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Imagine taking a dance class where you were learning to tap dance. In the middle of your tap

lessons, the instructor shifts gears and starts showing you some moves from the waltz. After

a few minutes of that you go back to tap lessons. Shortly after getting back into it, a drummer

comes in and begins to play over the primary music. The drummers beat makes it hard for you

keep your tap rhythm and youre just not getting it. Furthermore, when asked to review what

you learned prior to the waltz, you almost cant recall the steps. The issues you might have withlearning tap dance in this example are the basis for abiding by Mayers Coherence Principle.

The coherence principle is one of the strategies that can be used to prevent cognitive overload

according to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Simply stated, the Coherence Principle

states that one should avoid the use of extraneous text, visuals and sounds in multimedia

instruction. In essence, the instruction design should be uncluttered and include only material

that is integral to the learning objectives. Research has shown that including material not

relevant to the goals of learning can actually inhibit or hurt the learning process.

When learners have to waste some of their precious cognitive resources on processing

of extraneous material, they allocate less cognitive processing to making sense of the

essential material and thus may not be able to build meaningful learning outcomes.

In short, when they are prevented from active cognitive processing of the essential

material, their learning outcomes suffer - as indicated by tests of problem-solving

transfer (Mayer, 2005, p. 195).

Its important to note that the coherence principle acts as a moderator to other principles such

as the modality and redundancy principles, because the latter two encourage the use of images

and narration versus images, text and narration. Therefore, the principles must be appropriately

used in concert, so that the chosen images and narration combine to support the most effective

learning. The same can be said for the contiguity principle where if text is used, it should benear graphics on a screen. The text and graphics must be integral to learning or their proximity

really wont make a difference. One should also ensure that the text corresponds well to the

graphic it is referencing and not lengthy.

Omitting unnecessary information also promotes the selection and organization of information

that is central to the ideas that need to be learned. In the psychological discourse presented

by Clark and Mayer (2008), they assert that the learner is actively seeking to make sense (pg.

142) of the instruction material according to the theory of multimedia learning. Therefore a more

streamlined presentation is beneficial to the learner. Fundamentals of the cognitive theory of

multimedia learning also support that a deeper learning will take place when the coherence

principle is adhered.

I was recently part of a training on consumer mosiacs that could have been very profound.

Having seen this topic on the conference agenda, I waited in great anticipation to learn how

mosiacs worked, but walked away with a cursory understanding and a poor impression of the

presentation and its design. The speaker used PowerPoint and essentially filled the slides

with as much text as was possible. For example, when defining the characteristics of certain

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market segments, the slide would include lengthy paragraphs that the speaker read word-for-

word. There were no relevant visuals that aided in moving the information to long-term memory.

It was a challenge to organize the what was being presented because nothing was bulleted,

emphasized or indented.

Overall, it was difficult to distill the information that was important to the learning objectives,because there was a lot of irrelevant data. I believe the speakers intention was to provide us

with a meaty training. The speaker also mentioned wanting to motivate us to study consumer

mosiacs further and determine ways to implement the concepts into our daily jobs. Yet, the

guideline of conciseness offered by Clark and Mayer (2008) in the application of the coherence

principle was not followed. The presenter did not take into account the amount of novel

information being delivered and how much cognitive processing was potentially taking place. I

personally didnt experience the meaningful learning referred to by Moreno and Mayer (2005)

as, deep understanding of the material, which includes attending to important aspects of the

presented material, mentally organizing it into a coherent cognitive structure, and integrating it

with relevant existing knowledge (pg. 43). It is unfortunate that due to the indiscriminate use

of text, after the training many other attendees stated that the message did not accomplish the

goal of transferring learning.

What I like about the coherence principle is that the reasons to adopt are based on theories

about the limitations of cognitive processing. These theories can assist designers trying to

clean up or enhance their instructional materials without losing the potential learning effect.

In curriculum design, a great deal of information is initially gathered, then the author ends up

revising and streamlining the content. I often questioned which elements were best to remove

or not include at all. Clark and Mayer (2008) simplify application of excluding extraneous

audio, for example, by including examples of when heavy cognitive loads may occur. They

mention, when the material is unfamiliar, when the material is presented at a rapid rate andwhen the rate of presentation is not under learning control (p. 136). I also like how these

principles are fairly easy to incorporate in slide presentations and rapid e-learning.

On the other hand, there is a danger in directing designers to omit all of these elements

because some inexperienced designers might not have the best judgement as to what is

considered extraneous. They might err on the side of too little information to accomplish the

learning goals or develop bland presentations. However, I believe that more often than not,

designers ignore the coherence principle as a result of thinking their creativity has been limited.

In a time when so many multimedia options exist to engage learners, this theory seems to

be in direct contradiction to the trends of incorporating exciting web 2.0 tools and multimedia

elements in learning materials.

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction, 2nd edition.

Pfeiffer: San Francisco, CA.

Mayer, R. E. (2005). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning. New York: Cambridge

University Press.

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Moreno, R., Mayer. R. E. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning.

Educational Psychologist,38(1), 43-52.