Ten CTLM based ID Principles

Ten instructional design principles suggested by Moreno (2006) are originated from CTLM and associated theoretical rationales, the principles are known as: modality, verbal redundancy, temporal contiguity, spatial contiguity, coherence, multimedia, personalization, guidance, interactivity, and reflection. According to modality principles, audio narration is more effective than written text for explaining or describing visual presentations and students learn better because auditory channels are used to process audio narration, therefore visual channels process only graphics, which ultimately increases the capacity of working memory and makes it more effective. According to Connell (2006), “Tests have shown that subjects presented with animation and simultaneous narration generated from 41 to 114 percent more solutions than those presented with animation and onscreen text - even though the information presented was identical.” Audio is still not widely used for online courses as audio production can be more time consuming and expensive than using printed text.

Verbal redundancy suggests to not use words and graphics at the same time, as both words and graphics will require visual channels to process information, and the visual channel will be overloaded. Therefore, “students learn better from graphics and narration than from graphics and redundant narration and text” (Moreno, 2006). Principles of temporal-contiguity suggest that if graphics and spoken words need to be delivered at the same time, it will help the working memory to make a mental connection between those two articles of information. “According to the modality, redundancy, and temporal-contiguity principles, instructional technologies that include a combination of verbal explanations and nonverbal visual materials should present the explanations at the same time as the nonverbal and in the spoken modality alone” (Moreno, 2006).

Spatial contiguity suggests integrating multiple sources of visual information rather than delivering them separately, otherwise non-integrated information will be held in working memory while the leaner attends to a new piece of information, and it will be hard to make mental connections between different sources of information. Coherence principles suggest to not include irrelevant or unnecessary information in the lesson, as it may interrupt the organization process in the memory. According to multimedia principles, when relevant words and graphics are combined in instruction, it helps to construct a mental model more effectively than when only words are used in instruction. Personalization principles suggest that personalized messages or explanations increase the learners’ attention and they will learn better. According to guidance principles, new learners find learning more effective when explanations include “guiding schema,” as they lack automated schema to process the information. Interactive principles suggest that students learn better when they can interact with the material rather than just observe someone else interacting with the material. And finally reflection principles encourages giving students the opportunity to reflect, as “reflection promotes learning by encouraging more active organization and integration of new information with prior knowledge” (Moreno, 2006).