Effects of Modern-Day Fascination with Celebrities Essay

Effects of Modern-Day Fascination with Celebrities - Essay Example To be more precise, celebrities make the society to throw away the cultural makeup. Hence, the community members put on a fake image that does not depict their own characters. Technology is the primary cause of these entire obsessions with celebrities. Teens glue themselves to the television; watching programs that makes them more interested in the lives of celebrities more than their own. Smartphones, on the other hand, provide updates about celebrities’ gossips every hour. Just to remember, the past week, everyone talk was all about the revealed story of Solange, Beyonce’s sister attacking Jay-Z while in an elevator (Sarah, 2014). Thus, the society read about it in the magazine, searched it on the internet, or heard it from friends. Most people obsession with celebrities can lead to cultural paradigm alterations. To some extent, the adjustments are real. A good example is of Michael Sam, the footballer who came out building the confidence of most of the young gay athl etes. He advanced the advocacy for gay marriages and promoted free to talk about their sexuality. On its negative side, the culture of celebrities and fascination with status and wealth make the average and poor people feel unworthy of the world. As a result, the mind of the young people growing up to find a place in the world is corrupted with no option but to become rich even through violence. In fact, some researchers claimed the existence of a growing disorder known as â€Å"Celebrity Worship Syndrome.† The disease is however not inclusive of personality disorder (Inglis, 2010).

Organization management Essay Example for Free

Organization management Essay Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result Top Drag Me Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result The organizational problem. I was called into a hospital by their HR manager. The hospital needed to improve 1 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud morale amongst its nurses. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, the issue became more complex. The HR managers told me that morale amongst nurses was at an all time low. At the same time the hospital was trying to change its culture to become more patient and profit centric. It started off as a morale problem. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, it becam e more complex. The matron of the hospital was concerned about the poor relationships between the nurses, their unit managers and the doctors. The unit managers were upset by the way that doctors by-passed them and shouted at their nurses. The nurses and their managers blamed arrogant doctors for the poor morale in the hospital. The CEO was concerned that the doctors, who he saw as clients and partners of the hospital, were not happy with the service they were getting. The doctors, chose to locate their independent practices at the hospital, but had the freedom to take their business to another hospital, anytime they wanted. Losing specialists to competing hospitals would affect his hospitals brand and offering as well as its profitability. He was also tired of being the only leader in the organization, and wished that the managers would begin to take responsibility and act like leaders. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The CEO, matron and HR manager all agreed that they wanted a one-day workshop for all internal managers in the hospital. They wanted the workshop objective to be: To help the managers to develop a common focus regarding what they would need to do as a united team, over the next 18 months. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. I knew that I had to provide far more than what theyd asked for in their workshop objective. And far more than even the problems they had briefed me on. In choosing my design for the workshop, I needed a tool that would: Build trust. Allow the managers to vent their frustrations in a way that allowed every manager to be heard. But not in a way that would degenerate into a negative gripe session about the doctors. Get the managers to see all the problems facing the hospital not only their own problems. Get the managers out of the habit of blaming doctors or the hospital for problems that they could resolve themselves. Get them to take responsibility and begin acting as leaders. Get them to stop seeing themselves and their nurses as being victims of the arrogance of doctors, and to start seeing the doctors as important customers of the hospital. Support the move to a patient centered and profit oriented culture. Help them to identify the most important issues that they as a leadership team need to deal with. Help the managers to develop a common focus for the future. One that not only solved their frustrations, but one that would make them excited 2 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud about their future in the hospital. Help the managers to identify the core changes they would need to make to achieve the future they wanted. Help them identify projects that would help them to implement those changes. To do all of this in a way that would build a leadership team. One in which team members take responsibility and support one another. The constraints I needed to work within. The hospital could only afford the time for a one-day workshop. There would be 32 people in the group. In this workshop, the process would be as important as the content. Therefore the way in which the group developed their own solutions, was as important as the solutions they developed. We needed a process that would encourage participation, buy-in, ownership, build the managers confidence and energize them. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. 1. The main tool I used was The Change Puzzle Kit I had one kit for each group of 8 delegates. Each kit consists of: Two laminated charts. (A1 size). The first chart is called The Organisation Of Today. The second chart is called The Ideal Organisation Of The Future. The design on each chart is of the organization as a puzzle comprising 20 organizational development pieces. The organizational development tool I chose for this complex OD intervention was The Change Puzzle Kit. A set of water soluble pens which allows the delegates to write directly onto the laminated charts. The charts can be wiped clean and used again. A box of clue cards to help the groups think about the 20 organizational elements from an Organizational Development and systems thinking perspective, as they complete their charts. 2. The secondary tool I used was a single activity from The Powerful Facilitation cards. These workshop activity cards are designed like recipes. They provide detailed workshop activities to achieve specific workshop goals. I chose a card that helped a group to create a vision in a way that created fun and positive energy. The workshop design. I chose The Change Puzzle Kit because it allows a group to do the complex systems thinking they needed to do to solve their own problems, in a very practical and very participative way. This is the process I followed. To ensure that everyone could participate, I divided the larger group into 3 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud 4 groups of 8 delegates per group. These groups were mixed to provide as much variety as possible. We mixed the groups so we had different functions (HR, marketing, administration nursing), and people of different ages and races working together in each group. Each group had their own change puzzle kit to work with. I used this diagram to explain the process we would be following which was: We would take a systems thinking photograph of the hospital as it was today with all its frustrations and all its strengths. To do this we would use The Organisation of Today charts and cards. We would do a right brained exercise to look at what the hospital would be like 3 years into the future, if it was delighting its patients, was profitable, and a place where the managers would be proud to work. We would translate that right brain vision of the future back into left brained, systems thinking. We would look at the elements that would need to be in place for that vision to work. To do this we would use The Ideal Organisation Of The Future charts and cards. We would then compare what came out of our two charts. From this, we would choose a few core changes. Changes that would help us to solve the most important of todays problems, and move us towards the future we wanted. We would then create some projects to make achieve these changes. How I used the change puzzle kit. Step 1. Provide an overview of the change puzzle The attention span of most groups for listening to a presentation is less than half an hour. So, to keep the groups attention, I provided a very quick overview of the charts and clue cards they would be using. Step 2. The groups analyze their organization as it exists today using The Organisation of Today charts and cards. 2. 1 Instructions: Each group was given the chart The Organisation Of Today plus the 20 clue cards about the current organization. They were also given a set of water soluble pens. They were asked to write on their chart how they saw their hospital today in terms of each puzzle piece or OD element. They could use the clue cards to help them. Each person was encouraged to write how he/she viewed the situation independently of their group as the group didnt need to achieve a consensus. I also explained that some people see things in a positive light, others in a negative light and others prefer to put down facts. All of these views were equally valuable. 2. 2 Activity: Each group spent about an hour recording their answers. Then instead of having formal feedback, each group simply read what the other groups had written on 4 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud their charts. This was to prevent a very tedious feedback process and potential conflict. 2. 3 What came out: The three groups were surprised that they had similar responses. For example: They felt their roles were not clear enough. They were too rank obsessed. They felt doctors had too much status and that they needed to be empowered more. There was too much gossip. People operated in cliques. No one was taking responsibility. They felt they needed to acknowledge one another more. They wanted to create a culture where people dont feel intimidated when someone shares skills. But most of all, they were surprised by how much negativity came out. Surely there are some good things too? One person asked. 2. 4 Why this happened: Their common responses were due to two design factors the mixing of the groups, and the systems thinking behind the design of the chart they used. Negative responses are common amongst groups when they analyze their current situation. Groups are more positive when they create their own future. Step 3. Groups develop a vision of the future. I used a creative activity from the Create fun and energy section of the Powerful Facilitation cards. I needed to turn around the groups energy from negative and powerless, to positive and creative. I also needed the groups to develop a vision of their future, which was far more creative than simply that of solving their frustrations of today. As they developed their right brain picture of the future hospital, the groups became energized. Alive. Full of fun. They began laughing. They worked well as a team. They started coming up with brilliant ideas of how they could add value to the doctors, and earn their respect. They created slogans for themselves showing how they would care for their patients, their doctors and one another. This was the turning point of the workshop. Step 4. Groups complete The Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. 