavoidnarrationoftextwhenthereisademandingvisualillustrationonthe
screen.Thisisespeciallyimportantwhenworkingmemoryissubjecttooverloadsuchasduringan
animationinwhichlearnershavelimitedcontroloverthepacing,orduringthepresentationofcomplex
newinformation.Incontrast,whenthereisnographicinformationonthescreen,thenresearchtodate
wouldsuggestthatpresentingwordsintextandauditoryformatwouldbenefitlearning.

The coherence principle: using gratuitous visuals, text, and sounds can hurt learning.
ItscommonknowledgethateLearningattritioncanbeaproblem.Inwellintendedeffortstospiceupe
Learning,somedesignersusewhatIcallaLasVegasapproach.BythatImeantheyaddglitzandgames
tomaketheexperiencemoreengaging.Theglitzcantakeavarietyofformssuchasdramaticvignettes
(invideoortext)insertedtoaddinterest,backgroundmusictoaddappeal,orpopularmoviecharactersor
themestoaddentertainmentvalue.
Asanexample,considerastoryboardforacourseonusingstatisticalqualitycontroltechniquesto
improvequality,showninFigure6.Toaddinterest,severalstoriesaboutthecostsofproductrecallswere
added.Buthowdotheseadditionsaffectlearning?

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Figure6Aseductivedetailfromaqualitylesson.FromClarkandMayer,2002.

The research
Inthe1980sresearchondetailspresentedintextthatwererelatedtoalessonexplanationbutwere
extraneousinnaturefoundthemtodepresslearning.Suchadditionswerecalledseductivedetails.In
morerecentresearch,Mayerhasfoundsimilarnegativeeffectsfromseductivedetailspresentedeithervia
textorvideo.Forexample,inthelessononlightningformation,shortdescriptionsofthevulnerabilityof
golferstolightningstrikesandtheeffectoflightningstrikesonairplaneswereaddedtothelesson.
Insixofsixexperiments,learnerswhostudiedfromthebaselessonshowedmuchgreaterlearningthan
thosewhostudiedfromtheenhancedversions.Theaveragegainwas105%.Similareffectswereseenin
acomparisonoflessonsthatincludedbackgroundmusicandenvironmentalsoundswithbaselessons
thatdidnotaddextraauditorymaterial.
Finally,athirdseriesofexperimentscomparedanexpandedexplanationthatused500wordsandseveral
captionedillustrationswithalessonthatusedonlytheillustrationsandtheircaptions.Studentswho
receivedthesummaryversionjustthevisualsandtheircaptionsactuallyachieved69%more
learning.

The psychology
MayerdidseveralstudiestogetherwithS.F.Harptodeterminewhyseductivedetailsdepresslearning.In
theseexperimentstheyevaluatedthehypothesesthattheseaddedmaterialsdidtheirdamageby:
1.Distractinglearnersfromkeyinstructionalpoints,
2.Disruptingthelearnersorganizationofinformationintoacoherentmentalmodel,or
3.Activatingirrelevantpriorknowledge.
Theycreatedthreeversionsoflessonsthatincludedseductivedetailsbutthatalsoaddedinstructional
methodsthatshouldcompensatefortheirdamagingeffects.Onlyoneoftheircompensatorytreatments
reducedthenegativeeffectsoftheseductivedetails.Seductivedetailsplacedatthebeginningofalesson
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weremoredamagingthanthesameinformationplacedattheendofthelesson.
Therefore,theyconcludedthatthesedetailsactivateinappropriatepriorknowledge.Sincelearningtakes
placebytheintegrationofnewinformationintoexistingknowledgeinlongtermmemory,stimulating
inappropriatepriorknowledgewouldhaveadamagingeffect.

The application
Thecoherenceprincipleessentiallytellsusthatlessismorewhenlearningistheprimarygoal.It
suggeststhatvisualsortextthatisnotessentialtotheinstructionalexplanationbeavoided.Itsuggests
thatyounotaddmusictoinstructionalsegments.Italsosuggeststhatleantextthatgetstothepointis
betterthanlengthyelaboratedtext.
Asdesignersweneedtomakeadistinctionbetweenentertainmentandlearning.Thisisnottosaythatan
effectiveeLearningcourseisnotinteresting.Mayerremindsusofpriordistinctionsbetweencognitive
interestandemotionalinterest.Cognitiveintereststemsfrommaterialsthatpromoteunderstandingofthe
contentpresentedinotherwordsfrommaterialsthatoptimizelearning.Emotionalinterestcomesfrom
theadditionofextraneousmaterialswhichhavebeenshowntodepresslearning.Ourgoalshouldbeto
promotecognitiveinterestandavoidemotionalinterestinsituationsthatrequirecognitivelearning
processes.

