Instructional Design of E-learning

According to Clark and Mayer (2016), instructional design in e-learning must guide the learners’ transformation of words and pictures in the lesson through the working memory, so that they are incorporated into existing knowledge in long-term memory.

This transformation relies on four key processes. First, the learner must focus on key graphics and words in the lesson to select what will be processed. Second, the learner must rehearse this information in the working memory to organise and integrate it with existing knowledge in the long-term memory. Third, to complete this integration work, the limited working memory capacity must not be overloaded. Lessons should apply cognitive load reduction techniques, especially when learners are novices to new knowledge and skills. Fourth, the new knowledge stored in the long-term memory must be retrieved during work. This is called ‘transfer of learning’. To support this transfer, e-learning lessons must provide a job context during learning that will create new memories containing job-relevant retrieval hooks. All of these processes require an active learner who selects and processes new information effectively to achieve the learning result. The design of the e-learning can either support or inhibit active processing, depending on which types of instructional methods are used (Clark & Mayer, 2016).

The second theme in this study will link to the theoretical framework, cognitive theory of multimedia. The second theme in this study is concerned with the instructional design of ELMO—particularly the way in which the textual, auditory and visual materials were brought together. This theme has the potential to profoundly influence the active engagement of participants. The participants were asked to indicate whether ELMO was visual/pictorial, was auditory/verbal, presented large quantities of visual material at one time, presented large quantities of spoken words/sounds at once, or promoted active engagement in learning. The vast majority of participants in this study (n = 187, 39.2%) stated that ELMO was visual/pictorial and that large quantities of visual material were presented at one time (n = 98, 20.5%). The participants also stated that ELMO was auditory/verbal (n = 89, 18.7%) and that large quantities of spoken words/sounds were presented at once (n = 25, 5.2%). Presentation that contains both words and graphics is referred to as a multimedia presentation. Words can be mediated either as printed text (words printed on the screen that people read) or spoken text (words presented as speech that people listen to through earphones, speakers or telephones). Graphics refer to static illustrations, such as drawings, charts, graphs, maps or photographs, and dynamic graphics, such as animations or videos. Multimedia presentation refers to any presentation that contains both words and graphics.

Multimedia learning taps into the capacity of a dual-channel processing system, with simultaneous visual and auditory input (Clark & Mayer, 2016).

The cognitive theory of multimedia, presented by Mayer (2001), is particularly useful for research into corporate e-learning because it helps explain the mechanics of learning independently with a computer-based learning training package. The cognitive theory of multimedia learning focuses on dual channels, limited capacity and active processing for knowledge construction. As described in Chapter 2, people have dual channels—separate channels for processing visual/pictorial material and auditory/verbal material. The human mind operates with limited capacity. People can actively process only a few pieces of information in each channel at one time. Visual and auditory information is held in the sensory memory for a very short period. Sounds and images are selected from this sensory input and held in the working memory. According to Mayer (2001), the working memory is where cognitive activity occurs. Mental models, both verbal and pictorial, are developed and integrated with prior knowledge that is held in the long-term memory. Active processing is where learning occurs when people engage in appropriate cognitive processing during learning, such as attending to relevant material, organising the material into a coherent structure, and integrating the material with what they already know.

The findings of this study indicated that the design of ELMO contained large quantities of visual material (n = 98, 20.5%) and spoken words/sounds (n = 25, 5.2%) presented at once. Nurses at The Hospital would process several visual materials and spoken words/sounds in their dual channels; however, the question here is whether the relevant words and images were selected. Learners must select words/images that best match their goals for knowledge construction (Clark & Mayer, 2016). However, this may have not been the case with ELMO at The Hospital because of numerous visual materials and spoken words/sounds being presented at once, causing confusion about which information was the most relevant.

To undertake integration work, the limited working memory capacity must not be overloaded. At The Hospital, large quantities of visual material and spoken words/sounds filled the sensory and working memory of the nurses, thereby causing inefficient processing. Therefore, integration of knowledge in the long-term memory was affected. Consequently, this inefficient processing affected transfer of learning to

everyday work, as new knowledge stored in the long-term memory was affected by cognitive overload. According to Mayer (2009), people can actively process only a few pieces of information at one time. Extraneous text and pictures does not support the overall instructional objectives, and creates poor instructional layout. This is known as ‘extraneous processing’ (Clark & Mayer, 2016). The cognitive load caused by extraneous and essential processes exceeds mental capacity (Clark & Mayer, 2016). Based on cognitive load theory, ELMO at The Hospital may have placed extraneous overload on the learners by containing mostly visual/pictorial material and presenting large quantities of visual material at one time. The amount of extraneous and essential processing could exceed the learner’s cognitive capacity—that is, the learner uses so much capacity on extraneous processing (such as reading extraneous material) that there is not enough capacity remaining for essential processing (that is, comprehending the essential material).

The design of the e-learning training package can support or inhibit active processing to achieve learning results, depending on which types of instructional methods are used (Clark & Mayer, 2016). In the case of ELMO at The Hospital, encountering numerous visual materials and spoken words/sounds would inhibit active processing. This was evident by the small number of participants (n = 78, 16.4%) who indicated that they were actively engaged with e-learning. This was less than half the sample size of this study. An implication of this finding is that other e-learning training packages may need to be considered by The Hospital to achieve the desired learning results through active engagement of their nurses. As a result, nurses would professionally develop their knowledge and skills with the e-learning training package at The Hospital, which would ensure safe and competent patient care.