4. 1 Instructions and activity I remixed the groups so that each of the four visions were now represented by members within each new group. I then asked the groups to complete the Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. In doing so, I asked them to think about what would need to be in place for them to be able to live their visions. I encouraged them to be creative. This is because I wanted them to come up with more than simply the opposite of the problems theyd identified in their The Organization Of Today charts. I wanted them to capture all the wonderful ideas theyd had in their right brain vision, onto the Ideal organisation of the future charts. I suggested they also look at the future clue cards to generate even more creative ideas. 4. 2. What came out What came out of this activity were wonderful positive ideas that not only solved the problems theyd identified in their organization of today charts, but started achieving all the objectives Id hoped for when designing the workshop. For example, in order to clarify roles, they though of having a monthly picture board, entitled meet the team. They decided to have a day where they would 5 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud change roles with one another. They decided to have a programme where as managers, they would go back to the floor for a day, to better understand some of the issues that both nurses and doctors faced. They would visit the receptionists of doctors to find out all the doctors preferences. Then they would educate one another and their nurses on how to provide great service to each doctor. They decided that one thing that would demonstrate patient centered care, was to think of ways for caring for families of patients who came from out of town. They created slogans for themselves that demonstrated customer care. They decided to lead their teams by getting each unit to develop their own vision linked to the hospital vision. The team became quite excited about what was possible. 4. 3 Why this happened. The groups energy had already turned during the previous exercise. Building on this, we know that groups are always more positive when they are allowed to be creative, and when they focus on the future. The Ideal Organisation of the Future charts are designed in a way that combines creative thinking and a future vision. Also, by analyzing all the OD elements that would be in place to support their vision, the group could see that achieving their vision was possible and practical. This made them feel hopeful about their future. Step 5. The groups choose core changes. The group was blown away by all their wonderful ideas. But there were too many to implement all at once. They needed to apply the 80/20 principle. Once again I remixed the groups. I asked them to choose 2 changes that would: Solve the biggest problems identified in The Organization of Today charts Help them move towards their most exciting ideas in The Ideal Organization Of The Future charts. I asked them to record these changes in a From and To table. The From would be drawn from The Organization Of Today charts. The To would come from The Ideal Organization Of The Future charts. The four groups were surprised that they all came out with the same core changes. This happened because of the design of The Change Puzzle Kits which gets everyone to use systems thinking, and because we kept mixing the groups. They immediately started volunteering for projects around the core changes. The end result I then got the groups to list what theyd achieved as a leadership team during the day, and what they wanted to do after the workshop. What came out was how amazed they were at what theyd been able to achieve in one day. They left the session excited and motivated. You may also like: Case studies: A strategy implementation case study This describes a two-day workshop. 6 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud to help an executive and management team to develop a comprehensive plan to implement their strategy. Member tools: Poor morale in the workplace a diagnostic tool Based on a complex decision tree, this powerful coaching tool provides a quick way to diagnose your particular morale problem. It provides over forty possible solutions and helps you choose the best solution for your particular problem. How to rebuild morale after an organizational restructure. 4 OD interventions to rebuild trust, focus, morale and commitment after an organizational restructure. A CEOs guide to implementing strategy What to do after youve developed a strategic plan. How to use your vision to lead an executive team. The 12 steps for aligning your organization to your strategy and getting them to implement it. Develop an innovation system that results in a cultural change. How to develop an innovation culture in your organization. Articles: Team leader skills Managing Morale Managing morale is a key leadership skill because it determines whether or not a team has the energy, confidence and commitment to perform at their best. Inspiration at work How to inspire and motivate your team at work. Practical EQ and SQ tips for leaders. Restructuring Organizations: Leadership problems after an organizational restructure. Typical problems experienced by leaders after a restructuring exercise. The role of a change agent during an organizational restructure. The role a change agent can play during a restructure. When to do strategic planning. Strategic planning as an OD intervention. Participative tools to use in OD interventions The Change Puzzle KitA powerful tool for any OD intervention that requires group participation, systems thinking or a diagnosis of a problem. Powerful Facilitation CardsA set of OD activities to choose from to use in your OD intervention workshop. Winning the Game of Change A powerful planning tool for developing an OD strategy for your organization, or for helping your executive team to plan to implement their strategy. Contains 20 cards covering the major OD interventions. 7 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM.

Theories on Learning and Multimedia

Theories on Learning and Multimedia Literature Review Introduction Computer-based instruction was used by the military to create standardize training and be more cost-effective (Shlechter, 1991). Computer-based instruction allows individual learners to pace the lesson content to meet his or her needs and provides the environment for self-directed learning (Lowe, 2002). Computer-based instruction can be defined as using computers to deliver, track, and/or manage instruction and when computers are the main mode of content delivery. The instruction can include text, images, and feedback. Software advances allow developers to integrate audio narrations, sound clips, graphics, videos, and animation into a single presentation and played on a computer (Koroghlanian Klein, 2000; Moreno Mayer, 1999). Instruction is classified as multimedia when sound, video, and images are included. Multimedia incorporates audio and visual elements with the instruction (Craig Gholson, Driscoll, 2002; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Mayer and Sims, 1994; Mayer Johnson, 2008). Audio components include narrations, which uses the students verbal channel of his or her working memory. Visual components include static images, animations using multiple still images, a video, and/or on screen text, which uses the students visual channel of his or her working memory. When the student receives the information from the verbal and visual channel of his or her working memory and relates the information from the two channels, then meaningful learning has occurred (Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). Meaningful learning is developing a 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, (Mayer Moreno, 2003). Meaningful learning or understanding occurs when students are able to apply the content they learned and are able to transfer the information to new situations or creating solutions to problems rooted in the content presented (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007; Mayer and Sims, 1994). Allowing students to process and apply the information is essential for knowledge retention and meaningful learning. In multimedia learning, active processing requires five cognitive processes: selecting words, selecting images, organizing words, organizing images, and integrating. Mayer Moreno 2003 Multimedia instruction not only incorporates audio and visual elements it also has the capability of creating nonlinear content. Creating a nonlinear lesson allows the learner to have an active role in his or her learning and bypass sections they have already learned as well as go back and review sections if they need reinforcement. It is like putting the student in the drivers seat and enabling them to reach the destination through a variety of paths versus sitting on a bus and stopping at each stop and waiting until they reach the destination. Cognitive Learning Theories in Multimedia Multiple multimedia learning theories and principles guide the creation process for multimedia presentations and facilitates student learning. Using the theories and principles guides the presentation creation process and facilitates students learning. The two overarching theories are cognitive load and dual coding. Several effects and __ related to the two main theories are: split-attention, redundancy, modality, spatial contiguity principle, temporal congruity principle and coherence principle. The four theories that are directly relevant to this study are: ___ ___ ___ and ___. Add figure of org chart of principles theories. Paivo, Sweller Mayer. Mayers theory of multimedia learning Cognitive Load The working memory has a finite capacity for processing incoming information for any one channel, visual or audio. The combined processing, at any particular time, creates the working memorys cognitive load ability (Baddeley, 1992; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Chandler Sweller, 1991). To take advantage of the memorys capability it is important to reduce redundant and irrelevant information, thus reducing the cognitive load (Sweller, 1994; Ardaà § and Unal 2008; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). To keep the information efficient the multimedia should eliminate information that does not apply to a lesson or assignment. Content that is nonessential for transfer or retention should also be eliminated. Information needs to be concise by carefully selecting the text and images for the content and present the information succinct and organized in a logical pattern (Mayer Moreno, 2003). Careful selection of text and images should be concise so content can be presented in a succinct and organized, logical pattern. Grouping the information into smaller portions of information reduces the cognitive load. By chunking the information, the working memory has the opportunity process the content and makes connections with prior learning and knowledge. The information is then stored in long-term memory (Mayer Moreno, 2003). After presenting a portion of the information, the multimedia presentation should include a brief activity to engage the student in processing and storing the information. Utilizing both the auditory and the visual channel of the working memory also helps with the cognitive load and content retention (Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). Based on the information above about memory and processing the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) was developed by Sweller (1993, 1994, 1998). The theory assumes that