The coherence principle is an essential principle of instructional multimedia design focused on eliminated extraneous information that is not necessary, irrelevant, distracting, or a detriment to cognitive load that hinders achievement of the overall learning outcomes. It urges instructional designers to take a “less is more” approach when learning is the primary goal (Clark, 2002). Extraneous information, which may come in the form of graphics, text, or audio, should be avoided. The coherence principle is often violated but generally, with a careful eye and conscious effort, easily remedied. The task of adhering to the coherence principle is often referred to as “weeding,” as extraneous information is trimmed from the instructional multimedia (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 151).
Proper application of the coherence principle is a refreshing sign that the instructional designer values the product, the anticipated learning outcomes, and the learner’s time. To me, when the coherence principle is applied, the design and instruction seem clean, crisp, and easy to follow. Learners spend less time trying to determine what is necessary and what is not. In my own organization, I have had the opportunity to serve on a committee that created electronic manuals for unit operations. Over time, we found that the senior operators and process engineers that served as the subject-matter experts had an abundance of technical knowledge that they wished to capture. Although, we found some of the information they shared to be interesting, it was beyond the scope of learning objectives and expected outcomes of the electronic manuals. Instead of adding the extraneous words and associated graphics, the committee remained focused on the learning outcomes and goals to create concise and accurate manuals without implementing the deeper technical information. By eliminating these details, the committee was utilizing the coherence principle and following the recommendation of our Clark and Mayer (2008) textbook which suggests the removal of additional words that are only meant for interest, expanding on key ideas, and technical details that go beyond the key ideas of the lesson (p 168).
As much as discovering multimedia instruction that exemplifies excellent implementation of the coherence principle, finding an example of a coherence principle violation, especially in PowerPoint, is too easy to accomplish! I can think of a presentation that I saw concerning Mad Cow Disease when I was in my undergraduate program. The presenter chose to use extraneous graphics and sound in an attempt to add interest and humor. I assume that the presenter subscribed to the arousal theory and sought to provide interest through the use of extraneous elements. On each slide of the presentation, a cow graphic would animate around the screen and present several cow “mooing” sounds. It got a laugh out of the class on the very first occurrence, but by the third and fourth occurrence the students were getting pretty irritated. I believe his presentation suffered due to the inclusion of the graphic and sound. Neither item was necessary. Although it had some relevance to the subject, it was quite distracting and only was utilized as an attempt to add interest. Our textbook authors state “that adding interesting but unnecessary material to e-learning can harm the learning process by preventing the learner from processing the essential information” (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 161). I believe that is what occurred with the Mad Cow Disease presentation.
Aside from meeting the requirements of the coherence principle, an instructional designer who closely adheres to it may unknowing comply with other multimedia learning principles. At its core, the coherence principle is closely connected to many other multimedia learning principles. The multimedia principle states that “people learn more deeply when words and relevant graphics are combined” (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 70). The key word is “relevant.” The coherence principle aims to ensure that all text, audio, and graphics are relevant and necessary for the instruction. Secondly, the modality principle states that “people learn more deeply from multimedia lessons when graphics are explained by audio narration rather than onscreen text” (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 117). If onscreen text is used, the learner may experience an increase in visual processing. The coherence principle seeks to limit extraneous text that may limit cognitive processing. By explaining graphics through narration, as described by the modality principle, the coherence principle is being utilized. Thirdly, the redundancy principle further details the need to explain graphics by narration while not including redundant onscreen text (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 135). The redundant text is extraneous text that is not needed and can be distracting. The coherence principle would recommend removing any text that is distracting to the user.
The cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the arousal theory are at odds. The arousal theory states that the use of entertaining or interesting media will increase the learner’s emotional arousal and motivation (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 156). The cognitive theory of multimedia learning states that the emphasis should be on creating instruction that can be more easily processed by the learner (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p 156-157). As learners have limited memory capacity, efficient instructional delivery is needed to maximize transfer. Audio, graphics, and text are designed to help the learner select, organize, and integrate information (Lohr, 2008, p. 60). Using both visual and auditory channels to present information, rather than overloading a single channel or providing extraneous stimuli is key to knowledge transfer, supports selection, organization, and integration – therefore, aligning with the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the coherence principle.
I feel that the coherence principle is an essential component of successful instructional multimedia design. As an individual involved in corporate training initiatives, there are generally two main goals – (1) ensure that employees receive and learn from training opportunities and (2) maximize time efficiencies as workers in training sessions are workers who aren’t currently doing the job they are being paid for. The coherence principle helps to limit the amount and kind of information or graphics we utilize within a training module. We can cut down on irrelevant data, utilize a simplified static graphic when animation would be overkill, and keep a clean interface that users can easily navigate. I believe the best time when we could diverge from the coherence principle is when we attempt to simulate real-world industrial environments, where learners must make operational decisions while surrounded by loud/realistic ambient sound and general work distractions.
References
Clark, R. (2002, Sep. 10). Six principles of effective e-learning: What works and why. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/384/six-principles-of-effective-e-learning-what-works-and-why
Clark, R., & Mayer, R. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction. (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual literacy. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Zach Menshouse: EDTECH Learning Log 