The personalization principle: Use conversational tone and pedagogical agents to

increase learning.
AseriesofinterestingexperimentssummarizedbyByronReevesandCliffordNassintheirbook,The
MediaEquation,showedthatpeoplerespondedtocomputersfollowingsocialconventionsthatapplywhen
respondingtootherpeople.Forexample,ReevesandNassfoundthatwhenevaluatingacomputer
programonthesamecomputerthatpresentedtheprogram,theratingswerehigherthaniftheevaluation
wasmadeonadifferentcomputer.Peoplewereunconsciouslyavoidinggivingnegativeevaluations
directlytothesource.
Ofcourseindividualsknowthatthecomputerisnotaperson.However,deeplyingrainedconventionsof
socialinteractiontendtoexertthemselvesunconsciouslyinhumancomputerinteractions.Thesefindings
promptedaseriesofexperimentsthatshowthatlearningisbetterwhenthelearnerissociallyengagedin
alessoneitherviaconversationallanguageorbyaninformallearningagent.

The research
BasedontheworkofReevesandNass,Mayerandothershaveestablishedthatlearningprogramsthat
engagethelearnerdirectlybyusingfirstandsecondpersonlanguageyieldbetterlearningthanthesame
programsthatusemoreformallanguage.Likewiseanumberofstudieshaveshownthataddingalearning
agentacharacterwhooffersinstructionaladvicecanalsoimprovelearning.
Whilesomecomputerscientistsareworkingtomakeagentsveryrealistic,aseriesofstudiesusing
HermantheBug(seeFigure7)asanagentfoundthat:
1.Theappearanceoftheagentmadelittledifferenceacartoonorhumanworkedjustaswell.
2.Learningwasbetterwhentheagentswordswerepresentedinaudioratherthanintextandina
conversationalstyleratherthaninaformalstylecongruentwiththemodalityandpersonalization
principles.
3.Theagentdidnotevenneedtobevisibleonthescreenthevoicealonewassufficienttopromote
betterlearning.

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Figure7HermantheBugisapedagogicalagent.FromClarkandMayer,2002.

The psychology
Learningisbasedonanengagementofthelearnerwiththecontentoftheinstruction.Eventhough
learnersknowthatcomputersareinanimate,theuseofconversationallanguageeitherdirectlyinthe
programorviaanagentseemstostimulateveryingrainedunconscioussocialconventionsthatleadto
deeperlearning.
Whenyouareinaconversationwithsomeoneyouareexpectedtolistenandrespondinameaningful
way.Thisrequiresyoutoinvestattentioninwhatthepersonissaying,toprocessitandtogeneratea
meaningfulresponse.AsimilarmodelseemstoapplywhenlearnersseetheeLearningasan
engagementwithasocialpartnerevenaninanimateone.

The application
WhenyouwritethescriptforyoureLessons,usefirstandsecondpersonconstructions,butdontoverdo
it.Forexample,dialogsuchas,HeyDudeAreyoureadyforsomeexcitinginformationonquality
controltools?isincongruentandmoredistractingthanhelpful.Theresearchonpedagogicalagentsis
quitenewsoapplicationsarestillabittentative.First,itseemsthatyoudontneedtoinvestalotofeffort
inthephysicalrepresentationoftheagent.Second,youneedtoconsidertheroleoftheagent.Tobe
usefultheagentneedstoserveaninstructionallyvalidrolenotjustappearasanonscreencharacter.
OneexampleIlikedisshowninFigure8.Inthisprogramdesignedtoteachreadingcomprehensionata
fourthtosixthgradelevel,theagentJimisintroducedandappearsthroughouttheprogramtoshow
readerscomprehensionstrategiesthathaveworkedforhim.

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Figure8Jimservesasapedagogicalagent.WithpermissionfromPlatoLearningSystems.

Conclusion
Sothereyouhaveit.ThesesixmediaelementprinciplesshouldgiveyouthebasicssincealleLearning
programsmustrelyonsomecombinationofgraphics,text,andaudiotodelivertheircontent.Perhapsnow
thatyoubetterunderstandtheresearchthathasbeendone,thepsychologicalfoundationsofwhythe
principlesworkandhaveseensomeexamplesofhowtheprinciplesareappliedyouwillfeelmore
confidentinusingthemyourself.

References
Clark,R.C.andMayer,R.E.(2002).ELearningandtheScienceofInstruction:
ProvenGuidelinesforConsumersandDesignersofMultimediaLearning.
SanFrancisco:JosseyBassPfeiffer.
Clark,R.C.(1999).DevelopingTechnicalTraining:AStructuredApproachfor
DevelopingClassroomandComputerBasedInstructionalMaterials.Silver
Spring,MD:InternationalSocietyforPerformanceImprovement.
Harp,S.F.andMayer,R.E.(1998).Howseductivedetailsdotheirdamage:Atheory
ofcognitiveinterestinsciencelearning.JournalofEducationalPsychology,
90(3),414434.
Kalyuga,S.,Chandler,P.,andSweller,J.(2000).JournalofEducationalPsychology,
92(1),126136.

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Moreno,R.&Mayer,R.E.(2002).Verbalredundancyinmultimedialearning:When
readinghelpslistening.JournalofEducationalPsychology,94(1),156163.
Reeves,B.,&Nass,C.(1996).TheMediaEquation.NewYork:Cambridge
UniversityPress.

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