What is in an image? – How to prevent ‘cognitive overload’ in your ELearning modules

Ever wonder what the engagement rules were for using graphics in eLearning? I see a lot of eLearning where graphics can distract from the content, rather than attract the student to the content.

For example, should you use high resolution illustrations or photos? Well, to be honest, you can use either one as long as they are high quality, high resolution, and consistent. Unfortunately, that means you have to choose between the two and wear them consistently at all times.

Consistency is key when it comes to any type of learning, but while doing some research on imagery and cognitive learning, I came across an article by Stephen D. Sorden of Mohave Community College / Northern Arizona University titled “The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning “. In the article, he states:

“Multimedia learning occurs when we construct mental representations from words and pictures. The theory has been largely defined by Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning.”

“… They claim that people learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone, which is known as the multimedia principle (Mayer 2005a) … Multimedia instructional design attempts to use cognitive inquiry to combine words and pictures in ways that maximize the effectiveness of learning. “

Similar to a computer hard drive that contains files that were previously accessed in the cache for faster access, our brain works in a similar way. Using an established template, with similar images, can work the same way in our cognitive thinking. For example, when selecting images, you should try to follow these guidelines:

  • Select illustrations OR photos for your module.

  • Make sure the illustrations are up to date and not cartoon-style images older than five years.

  • Make sure the photos are horizontal OR vertical, but not both.

  • Make sure the photos are in color OR black and white, but not both.

  • Make sure the photos on the screen are 100% relevant to the topic being discussed.

  • Align text and graphics on the screen at eye level.

Did you know that within the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, they have noticed three memory centers in the brain: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory? Our ultimate goal for the student is for sensory and functional memory to be transferred to long-term memory.

“Mayer (2005a) states that sensory memory has a visual sensory memory that briefly contains images and printed text as visual images; … Sensory memory contains an exact sensory copy of what was presented for less than 25 secondswhereas the working memory contains a processed version of what was presented for generally less than thirty seconds and can only process a few pieces of material at a time (Mayer 2010a). Long-term memory stores all of a person’s knowledge for an indefinite period of time. “

That is why it is essential to be consistent, relevant and simple in our text and images. We do not want to lose the student in a “cognitive overload”.

Only after this is achieved in the design and development of our module, will we see any results in our learning efforts, such as increased employee productivity. This is the end result that Mayer referred to as meaningful learning.

“Mayer (2010a) maintains that meaningful word and image learning occurs when the student engages in five cognitive processes:

1.Select relevant words for processing in verbal working memory.

2.selection of relevant images for processing in visual working memory

3.organize selected words in a verbal pattern

4.organize selected images into a pictorial model

5. Integrate verbal and pictorial representations with each other and with previous knowledge “.

Before concluding today’s session, let’s talk a little more about that ‘cognitive overload’. In an article by William Swann of MindLeaders, Inc., “The Impact of Applied Cognitive Learning Theory on Engagement with E-Learning Courses,” he states:

“Displaying images and text on the screen at the same time can overload the visual information processing system, but using the audio system for verbal information and the visual system for images is a more efficient division of labor (Mayer and Moreno , 1998b, p. 4). In short, words pass better through the ears and images pass better through the eyes “.

What does this really mean? Well, it finally translates to three things:

  • The text on the screen should not exactly duplicate the audio narration.

  • The text on the screen should not describe the image.

  • The text on the screen should not be in paragraph format, but in short keywords related to the topic.

The reasoning for this lies in the principle of divided attention. In summary:

“… the principle of divided attention: it can be evaluated individually by an additional comparison of two page layouts. The first layout is one that displays all linguistic content as text on the page while simultaneously providing a narration of full audio of text on screen. Associated images appear simultaneously on screen. In this design, text is duplicated and the same words flow through two modalities. “

These two modalities are the eyes and the ears, which forces the student to listen and read simultaneously.

Do you remember the 25 seconds of sensory memory and the 30 seconds of working memory? Within this time frame, you risk cognitively overloading the student if your design doesn’t follow the guidelines we reviewed above.

We hope you have found this information useful for your future eLearning design projects. Until next time …

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