D/B 12

For your reading reflection, describe two tangible take-away that you think you could apply in your work. In other words, what are two ways you believe you can apply ideas in this chapter to improve your teaching/instructional design work?

                         

With relation to the section of the chapter that deals with visuals I have learned a little more.  Visuals along with text have a greater impact on learning verses learning with just text (Riser & Dempsey, 2002).  In a lot of my classes I use pictures and images to support what we are learning.  I noticed that when I talk about a Gambrel style roof, it helps to have a visual aid that represents that style of roof.  What I didn’t know is that this can also take away from learning.  By showing irrelevant visuals (too complex, do not support text) learning can actually be depressed (Riser & Dempsey, 2002).  I am going to be more careful in the visuals I pick to support the text and learning.

I was surprised to find that drawings that show movement are just as effective as video (Riser & Dempsey, 2002).  I know now that if I cannot find a video to demonstrate or show something that I can create drawings that show the movement in a series of drawings can convey the same meaning.  I also learned that it is not the surface features of a visual that determines its effectiveness, rather the functional features that determines its effectiveness.  This really does seem true to me because there are several times I have used the internet to find some how to information.  I found videos as well as pictures with text effective in communicating what was to be learned.