DESIGNING THE INSTRUCTIONAL MESSAGE

1
DESIGNING THE INSTRUCTIONAL MESSAGE

• Casey Ang
• Woo Anna
• Kelvin Lim

2
Things to watch out for.

• What is the best way to introduce the content to
  my students?
• What is the best way to implement my
  instructional strategies?
• How can I cue the learner to the most important
  information?
• How can I use pictures to enhance my students
  understanding of a topic?

3
Effective Instruction

• Developed through careful structuring and
  presenting the materials that both engage the
  learner and signal the learner to the important
  points

4
3 sections in message design process

• 1. Preinstructional strategy
• technique for preparing the learner for the
  instruction
• 2. Message design for Text
• strategies for signaling the structure of the
  text through words and typography
• 3. Pictures and Graphics in Instructions
• the use of pictures and graphics in your
  instruction

5
PREINSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES - HARTLEY DAVIES
(1976)
4 different methods

• Pretests
• Objectives
• Overviews
• Advance Organizers

6
Pretests

• A pretest is to heighten the students awareness
  of content by asking a series of questions
• Cues to help the learner identify and focus on
  the main ideas in the unit of instruction

7
Think about the following questions as you read
this unit 1. What are the differences between
mixtures and compounds? 2. What are the steps
involved in separating the salt from sea water?

• relatively short
• stimulate the student to think about the answer
  as he reads the content
• sample of objectives rather than an item for each

Pretest guidelines
8
Objectives

• Restatement of the objectives the designer has
  developed
• Goal statements describing the behaviour the
  student must master

9
At the end of the topic, you will 1. describe
the differences between an isosceles triangle and
an equilateral triangle 2. know how to
construct an equilateral triangle
Objective guidelines

• state clearly the behaviour the students need to
  master
• write in the style the learner can understand
• not too many objectives
• preferably used in units of instruction that are
  shorter than 2,500 words

10
Overviews

• Summary, traditional written paragraph
  introduction
• Sawing is the process of removing waste
  material. Different types of saws are used for
  different materials. There are also different
  sawing techniques to accommodate different
  finishing. Process of sawing involves the
  combination of saws,techniques and procedural
  steps.

11

• Provide a summary of the content, pose a problem
  that the unit will help to answer, describe how
  the content will help the learner
• Relatively short (less than 1 page)

Overview guidelines
12
Advance Organizers

• Provide a conceptual framework to increase the
  meaningfulness of the content
• To allow new knowledge to be built upon existing
  ones
• This book is designed for Advanced level
  students of Physics, and covers Mechanics and
  properties of Matter, Heat, Optics, Sound,
  Electricity and Atomic Physics to that standard,
  with the foundation of Ordinary level knowledge
  on the subjects. It is based on the experience
  gained over many years of teaching and lecturing
  to a wide variety of students in schools and
  polytechnics.

13
Advance Organizer guidelines

• State in general terms that is easily understood
• Ideas presented should be inclusive of the
  content covered
• To acquire new idea by comparing with old ones

14
(No Transcript)
15
MESSAGE DESIGN FOR TEXT
An instructional unit is an artifact of the
design process that will endure (Simon, 1981).

• Our task as designers to create an appropriate
  interface between the instructional materials and
  the learner
• - so that it is communicated effectively by
  manipulating the text and the typography

16
3 Critical Design Elements for Good Printed
Instruction - Chambliss and Calfee (1989)

• A set of distinctive elements words or
  typography that signal structure of text to
  learner
• Coherence of text structure that aids
  organization and recall of information
• A match between content and learners background

17
Signalling the Text Schema

• Mannes (1994) to help learners form a model of
  expectations to aid comprehension
• Armbruster (1986) identified 5 common text
  structures to signal important text for the
  learner
• Meyer (1985) calls the words used for explicit
  signalling pointer(signalling) words

18
A. Explicit signals
19
(No Transcript)
20
B. Typographic signals

• Ø Headings
• Most instructional materials need between 2 and 3
  levels of headings.
• 1st level Start with objectives for the
  instructional unit.
• Use I, II, III, etc.
• 2nd level Major ideas or steps to achieve
  objectives.
• Use A, B, C, etc.
• 3rd level For complex content, this level
  identifies specific ideas, tasks, or concepts.
• Use 1, 2, 3 etc.
• Every level of heading has a different
  typographical design.

21
B. Typographic signals

• Ø Layout
• - referring to composition of page
• - use of vertical/horizontal spacing, spacing
  between paragraphs, use of indentation,
  arrangement of words and pictures

22
B. Typographic signals

• Ø Typographical variations
• - through use of bold, italics, underscore, font
  size
• - to signal important words and new information
• 3 points to note
• too many variations can overwhelm
• a single variation must be consistent
• mixing of fonts requires an understanding of
  concord and contrast in typography.