people possess a limited working memory (Miller, 1956) and an immense long-term memory (Chase Simon, 1973), with learning mechanisms of schema acquisition (Chi et al., 1982; Larkin et al., 1980) and automatic processing (Kotovsky et al., 1985), (Jueng, Chandler Sweller, 1997). Cognitive load theory provides a single framework for instructional design based on separate cognitive processing capabilities for visual and auditory information (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). Creating a multimedia presentation that conforms to CLT would integrate the auditory and visual information on the screen. The CLT presentation design limits the load on any one channel to prevent cognitive overload and increase learning (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Mayer and Moreno 2002; Tindall-Ford, Chandler, Sweller, 1997). Further research conducted by __ __ ______ _____ indentified three separate types of cognitive load, intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic cognitive load The first type of cognitive load is intrinsic and is shaped by the learning task and the learning taking place (Van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Intrinsic cognitive load occurs between the learner and the content, with the learners level of knowledge in the content area playing a factor. The other factors are the elements the working memory is processing at one time and element interactivity (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Element interactivity level depends on the degree to which the learner can understand the element information independently (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). If you need to reduce total cog load (intri + extr + gemain) you need you need to know the elements and how to reduce loads. If the learner needs to understand several elements at once, and how they interact with each other, then the element interactivity is high. However, if the learner can understand each element independently then the element interactivity is low (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Th e intrinsic level occurs with the learner and their working memory and constructing meaning from the elements presented. While intrinsic load cannot be adjusted, the extraneous load can be modified. Give own example of high and low element interactivity. (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005) à   intrinsic learning schema construction and automation. Content element interactivity directly correlated to intrinsic cognitive load ? (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Page 1 of article Extraneous cognitive load The second type of cognitive load is extraneous or ineffective and is affected by the format of the information presented and what is required of the learner. Extraneous cognitive load occurs when information or learning tasks have high levels of cognitive processing and impedes with knowledge attainment (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Extraneous cognitive load is also referred to as ineffective cognitive load since the cognitive processing is not contributing to the learning process. The working memory has independent two channels for processing audio and visual. If the instruction occurs only using one channel instead of utilizing both channels the learner will experience a higher level of extraneous cognitive load (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Extraneous cognitive load can be reduced by several effects studied as part of instructional design and cognitive load report as by Sweller et al., 1998 such as; split attention, modality, and redundancy (van Merrià «nboer and Swel ler, 2005). Germane cognitive load The third type of cognitive load is germane and is also affected by design of the instruction being presented. While extraneous cognitive load accounts for information impeding learning germane cognitive load focuses on freeing cognitive resources to increase learning. Germane is also referred to as ineffective cognitive load. Germane and extraneous work together disproportionately. Designing instruction that lessens the extraneous cognitive load allows additional cognitive processing for germane load and increase students ability to assimilate information being presented (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive loads work together for a combined total cognitive load; this combined load cannot be greater than the available memory resources for a learner. An experiment conducted by Tindall-Ford, Chandler and Sweller, 1997 had a purpose of measuring cognitive load. The participants were twenty two first year apprentices and had completed grade ten of high school. The participants were assigned to one of two treatments, visual-only instructions and audio-visual instructions. The experiment started with an instructional phase, which has two parts and was 100 seconds in length. Part one of the instruction phase had an explanation of how to read an electrical table and was either all visual, or was visual and audio with a cassette player. After the instructional phase part one, the participant rated the mental effort (load) based on a seven point scale. Then the apprentices took part in a test phase which included three sections. The first section was a written test where participants filled in the blank headings in an electrical table. The second section contained questions about the format of the table. After the first part of instruction and two parts of testing, participants were given the same electrical table and participants had to apply information contained in the table to examples given. Participants had 170 seconds to study the information, then completed another subjective mental effort (load) survey. Then the participants complete the final section of the test phase. The apprentices had to apply the information and select the appropriate cable for an installation job with the given parameters. Apprentices had a two week break where they continued with their normal training. Then both the two part instruction phase and the three part test phase were repeated. A 2 (group) X 2 (phase) ANOVA was run for the first instruction section and the first two sections of the written test in the test phase and significant difference was found with the audio-visual group performing better than the visual-only group. When the ANOVA was run for the mental load for the two phases significance was found again, with the audio-visual group rating the mental effort lower than the visual-only group. Similar results were found when analyzing part two of instruction mental load and section three of the written test for both phases. All test results revealed the audio-visual group outperforming the visual-only group for all tests and a lower mental load rating. Therefore the participant performance can be linked back to the cognitive load. An experiment was conducted by Ardac and Unal, 2008 finish later Based on the experiment above by Tindall-Ford, Chandler and Sweller, 1997, when selecting a format for a presentation audio-only is the better choice. This is true not only from a modality theory, it is also better from a cognitive load theory perspective, since visual-only formats cause a higher level of mental effort for participants. Transition sentence that link split-attention effect as a part of cognitive load theory. Split-Attention Effect When images or animations are involved with the redundant text then the visual channel has to pay attention to multiple visual elements and the attention is split between the many visual pieces, creating the split-attention effect. Having several visual components such as text and animations causes an increase in the cognitive load and learning is hampered (Ardac Unal, 2008). Split-attention occurs when instructional material contains multiple sources of information that are not comprehendible by themselves and need to be integrated either physically or mentally to be understandable (Jeung, Chandler Sweller, 1997; Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Tindall-Ford, Chandler, Sweller, 1997). Split-attention effect can be minimized by placing related text close in proximity to the image in the presentation or using audio narration for an animation instead of on-screen text (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). One experiment conducted to test the split-attention theory was designed by Mayer, Heiser, and Lonn, 2001. In this experiment there were 78 participants selected from an university psychology subject pool. The experiment was a 2 x 2 design with summarized on-screen text as a factor and extraneous details as a second factor. There were four groups; no text/no seductive details group with 22 students, text/no seductive details group with 19 students, no text/seductive details group with 21 students, text/seductive details group with 16 students. The group had a median age of 18.4 and was 33% male. All participants a little prior knowledge of meteorology with a score of seven or lower out of eleven questions. Participants viewed a computer-based multimedia presentation. The versions with text included a summary of the narration. The versions with seductive details included additional narrations with real world examples. The experiment started with participants completing a questionnaire to collect demographic and prior knowledge information. Then participants watched a presentation with one of the treatments at individual computers. At the completion of the video students completed a retention and transfer test. Students who received on-screen text scored significantly lower on both the transfer and retention test than student who did not have on-screen text. These results are consistent with the split-attention theory as it relates to cognitive theory of multimedia. Students who received seductive details also scored lower on both the transfer and retention test than student who did not have seductive details. These results indicate that including seductive details to a presentation hampered student learning. Another experiment conducted was by Tindall-Ford, Chandler, and Sweller, 1997. This experiment had thirty participants that were first year trade apprenticed from Sydney. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each group had ten participants. The first group was the visual only group that consisted of diagrams and related textual statements. The second group integrated the presentation included the textual statements however the statements were physically integrated into the diagrams. The third group is the audio-visual group included the same diagrams and however the textual statements were presented as audio instead of text. The participants first read the instructional materials, the audio group listened to the information from an audio-cassette. Then participants completed a written test with three sections; a labeling section, a multiple choice section, and a transfer section, and finally participants completed a practical test. While analysis of the multiple choice section revealed no significant difference, the data indicated the audio-visual group performing better than the visual group. The section three data, the transfer test, had significant with the audio-visual and the integrated group performing better than the visual only. The findings revealed that the audio-visual and the integrated formats performed better than the visual only group. The non-integrated text performed the poorest out of the three groups, which supports the split-attention effect. A set of two experiments were conducted by Mayer Moreno, 1998 to verify split-attention and dual processing. The first experiment had 78 college students from a university psychology pool with little prior knowledge about metrology. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The concurrent narrations group (AN) had 40 students and the concurrent on-screen text groups (AT) had 38 students. Participants were tested in groups of one to five and were seated at individual cubicles with computers. The participants first completed a questionnaire, which assessed the students prior knowledge and collected demographic information. Then the students watched the presentation about lightening formation; the students in the AN groups had on headphones. The presentation was 140 seconds long and included animation of the lightening process. The AN version had narration and the AT version had text on-screen that was identical to the narration, and used the same timings as the narration version. After the presentation the participants had 6 minutes to complete the retention test, where participants had to explain the lightening process. Then they had 3 minutes to complete a transfer test, which consisted of four short essay questions. Finally the participants had 3 minutes to complete a matching test, where the students had to label parts of an image, based on the lightening formation statements provided. A split-attention effect occurred for all three tests, retentions, matching, and the transfer test; which the AN group scored higher on the matching test than the AT group. These results also align with dual-processing. The second experiment by Mayer and Moreno, 1998 the content was changed to how a cars braking system operates. The first experiment had 68 college students from a university psychology pool with little prior knowledge about car mechanics. The concurrent narrations group (AN) had 34 students and the concurrent on-screen text groups (AT) had 34 students. Participants were tested in groups of one to five and were seated at individual cubicles with computers. The participants first completed a questionnaire, which assessed the students prior knowledge and collected demographic information. Then the students watched the presentation about how a cars braking system operates; the students in the AN groups had on headphones. The presentation was 45 seconds long and included animation of a cars braking process, and was broken into 10 segments. The AN version had narration and a brief pause between segments, and the AT version had text on-screen that was identical to the narration, and used the same timings as the narration version. The AT groups text appeared under the animation and stayed visible until the next segment started. Then participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. After the presentation the participants had 5 minutes to complete the retention test, where participants had to explain the braking process. Then they had 2.5 minutes to complete a transfer test, which consisted of four short essay questions. Finally the participants had 2.5 minutes to complete a matching test, where the students were given parts of the braking system and they had to identify the parts in an image and label them. A split-attention effect occurred for all three tests, retentions, matching, and the transfer test; which the AN group scored higher on the matching test than the AT group. These results also align with dual-processing. CONCLUSION!!! (318-319) The experiments indicate the adding text in addition to the narration will impede student learning. The second experiment clarifies the split-attention effect, which if text is included it needs to be placed near the relevant part of the diagram. If text is not near the images, increase in the cognitive load occurs by trying to combine the images and text. The last two experiment further clarify the split-attention effect with three measures in two different experiments. Therefore narration should be used to accompany animation and images instead of text. Modality Effect The working memory of a human has two channels a visual channel that processes information such as text, images, and animation through the eyes and an auditory channel that processes sounds such as narration through the ears. According to the modality principle, when information is presented in multimedia explanations, it also should ideally be presented auditorily versus on screen text (Craig, Gholson, Discoll, 2002; Moreno Mayer, 1999; Mayer, 2001; Mayer Johnson, 2008; Mayer, Fennell, et al., 2004). When the information is presented auditorily, the working memory uses both channels, visual and auditory to process the information being heard and the information on the screen (Tabbers, Martens, van Merrià «nboer, 2004). By utilizing both working memory channels, the mind can allocate additional cognitive resources and create relationships between the visual and verbal information (Moreno and Mayer, 1999). When learning occurs using both memory channels the memory does not become overloaded and the learning becomes embedded, this improves the learners understanding (Mayer Moreno, 2002). Several experiments have been conducted relating to modality theory. One experiment in a geometry lesson taught in a math class at the elementary school level focused on the conditions that modality effect would be occur. The researchers, Jeung, Chandler, and Sweller, (1997) created a three-by-two experiment that included three presentation modes and two search modes. The three presentation modes were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing. The visual-visual diagrams and supporting information were presented visually as on screen text; the audio-visual group diagrams and supporting information were presented visually. In the audio-visual-flashing group, the supporting information was presented auditorily and diagrams were presented visually. However parts of the diagram flashed when the corresponding audio occurred. The two search modes were high search mode and low search mode. The high search mode labeled each end of the line separately so a line was identified by the letters at each end such as AB. Whereas the low search mode labeled the entire line with a single letter, such as C and reducing the search needed to locate the information. The experiment content was geometry; the study population was sixty students from year six in a primary school with no previous geometry experience, creating ten students per group. The students participated in the experiment individually during class time. Students were randomly assigned to one of six groups the information was presented to the students on the computer. The experiment had three phases; an introduction phase where the problem was identified and was presented in one of the six modes as assigned to the student, an acquisition phase which included two worked out examples on the computer, after each example students were required to complete a similar problem with pencil and paper, and finally a test phase that included four problems for students to complete with pencil and paper. In the test phase they found a significant effect on presentation mode but not on the search complexity. They performed additional data analysis to discover the significance between the presentation modes occurred in the high search group, but not the low search group. Analysis of the presentation modes for the high search group revealed that the audio-visual-flashing group performed a higher level of performance than the visual-visual group. The experiment confirmed the modality theory hypothesis that mixed mode presentation (audio-visual-flashing) would be more effective because the multiple modes increase the working memory capacity. However these results were only found with the high search group and not the low search group. The group conducted two additional experiments to focus on high search and low search separately. The second experiment focused on high search. For this experiment, the population included thirty students from a Sydney public primary school who were in year six and had not been taught parallel line in geometry. The procedure was the same as before however the geometry content was a complex diagram. The groups were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, with ten students were in each group. The results were consistent with modality theory and students who were in the audio-visual-flashing group performed better then the visual-visual group, and no differences were found between visual-visual group and the audio-visual group. Therefore for high search materials, the dual presentation mode increased performance when a visual reference was provided. The third experiment focused on low search. In this experiment the population included thirty students from a Sydney public primary school who had not been taught parallel lines in geometry. The groups included visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, and ten students were in each group. The procedure was similar to the first experiment however the geometry content was a low search diagram and only contained two labels. The groups were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, with ten students in each group. The results revealed that the modality effect did occur with the transfer problems and the visual-visual group took more time than the audio-visual and the audio-visual-flashing group. The difference was that with the low search content the audio-visual group performed better than the visual-visual group meaning, low search materials the flashing indicator is not as beneficial. The three experiments had demonstrated that using mixed modes of presenta tion increases the effectiveness of the working memory and capacity for learning. The results indicated that when content requires a high level of search, visual indicators need to be included to free up cognitive resources and increase memory capacity. Therefore, based on the work of Jeung, Chandler, and Sweller (1997) when the computer multimedia presentations were created with a visual cue of a yellow box with a red outline was used as a visual indicator to assist users to locate where the mouse is clicking so students are not scanning the entire video screen for the mouse. In addition to visual references one version of the video included audio only and another version will contain text only to confirm the modality effect. Selecting the most appropriate part of the working memory to disseminate the information and using the auditory channel to process information via audio instead of visual text allows the visual channel to use the working memory to focus on the images and animations that coincide with the audio. It is similar to watching a news program on television, your ears are listening to the news anchor and the working memory is processing that information while your eyes are watching the corresponding footage and the brain it combining the two pieces of information together. However if put closed captioning on you are reading the same information you are hearing which is redundant. Redundancy Effect Redundancy effect can be defined as information being presented appears as both an image and as on-screen text, and the visual channel is responsible for all information while the audio channel is not used (Mayer, 2001; Barron Calandra, 2003). The distinction between the split-attention and redundancy effects hinges on the distinction between sources of information that are intelligible in isolation and those that are not. If a diagram and the concepts of functions it represents are sufficiently self-contained and intelligibly in isolation, then any text explaining the diagram is redundant and should be omitted in order to reduce the cognitive load (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998). Redundancy can occur with full text and full audio, full text and partial audio or partial text and full audio (Barron Calandra, 2003). The redundant information may be duplicate text and narration, a text description and a diagram or on-screen text and audio narration. The duplicate information cause s in increase in the learners working memory because the visual channel is processing the same information from multiple sources. (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001). The redundancy effect is evident when student performance is hindered when redundant information is present, and student performance increase when the redundant information is removed (Kalyuga et all, 1998; Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001; Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). The redundancy effect can be eliminated by presenting on-screen text as narration or presenting information as a diagram instead of a lengthy text explanation, and delivering information in a single mode that works complimentary with the other content be delivered (Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001). Several experiments have been conducted relating to redundancy theory. One experiment conducted by Jamet and Le Boec, 2007 was designed to test the hypothesis that redundancy effect would be observed with full text and narration, and presenting sequential text would reduce the redundancy effect. The experiment had 90 undergraduate students from a psychology pool in France, with a median age of 20. