principles for the design of instructional materials (cognitive psychology):
- Since information is processed and remembered in chunks, designers should
message structures that will assist learners in chunking information.
- Introduce new material with “advance organizers,” short passages (50-100
they already know (i.e., existing schemata). For example, at the beginning of a
lesson on long division, you might discuss the similarities and differences
between division and multiplication.
- State the theme of each paragraph and section at the beginning in order to
- Organize information within paragraphs and sections in order to reflect and
a mass of detail).
- Use transitional expressions or “signposts” (therefore,for example, first, as a result) to make the structure of the text clear and to signal the relationships between concepts.
- Use the structure of the information on the page to alert learners to the
includes outlining, bulleted lists, as well as the proper use of white space to
emphasize points.
- Whenever possible, foster metacognitive skills by making the text design
highlighting, organizing, summarizing, or illustrating it themselves).