23
PICTURES AND GRAPHICS IN INSTRUCTION
Levie Lentz, 1982 Willows Houghton, 1987
1. Effectiveness of pictures in instructional
materials 2. Functions pictures can serve 3.
General design considerations for using pictures
24
Effectiveness
Dwyer, 1970, 1972
Extensive research on effectiveness of different
types of illustration. eg. Use of photographs,
realistic drawings, simple line drawings in
instructions. Simple line drawings best for
limited viewing time. Photographs, realistic
drawings best for self paced learning.
Pictures help readers learn the related text
information that was illustrated.
Levie Lentz, 1982
25
Effectiveness
Peeck, 1987
Pictures have no impact on the learning of
textual information that was not duplicated in
the illustration. Pictures are helpful when used
to show spatial relationship, illustrate abstract
material and main ideas in the text. Directing
learners attention to the illustration are also
not always effective.
Dean Kulhavy, 1981 Winn Holliday, 1982
Researchers have more success when the learner
interacts with or studies the illustration.
However, a balanced is needed between the picture
and the activity.
26
Functions
Levin, 1981. Identified five different learning
functions that pictures can perform in text.
1. Decoration 4. Interpretation 2.
Representation 5. Transformation 3.
Organisation
Suggests that these functions are not equal in
their effects on learning.
27
Decorations
Pictures that serve no other purpose than to
decorate and to signal the start of a new
chapter. Have no direct connection to the text
information.
Purpose Making text appealing to increase
sales. Motivational for the
reader to read deeper. Break up
page so that it is less threatening.
28
Chapter 1 Whales
Whales are mammals The mother whale makes milk to
feed her baby. A baby whale drinks lots of milk.
29
Representation
Pictures used to represent people, tools, things,
or events in the text or other media are
classified as representational. Commonly found in
childrens books, technical training materials.
Purpose Used to illustrate a major portion of
the important textual
information. Add concrete
representations to familiar information
30
Planets orbit the sun. We can also say that
planets revolve around the sun in the same
direction. The time it takes a planet to revolve
around the sun is known as one year on that planet
Planets also spin or rotate on their axes, which
causes day and night. If we were to draw an
imaginary line through the center of the earth,
we would call it an axis. The earth spins or
turns on this axis. The planets all rotate on
their own axes at different speed. The earth
rotates on its axis once every 24 hours.
31
Organization
A series of pictures used to perform an
organisational function. eg. Step-by-step guide,
how-to pictures Such pictures are not limited to
procedural tasks. Are often used as well to
describe various attributes or features of an
object. eg. New car.
Purpose Used to provide a framework for the
text. Add coherence to
easy-to-process materials.
32
Reef Knot Commonly used as a tie for bending
together two ropes of approximately equal size.
It is not reliable if the ropes are unequal in
size or very slippery. If tied with two ends of
unequal size, or if one end is stiffer or more
slippery than the other, it is bound to spill.
Under no circumstances should it be used as a
bend.
Step 3 Tuck the left rope under the right, and
pull both the ropes to tighten it.
Step 2 Then pass the same rope, now in the left
hand, over the right rope
Step 1 Holding one end of each rope in each
hand, pass the right rope over the left, and tuck
under.
33
Interpretation
Pictures that help learner understand difficult
or abstract information are classified as
performing an interpretation function.
Purpose Provide added comprehensibility to
difficult or abstract
materials.
34
A cell is like a Factory
35
An electric current flowing in an electric
circuit is like the flow of water in a water
circuit.
The human heart is like the water pump.
36
Transformation
Pictures that provide the learner with a mnemonic
learning aid are classified as performing a
transformation function.
Purpose Useful in passages that require the
memorization of facts by the learners.
37
X
V
Refuse
Incinerator
Ohms Law V R I V
Voltage
R Resistance
I Current
38
Considerations
Decision to use pictures in instruction is
influenced by three factors, namely - to enhance
learning - availability of the picture or
illustration - cost of reproducing the materials
with the added pictures.
39
RECOLLECTION

• 1. Preinstructional strategy
• technique for preparing the learner for the
  instruction
• 2. Message design for Text
• strategies for signaling the structure of the
  text through words and typography
• 3. Pictures and Graphics in Instructions
• the use of pictures and graphics in your
  instruction

40
THE END THANK YOU
41
FUN TIME

Design a page of notes for a topic of your
choice, encompassing the techniques for
designing instructional messages.