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; no text, full text with corresponding audio, and sequential text. The experiment started with a prior knowledge test with four general questions and two specific questions. Then the participants viewed three documents about memory functioning, the presentation lasted about 11 minutes. After the presentation the participants took a retention test twelve open-ended questions. Then they took a transfer test with twelve inferential open-ended questions. Finally, the participants had to complete a diagram by labeling components. Results revealed significance difference with the retention scores with the no-text group performing better than the full-text group and the sequential text group. Similar results were reported for the diagram completion portion of the experiment and the transfer task. There was no significant effect size to indicate that the redundancy effect would be reduced by presenting redundant text sequentially. There was a significant effect between the no-text and the other two groups for the transfer, retention, and the diagram test which validates the redundancy effect. Based on the findings from the experiment above, having on-screen text in addition to narration overloads the visual channel and decreases learning. The authors did point out that the participants had a difficult time understanding the documents presented and they could not control the presentation. Another set of experiments were conducted by Mayer and Johnson, 2008 to test the redundancy theory. The first experiment focused on short redundant text that was display on-screen. Theories on Learning and Multimedia Theories on Learning and Multimedia Literature Review Introduction Computer-based instruction was used by the military to create standardize training and be more cost-effective (Shlechter, 1991). Computer-based instruction allows individual learners to pace the lesson content to meet his or her needs and provides the environment for self-directed learning (Lowe, 2002). Computer-based instruction can be defined as using computers to deliver, track, and/or manage instruction and when computers are the main mode of content delivery. The instruction can include text, images, and feedback. Software advances allow developers to integrate audio narrations, sound clips, graphics, videos, and animation into a single presentation and played on a computer (Koroghlanian Klein, 2000; Moreno Mayer, 1999). Instruction is classified as multimedia when sound, video, and images are included. Multimedia incorporates audio and visual elements with the instruction (Craig Gholson, Driscoll, 2002; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Mayer and Sims, 1994; Mayer Johnson, 2008). Audio components include narrations, which uses the students verbal channel of his or her working memory. Visual components include static images, animations using multiple still images, a video, and/or on screen text, which uses the students visual channel of his or her working memory. When the student receives the information from the verbal and visual channel of his or her working memory and relates the information from the two channels, then meaningful learning has occurred (Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). Meaningful learning is developing a 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, (Mayer Moreno, 2003). Meaningful learning or understanding occurs when students are able to apply the content they learned and are able to transfer the information to new situations or creating solutions to problems rooted in the content presented (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007; Mayer and Sims, 1994). Allowing students to process and apply the information is essential for knowledge retention and meaningful learning. In multimedia learning, active processing requires five cognitive processes: selecting words, selecting images, organizing words, organizing images, and integrating. Mayer Moreno 2003 Multimedia instruction not only incorporates audio and visual elements it also has the capability of creating nonlinear content. Creating a nonlinear lesson allows the learner to have an active role in his or her learning and bypass sections they have already learned as well as go back and review sections if they need reinforcement. It is like putting the student in the drivers seat and enabling them to reach the destination through a variety of paths versus sitting on a bus and stopping at each stop and waiting until they reach the destination. Cognitive Learning Theories in Multimedia Multiple multimedia learning theories and principles guide the creation process for multimedia presentations and facilitates student learning. Using the theories and principles guides the presentation creation process and facilitates students learning. The two overarching theories are cognitive load and dual coding. Several effects and __ related to the two main theories are: split-attention, redundancy, modality, spatial contiguity principle, temporal congruity principle and coherence principle. The four theories that are directly relevant to this study are: ___ ___ ___ and ___. Add figure of org chart of principles theories. Paivo, Sweller Mayer. Mayers theory of multimedia learning Cognitive Load The working memory has a finite capacity for processing incoming information for any one channel, visual or audio. The combined processing, at any particular time, creates the working memorys cognitive load ability (Baddeley, 1992; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Chandler Sweller, 1991). To take advantage of the memorys capability it is important to reduce redundant and irrelevant information, thus reducing the cognitive load (Sweller, 1994; Ardaà § and Unal 2008; Mayer Moreno, 2003; Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). To keep the information efficient the multimedia should eliminate information that does not apply to a lesson or assignment. Content that is nonessential for transfer or retention should also be eliminated. Information needs to be concise by carefully selecting the text and images for the content and present the information succinct and organized in a logical pattern (Mayer Moreno, 2003). Careful selection of text and images should be concise so content can be presented in a succinct and organized, logical pattern. Grouping the information into smaller portions of information reduces the cognitive load. By chunking the information, the working memory has the opportunity process the content and makes connections with prior learning and knowledge. The information is then stored in long-term memory (Mayer Moreno, 2003). After presenting a portion of the information, the multimedia presentation should include a brief activity to engage the student in processing and storing the information. Utilizing both the auditory and the visual channel of the working memory also helps with the cognitive load and content retention (Tempelman-Kluit, 2006). Based on the information above about memory and processing the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) was developed by Sweller (1993, 1994, 1998). The theory assumes that people possess a limited working memory (Miller, 1956) and an immense long-term memory (Chase Simon, 1973), with learning mechanisms of schema acquisition (Chi et al., 1982; Larkin et al., 1980) and automatic processing (Kotovsky et al., 1985), (Jueng, Chandler Sweller, 1997). Cognitive load theory provides a single framework for instructional design based on separate cognitive processing capabilities for visual and auditory information (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). Creating a multimedia presentation that conforms to CLT would integrate the auditory and visual information on the screen. The CLT presentation design limits the load on any one channel to prevent cognitive overload and increase learning (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Mayer and Moreno 2002; Tindall-Ford, Chandler, Sweller, 1997). Further research conducted by __ __ ______ _____ indentified three separate types of cognitive load, intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic cognitive load The first type of cognitive load is intrinsic and is shaped by the learning task and the learning taking place (Van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Intrinsic cognitive load occurs between the learner and the content, with the learners level of knowledge in the content area playing a factor. The other factors are the elements the working memory is processing at one time and element interactivity (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Element interactivity level depends on the degree to which the learner can understand the element information independently (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). If you need to reduce total cog load (intri + extr + gemain) you need you need to know the elements and how to reduce loads. If the learner needs to understand several elements at once, and how they interact with each other, then the element interactivity is high. However, if the learner can understand each element independently then the element interactivity is low (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Th e intrinsic level occurs with the learner and their working memory and constructing meaning from the elements presented. While intrinsic load cannot be adjusted, the extraneous load can be modified. Give own example of high and low element interactivity. (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005) à   intrinsic learning schema construction and automation. Content element interactivity directly correlated to intrinsic cognitive load ? (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Page 1 of article Extraneous cognitive load The second type of cognitive load is extraneous or ineffective and is affected by the format of the information presented and what is required of the learner. Extraneous cognitive load occurs when information or learning tasks have high levels of cognitive processing and impedes with knowledge attainment (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Extraneous cognitive load is also referred to as ineffective cognitive load since the cognitive processing