e-Learning and the Science of Instruction

CHAPTER 18 Applying the Guidelines

CHAPTER SUMMARY

This chapter consolidates all the guidelines we have discussed throughout the book by: (1) reviewing the effect sizes for most of the major instructional methods in the book, (2) presenting a checklist of guidelines in a single exhibit you can use as a working aid, and (3) discussing how the guidelines apply or are violated in three short e-learning examples. In this chapter you have the opportunity to consider how all of the guidelines may best apply to your own context.

As a result of a growing research repository on many of these principles, we have been able to expand and update the effect sizes we listed in earlier editions and add new guidelines to our checklist. To conclude, we review our predictions made in previous editions and look ahead to the future directions of multimedia research.

Applying the Evidence-Based Guidelines to e-Courses

The goal of our book is to help consumers and designers of e-learning make decisions based on empirical research and on the psychological processes of learning. In an ideal world, e-courseware effectiveness would be based on measurement of how well and how efficiently learners achieve the learning objectives. This evaluation requires a validation process in which learners are formally tested (using a validated test) after completing the training. In our experience, formal course validation is rare. More often, consumers and designers look at the lesson features or student ratings ...