A: Dr. Richard Mayer, Professor of Psychology at UCSB, demonstrated that students gain the most from their online work by using a verbal and a visual modality for "input" or "receiving information"¹.

Research on Multi-Media: The research compared how well students "transferred" (used in a new setting) what they learned from two types of presentations:

1. animation with text printed onscreen

2. animation accompanied by a narration which used the auditory-verbal modality.

Students understood and transferred the information much better when animation and narration were presented together (#2 above).

Although this part of the study looked at animation and not just a static visual presentation, the principle of using two modalities rather than just one might apply to other work you do. The visual system seems to get overloaded by trying to take in the animation and the written text, whereas by listening to narration of the text while watching the animation, two modalities are involved. This might have implications for your online learning, or even for editing your essays.

Application: If you use a screen reader to hear the text aloud while you read it, you are taking advantage of both the auditory and visual modes of processing, which are distinct.

Action: If one of your accommodations is use of assistive technology, please visit the DSPS Assistive Technology Lab to learn how to use the screen reader. See if using it increases your understanding and retention.

¹Source: Mayer, Richard E. Multi-Media Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. The above is just a tiny bit of the excellent information Dr. Mayer presents in his book.