is not contributing to the learning process. The working memory has independent two channels for processing audio and visual. If the instruction occurs only using one channel instead of utilizing both channels the learner will experience a higher level of extraneous cognitive load (van Merrià «nboer and Sweller, 2005). Extraneous cognitive load can be reduced by several effects studied as part of instructional design and cognitive load report as by Sweller et al., 1998 such as; split attention, modality, and redundancy (van Merrià «nboer and Swel ler, 2005). Germane cognitive load The third type of cognitive load is germane and is also affected by design of the instruction being presented. While extraneous cognitive load accounts for information impeding learning germane cognitive load focuses on freeing cognitive resources to increase learning. Germane is also referred to as ineffective cognitive load. Germane and extraneous work together disproportionately. Designing instruction that lessens the extraneous cognitive load allows additional cognitive processing for germane load and increase students ability to assimilate information being presented (Pass, Renkl, Sweller, 2003). Intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive loads work together for a combined total cognitive load; this combined load cannot be greater than the available memory resources for a learner. An experiment conducted by Tindall-Ford, Chandler and Sweller, 1997 had a purpose of measuring cognitive load. The participants were twenty two first year apprentices and had completed grade ten of high school. The participants were assigned to one of two treatments, visual-only instructions and audio-visual instructions. The experiment started with an instructional phase, which has two parts and was 100 seconds in length. Part one of the instruction phase had an explanation of how to read an electrical table and was either all visual, or was visual and audio with a cassette player. After the instructional phase part one, the participant rated the mental effort (load) based on a seven point scale. Then the apprentices took part in a test phase which included three sections. The first section was a written test where participants filled in the blank headings in an electrical table. The second section contained questions about the format of the table. After the first part of instruction and two parts of testing, participants were given the same electrical table and participants had to apply information contained in the table to examples given. Participants had 170 seconds to study the information, then completed another subjective mental effort (load) survey. Then the participants complete the final section of the test phase. The apprentices had to apply the information and select the appropriate cable for an installation job with the given parameters. Apprentices had a two week break where they continued with their normal training. Then both the two part instruction phase and the three part test phase were repeated. A 2 (group) X 2 (phase) ANOVA was run for the first instruction section and the first two sections of the written test in the test phase and significant difference was found with the audio-visual group performing better than the visual-only group. When the ANOVA was run for the mental load for the two phases significance was found again, with the audio-visual group rating the mental effort lower than the visual-only group. Similar results were found when analyzing part two of instruction mental load and section three of the written test for both phases. All test results revealed the audio-visual group outperforming the visual-only group for all tests and a lower mental load rating. Therefore the participant performance can be linked back to the cognitive load. An experiment was conducted by Ardac and Unal, 2008 finish later Based on the experiment above by Tindall-Ford, Chandler and Sweller, 1997, when selecting a format for a presentation audio-only is the better choice. This is true not only from a modality theory, it is also better from a cognitive load theory perspective, since visual-only formats cause a higher level of mental effort for participants. Transition sentence that link split-attention effect as a part of cognitive load theory. Split-Attention Effect When images or animations are involved with the redundant text then the visual channel has to pay attention to multiple visual elements and the attention is split between the many visual pieces, creating the split-attention effect. Having several visual components such as text and animations causes an increase in the cognitive load and learning is hampered (Ardac Unal, 2008). Split-attention occurs when instructional material contains multiple sources of information that are not comprehendible by themselves and need to be integrated either physically or mentally to be understandable (Jeung, Chandler Sweller, 1997; Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Tindall-Ford, Chandler, Sweller, 1997). Split-attention effect can be minimized by placing related text close in proximity to the image in the presentation or using audio narration for an animation instead of on-screen text (Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). One experiment conducted to test the split-attention theory was designed by Mayer, Heiser, and Lonn, 2001. In this experiment there were 78 participants selected from an university psychology subject pool. The experiment was a 2 x 2 design with summarized on-screen text as a factor and extraneous details as a second factor. There were four groups; no text/no seductive details group with 22 students, text/no seductive details group with 19 students, no text/seductive details group with 21 students, text/seductive details group with 16 students. The group had a median age of 18.4 and was 33% male. All participants a little prior knowledge of meteorology with a score of seven or lower out of eleven questions. Participants viewed a computer-based multimedia presentation. The versions with text included a summary of the narration. The versions with seductive details included additional narrations with real world examples. The experiment started with participants completing a questionnaire to collect demographic and prior knowledge information. Then participants watched a presentation with one of the treatments at individual computers. At the completion of the video students completed a retention and transfer test. Students who received on-screen text scored significantly lower on both the transfer and retention test than student who did not have on-screen text. These results are consistent with the split-attention theory as it relates to cognitive theory of multimedia. Students who received seductive details also scored lower on both the transfer and retention test than student who did not have seductive details. These results indicate that including seductive details to a presentation hampered student learning. Another experiment conducted was by Tindall-Ford, Chandler, and Sweller, 1997. This experiment had thirty participants that were first year trade apprenticed from Sydney. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each group had ten participants. The first group was the visual only group that consisted of diagrams and related textual statements. The second group integrated the presentation included the textual statements however the statements were physically integrated into the diagrams. The third group is the audio-visual group included the same diagrams and however the textual statements were presented as audio instead of text. The participants first read the instructional materials, the audio group listened to the information from an audio-cassette. Then participants completed a written test with three sections; a labeling section, a multiple choice section, and a transfer section, and finally participants completed a practical test. While analysis of the multiple choice section revealed no significant difference, the data indicated the audio-visual group performing better than the visual group. The section three data, the transfer test, had significant with the audio-visual and the integrated group performing better than the visual only. The findings revealed that the audio-visual and the integrated formats performed better than the visual only group. The non-integrated text performed the poorest out of the three groups, which supports the split-attention effect. A set of two experiments were conducted by Mayer Moreno, 1998 to verify split-attention and dual processing. The first experiment had 78 college students from a university psychology pool with little prior knowledge about metrology. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The concurrent narrations group (AN) had 40 students and the concurrent on-screen text groups (AT) had 38 students. Participants were tested in groups of one to five and were seated at individual cubicles with computers. The participants first completed a questionnaire, which assessed the students prior knowledge and collected demographic information. Then the students watched the presentation about lightening formation; the students in the AN groups had on headphones. The presentation was 140 seconds long and included animation of the lightening process. The AN version had narration and the AT version had text on-screen that was identical to the narration, and used the same timings as the narration version. After the presentation the participants had 6 minutes to complete the retention test, where participants had to explain the lightening process. Then they had 3 minutes to complete a transfer test, which consisted of four short essay questions. Finally the participants had 3 minutes to complete a matching test, where the students had to label parts of an image, based on the lightening formation statements provided. A split-attention effect occurred for all three tests, retentions, matching, and the transfer test; which the AN group scored higher on the matching test than the AT group. These results also align with dual-processing. The second experiment by Mayer and Moreno, 1998 the content was changed to how a cars braking system operates. The first experiment had 68 college students from a university psychology pool with little prior knowledge about car mechanics. The concurrent narrations group (AN) had 34 students and the concurrent on-screen text groups (AT) had 34 students. Participants were tested in groups of one to five and were seated at individual cubicles with computers. The participants first completed a questionnaire, which assessed the students prior knowledge and collected demographic information. Then the students watched the presentation about how a cars braking system operates; the students in the AN groups had on headphones. The presentation was 45 seconds long and included animation of a cars braking process, and was broken into 10 segments. The AN version had narration and a brief pause between segments, and the AT version had text on-screen that was identical to the narration, and used the same timings as the narration version. The AT groups text appeared under the animation and stayed visible until the next segment started. Then participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. After the presentation the participants had 5 minutes to complete the retention test, where participants had to explain the braking process. Then they had 2.5 minutes to complete a transfer test, which consisted of four short essay questions. Finally the participants had 2.5 minutes to complete a matching test, where the students were given parts of the braking system and they had to identify the parts in an image and label them. A split-attention