For this multimedia improvement project, I selected a PowerPoint presentation of my own as the multimedia object. I developed this PowerPoint presentation in a psychology course this semester. After learning the knowledge of multimedia learning principles throughout this class, I noticed some mistakes that I made in my slides. I revised my slides according to the theories I learned, and I have a clear idea of how my mistakes affect the overall flow of my presentation.
On the first slide of my PowerPoint presentation, I firstly modified the font of my slide because the font that I selected (Garamond) is stiff and unattractive for the audience to read. Then I deleted the article title on the bottom left, as it violated the Cognitive Load Theory. The Cognitive Load Theory suggests that during learning, information should be held in working memory. Although I don’t have heavy texts on my first slide anyways, I think it is important to keep my slide straight and clear, especially on the first slide which starts things off. I also should pay attention to the Coherence Principle because I put extraneous information in the slide.
I made several changes to the second slide. I reorganized objects in the slide and change the font again, just to make it easier for the readers. I also insert an image that relates to the information in the slide, which reflects what I learned from the Modality Principle. As the Modality Principle suggests, we learn best from visuals and spoken words. I think with the image in the slide, readers will have a clearer idea of what message I am trying to tell in the slide, and they will have a better understanding of the information. Moreover, adding an image in a slide triggers the Multimedia Principle. It suggests that humans learn best from words and pictures than just words alone. I think words and images are a cool combination and with good use of them, it is a very effective way for presentation slides.
For the third slide, I demonstrate what I learned from the Signaling Principle. The Signaling Principle essentially means that we learn best when we are shown exactly what to pay attention to on the screen. Therefore, I highlighted the key terms in each text which the readers should pay attention to.
On my fifth slide, I added a question for the audience which I think is corresponds to the Pre-Training principle. It suggests that people learn more efficiently if they already know some of the basics. In the slide, I assume the audience has learned some knowledge from previous slides, therefore, instead of straightly giving the audience the information, I raised a quick question that can make some engagement and help with their learning.
All the significant changes are noted above. I think my PowerPoint slides look way better than before. The principles and theories I learned in this course helped me improve my presentation skills and make me feel more confident in performing a presentation.
Here are how my PowerPoint look before and after
Before:
After:
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