April 2007 - June 2010
German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
As regards the presentation of verbal information in multimedia-based
learning environments, different design principles were postulated of how to present
the verbal text to the learner. Two of these principles are the modality principle
and the redundancy principle. In terms of the modality principle the verbal
information, which accompanies the pictures, should be presented auditorily
and not visually. Concerning the redundancy principle, the verbal information
should not be presented visually and auditorily, but only auditorily.
A problem regarding these principles consists in the empirical studies, which
were often conducted in a laboratory context under very artificial conditions.
Therefore, it is important to examine if these principles are also valid in
more realistic contexts or if they are artefacts of the laboratory situation.
To explore the ecological validity of these principles this project ought to
examine the modality principle und the redundancy principle in classroom settings,
in order to test how far they are moderated by academic relevant variables (e.g.
self-monitoring, complex texts and cooperative learning scenarios).
We anticipated an invalidation of the mentioned principles under realistic learning
environments, as visually presented text could be at the advantage (e.g.
individual reading strategies, individual reading speed).
The project was part of the DFG research group "Orchestrating
Computer-supported Processes of Learning and Instruction".