effect occurred for all three tests, retentions, matching, and the transfer test; which the AN group scored higher on the matching test than the AT group. These results also align with dual-processing. CONCLUSION!!! (318-319) The experiments indicate the adding text in addition to the narration will impede student learning. The second experiment clarifies the split-attention effect, which if text is included it needs to be placed near the relevant part of the diagram. If text is not near the images, increase in the cognitive load occurs by trying to combine the images and text. The last two experiment further clarify the split-attention effect with three measures in two different experiments. Therefore narration should be used to accompany animation and images instead of text. Modality Effect The working memory of a human has two channels a visual channel that processes information such as text, images, and animation through the eyes and an auditory channel that processes sounds such as narration through the ears. According to the modality principle, when information is presented in multimedia explanations, it also should ideally be presented auditorily versus on screen text (Craig, Gholson, Discoll, 2002; Moreno Mayer, 1999; Mayer, 2001; Mayer Johnson, 2008; Mayer, Fennell, et al., 2004). When the information is presented auditorily, the working memory uses both channels, visual and auditory to process the information being heard and the information on the screen (Tabbers, Martens, van Merrià «nboer, 2004). By utilizing both working memory channels, the mind can allocate additional cognitive resources and create relationships between the visual and verbal information (Moreno and Mayer, 1999). When learning occurs using both memory channels the memory does not become overloaded and the learning becomes embedded, this improves the learners understanding (Mayer Moreno, 2002). Several experiments have been conducted relating to modality theory. One experiment in a geometry lesson taught in a math class at the elementary school level focused on the conditions that modality effect would be occur. The researchers, Jeung, Chandler, and Sweller, (1997) created a three-by-two experiment that included three presentation modes and two search modes. The three presentation modes were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing. The visual-visual diagrams and supporting information were presented visually as on screen text; the audio-visual group diagrams and supporting information were presented visually. In the audio-visual-flashing group, the supporting information was presented auditorily and diagrams were presented visually. However parts of the diagram flashed when the corresponding audio occurred. The two search modes were high search mode and low search mode. The high search mode labeled each end of the line separately so a line was identified by the letters at each end such as AB. Whereas the low search mode labeled the entire line with a single letter, such as C and reducing the search needed to locate the information. The experiment content was geometry; the study population was sixty students from year six in a primary school with no previous geometry experience, creating ten students per group. The students participated in the experiment individually during class time. Students were randomly assigned to one of six groups the information was presented to the students on the computer. The experiment had three phases; an introduction phase where the problem was identified and was presented in one of the six modes as assigned to the student, an acquisition phase which included two worked out examples on the computer, after each example students were required to complete a similar problem with pencil and paper, and finally a test phase that included four problems for students to complete with pencil and paper. In the test phase they found a significant effect on presentation mode but not on the search complexity. They performed additional data analysis to discover the significance between the presentation modes occurred in the high search group, but not the low search group. Analysis of the presentation modes for the high search group revealed that the audio-visual-flashing group performed a higher level of performance than the visual-visual group. The experiment confirmed the modality theory hypothesis that mixed mode presentation (audio-visual-flashing) would be more effective because the multiple modes increase the working memory capacity. However these results were only found with the high search group and not the low search group. The group conducted two additional experiments to focus on high search and low search separately. The second experiment focused on high search. For this experiment, the population included thirty students from a Sydney public primary school who were in year six and had not been taught parallel line in geometry. The procedure was the same as before however the geometry content was a complex diagram. The groups were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, with ten students were in each group. The results were consistent with modality theory and students who were in the audio-visual-flashing group performed better then the visual-visual group, and no differences were found between visual-visual group and the audio-visual group. Therefore for high search materials, the dual presentation mode increased performance when a visual reference was provided. The third experiment focused on low search. In this experiment the population included thirty students from a Sydney public primary school who had not been taught parallel lines in geometry. The groups included visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, and ten students were in each group. The procedure was similar to the first experiment however the geometry content was a low search diagram and only contained two labels. The groups were visual-visual, audio-visual, and audio-visual-flashing, with ten students in each group. The results revealed that the modality effect did occur with the transfer problems and the visual-visual group took more time than the audio-visual and the audio-visual-flashing group. The difference was that with the low search content the audio-visual group performed better than the visual-visual group meaning, low search materials the flashing indicator is not as beneficial. The three experiments had demonstrated that using mixed modes of presenta tion increases the effectiveness of the working memory and capacity for learning. The results indicated that when content requires a high level of search, visual indicators need to be included to free up cognitive resources and increase memory capacity. Therefore, based on the work of Jeung, Chandler, and Sweller (1997) when the computer multimedia presentations were created with a visual cue of a yellow box with a red outline was used as a visual indicator to assist users to locate where the mouse is clicking so students are not scanning the entire video screen for the mouse. In addition to visual references one version of the video included audio only and another version will contain text only to confirm the modality effect. Selecting the most appropriate part of the working memory to disseminate the information and using the auditory channel to process information via audio instead of visual text allows the visual channel to use the working memory to focus on the images and animations that coincide with the audio. It is similar to watching a news program on television, your ears are listening to the news anchor and the working memory is processing that information while your eyes are watching the corresponding footage and the brain it combining the two pieces of information together. However if put closed captioning on you are reading the same information you are hearing which is redundant. Redundancy Effect Redundancy effect can be defined as information being presented appears as both an image and as on-screen text, and the visual channel is responsible for all information while the audio channel is not used (Mayer, 2001; Barron Calandra, 2003). The distinction between the split-attention and redundancy effects hinges on the distinction between sources of information that are intelligible in isolation and those that are not. If a diagram and the concepts of functions it represents are sufficiently self-contained and intelligibly in isolation, then any text explaining the diagram is redundant and should be omitted in order to reduce the cognitive load (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998). Redundancy can occur with full text and full audio, full text and partial audio or partial text and full audio (Barron Calandra, 2003). The redundant information may be duplicate text and narration, a text description and a diagram or on-screen text and audio narration. The duplicate information cause s in increase in the learners working memory because the visual channel is processing the same information from multiple sources. (Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 1998; Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001). The redundancy effect is evident when student performance is hindered when redundant information is present, and student performance increase when the redundant information is removed (Kalyuga et all, 1998; Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001; Jamet Le Bohec, 2007). The redundancy effect can be eliminated by presenting on-screen text as narration or presenting information as a diagram instead of a lengthy text explanation, and delivering information in a single mode that works complimentary with the other content be delivered (Mayer, Heiser and Lonn, 2001). Several experiments have been conducted relating to redundancy theory. One experiment conducted by Jamet and Le Boec, 2007 was designed to test the hypothesis that redundancy effect would be observed with full text and narration, and presenting sequential text would reduce the redundancy effect. The experiment had 90 undergraduate students from a psychology pool in France, with a median age of 20. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; no text, full text with corresponding audio, and sequential text. The experiment started with a prior knowledge test with four general questions and two specific questions. Then the participants viewed three documents about memory functioning, the presentation lasted about 11 minutes. After the presentation the participants took a retention test twelve open-ended questions. Then they took a transfer test with twelve inferential open-ended questions. Finally, the participants had to complete a diagram by labeling components. Results revealed significance difference with the retention scores with the no-text group performing better than the full-text group and the sequential text group. Similar results were reported for the diagram completion portion of the experiment and the transfer task. There was no significant effect size to indicate that the redundancy effect would be reduced by presenting redundant text sequentially. There was a significant effect between the no-text and the other two groups for the transfer, retention, and the diagram test which validates the redundancy effect. Based on the findings from the experiment above, having on-screen text in addition to narration overloads the visual channel and decreases learning. The authors did point out that the participants had a difficult time understanding the documents presented and they could not control the presentation. Another set of experiments were conducted by Mayer and Johnson, 2008 to test the redundancy theory. The first experiment focused on short redundant text that was display on-screen.

