eLearning Research and Best-Practice Summary
The following is a list of research findings that we at Saturn follow in our online curriculum development.
- Write and speak in the same plain English regardless of audience. Forget grade level and age level for language.
- Build in student participation and change media often.
- Serve information to learners in chunks, using a combination of text, narration, graphics, video, exercises, and exams.
- Blended learning, combining eLearning, classroom, lab, and field training is highly effective, efficient, and economical.
- Field training, without prior knowledge training, can overload working memory with unfamiliar content and actions.
- Illustrated slides perform more effectively than animations for most content except for explanations of moving machinary.
- The combination of a graphic and text describing the graphic is a highly effective teaching method.
- Slides with graphics plus narration are a highly effective teaching method.
- Avoid using tangential graphics and stories because they distract students and create unproductive memory load.
- Use outlines and emphasis to organize content, announce transitions, and highlight main ideas.
- Break down complex tasks into smaller units for practice exercises.
- Practice exercises produce diminishing returns with each successive exercise unit.