Frank Vincent Zappa :: Musician Biography

Frank Vincent Zappa was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland on December 21, 1941. He came from Greek, Arab, Sicilian and French decent, inheriting the Greek and Arab from his Father, and the Sicilian and French from his Mother (Zappa 15). Frank’s childhood home was in the town of Edgewood, Maryland in the Army housing facility (16) where his Dad worked as a meteorologist at the Edgewood Arsenal (19). Because Frank kept getting sick in Maryland, his parents decided to move down to Florida (22). Frank’s Mother got homesick so they moved back to Maryland. This time they moved into the city of Baltimore, but no one in the family particularly enjoyed it there so they packed up and headed west for California (23). It was in California where Frank developed his interest in explosives, as he already had learned how to make gunpowder at the age of six (24). While Frank was reloading a used firework tube between his legs with some of his "secret formula" (which consisted mainly of filed Ping-Pong ball dust and single-shot caps), he accidentally pressed down too hard on the single shot caps, and they ignited, nearly rendering him unable to have children, as well as making a small crater in the floor and blowing the doors open (26). Frank did not learn from this, however. It would not be until he and some friends managed to fill some paper cups with solid rocket fuel and stink bomb powder, and started fires all throughout the school on open house night that would make him stop. This ingenious act got him expelled, and brought an end to Frank’s "scientific career" (27). Aside from exploding things, Frank also had an interest in music, when at the age of twelve he began to get interested in the drums. In 1956 he was playing the drums for a rhythm-and-blues band called the Ramblers, but he was eventually fired because the other members of the band complained that he "played the cymbals too much" (29-30) Another musical interest of his was Edgard Varà ¨se, a man who, according to Frank, looked like a mad scientist. His music contained sirens, snare drums, bass drums, and even a lion’s roar. Frank absolutely loved it (31-32). Aside from Varà ¨se, Frank also liked Stravinsky, for he had bought The Rite of Spring performed by "The World-Wide Symphony Orchestra," and he loved that almost as much as he loved Varà ¨se.

International Development Personal Statement

A degree In International studies will Improve my understanding of the impact of education, health, human rights, the environment, economics, conflict, and other fields on development as well as the Impact of under development on those fields. In Dalton, the multi-adolescently nature of the subject will enable me to explore options for later speculation. My Interest In International development has arisen out of my experiences as a child when I was fortunate to spend extended periods of time In Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.In Thailand and Cambodia I became aware of the plight of refugees and displaced populations. In Vietnam I learnt about the effects of war on the population and the continuing effect of Agent Orange. I also became aware of the difficulties faced by ethnic minorities who don't speak the national language and don't have the same rights as the majority of citizens. From my experiences in South East Asia I can see that although we live in a globalizes world, the benef its of globalization are not spread equally between countries or within countries.Studying International Development will help me better understand why some countries have become developed, some are in the process of developing and some have not developed at all. I would like to understand the satirical forces like colonization, the impact of political systems like socialism and capitalism and the politics of aid such as why some countries receive help while others do not. In addition to understanding the causes of poverty and inequality, I want to understand how to change things for the better.I would like to learn about sustainable ways of lifting people out of poverty and ensuring their basic human rights. I would also like to understand how to ensure that social development doesn't harm the environment. A special interest that I have is to understand how best to assist people in emergencies like natural disasters and war and how to help them recover in the long term. The B progr ammer has enabled me to study a range of subjects from the fields of science and the humaneness rather than confining me to one specific field.I think that this Is excellent preparation for study of a multi- disciplinary course like International Development and topics such as politics, gender, economics, the environment and other global Issues. Although I have found the B programmer challenging, I have appreciated the opportunity It has provided to evolve critical thinking skills and Independent study skills as well as to broaden my outlook on the world in general.I feel the academic rigor of the B programmer has prepared me well for the challenges of undergraduate study. I am a keen sports seasons. I enjoy traveling and experiencing different cultures. I have enjoyed the greater independence given to students at The Henley College compared to the strict learning styles of conventional schools. I now feel ready to take on the challenge of university study and look forward to making the most of the opportunities that the study of a degree in international development will bring.

Global Warming: The Government’s Little White Lie

Devin Good Persuasive Essay Period 7 10-10-12 Global Warming: The Government’s Little White Lie â€Å"Would you bet your paycheck on a weather forecast for tomorrow? If not, then why should this country bet billions on global warming predictions that have even less foundation? † (Thomas Sowell) The truth is that it’s hard to know whether or not our planet is heating or cooling. Global warming happens all the time and it’s not because of carbon dioxide or human interaction and is more of a political issue than reality.Even though temperatures are rising, it happens all the time. Global climate change is nothing new to our planet. According to Edmund Contoski global climate changes have occurred â€Å"63 times in the past 1. 6 million years,† (Contoski. n. p). So since our Earth is always rebounding from one change to another we have no need to worry. There is proof it’s warming but there has been evidence that the planet was once cooling. In t he early 1970s scientist thought the Earth was cooling but there predictions were proven wrong too.As famed writer Michael Crichton points out, â€Å"If scientist can’t accurately predict what next weekend’s weather will be like, how can they predict what the next centuries climate will be like? † (Crichton. n. p. ) Scientist do have proof that in the last few years the earth has warmed minisculely. However when compared to the entire 20th century, the earth’s temperature has only risen by 0. 6 ° C. This is barely a notable change and was wiped out by a drop of 0. 63 ° C in 2007. Scientist are trying to justify their idea of global warming by making many claims that are not scientifically backed up.They are claiming that animal migration patterns are changing as well. They also say that some species are migrating farther and sooner northern. When in reality migration pattern changes happen naturally and change year to year. Another common claim is tha t we are accelerating certain species extinction, but extinction occurs in nature without human interaction due to predation and lack of resources. The polar ice caps are another object that scientist like to grab ahold of to push their idea of global warming. The ice shelf fluctuates from year to year, causing it to appear to be shrinking ne year but the next year it may regain the ice it lost or gain more. The media however only likes to report on the loss of ice caps. Sadly it makes a better story about how polar bears are being killed by corrupt companies than how we regained 3% of the ice caps. Carbon dioxide is not causing global warming. Carbon Dioxide (CO() only makes up 0. 035% of our Earth’s atmosphere and is not even a powerful greenhouse gas. Human production of carbon dioxide has increased in recent years but humans are still not the biggest producers of CO(.Nature is ironically the largest producer, making up for 97% of all the CO( on Earth. Volcano eruptions an d swamps make up a large portion of this. A large part of this blame is just the use of a scapegoat. If an answer can not be easily identified and put to blame then the most infamous one is chosen. Many large and widely known companies choose to go along with this proposed ideas to appeal to the common people who then also choose to believe that the companies know best. An example of this is the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, when many well known companies wasted millions on fruitless research projects.It was originally wrote to reduce fossil fuels consumption but was proven to just be a stunt to gain image as wanting to save the planet. Consumers would much rather buy a drink from the company that claims it saves the planet than buy one from the company that a random scientist says kill baby seals. Global Warming is based on political ideology rather than reality. The media and elite groups control what the public knows and does not know in today’s world. If they want you to believ e in global warming just so they can con you out of $25 a month, they will.When in reality scientist who report to these companies with their findings are corrupt themselves. They will follow the money flow, even if it means lying and destroying evidence. When it was proven that Earth was not cooling and in fact heating, a large sum of carbon dioxide reports were deliberately ignored when filing a report about global warming being caused by CO(. If the paper does not support the present idea then the paper and research must be false. The miss-use of computer programs is common too. Humans program the simulations after all, so they can not be exact.Then with the falsified proof scientist can influence the population to anything they want. Now you have proof that global warming is more political and is not caused by humans or CO(. It is not a global crisis but rather natural phenomenon that the â€Å"man† wants to use to control us. So do you believe what the government wants y ou to believe or will you stand up for truth? Works Cited Bova, Ben. â€Å"Global Warming Is Real. † Global Warming. Ed. Cynthia A. Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"Facts Show Global Warming Is Real. † NaplesNews. om. 2008. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. Contoski, Edmund. â€Å"Global Warming Is a Myth. † Global Warming. Ed. Cynthia A. Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"Global Warming, Global Myth. † Liberty 22 (Sept. 2008). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. Cooper, M. (2001, January 26). Global warming treaty. CQ Researcher, 41-64. 2 Oct. 2012. Retrieved from http://library. cqpress. com/cqresearcher/ Global Warming 101. National Geographic, 18 May 2007. Youtube. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. .