Combining Bloom's Pyramid and Mayer's Principles in Slide Design

Table of Contents:

• Using Mayer's Principles and Bloom's Taxonomy Together
• Bloom's Remembering Tasks and Mayer's Coherence Concept
• The Comprehension Goal in Bloom's Taxonomy and Mayer's Redundancy Principle
• Bloom's Application Goals and Mayer's Segmentation: Relationships and Importance
• Analysis Goals in Bloom's Taxonomy and Mayer's Signaling Approach
• Bloom's Assessment and Spatial Relationship in the Context of Mayer's Theory

Poorly designed educational presentations can negatively impact not only students' perception of the course, but also their final results. How can they absorb and understand new information if design flaws make it difficult to perceive?

To create presentations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also methodologically sound, American instructional designer and consultant in the field of training and development Aaron Barlin recommends using a combination of multimedia learning principles developed by Richard Mayer and Bloom's taxonomy of learning objectives. In his article for LearningGuild magazine, he shares recommendations for implementing this approach, and we present a brief summary of his thoughts.

Combining Mayer's Principles and Bloom's Taxonomy

Aaron Barlin argues that integrating Bloom's taxonomy with Mayer's methodological principles can strengthen the connection between visual elements and pedagogical aspects. This means that the design of educational slides can help students solve cognitive problems at various levels.

It is necessary to recall that Bloom's taxonomy is a hierarchical structure of educational objectives, organized from simple to complex. The main focus here is on the cognitive area associated with knowledge acquisition. Aaron Barlin uses an updated version of this taxonomy, which was created in 2001 by a group of American scientists led by David Crathwohl and Lorin Anderson, who are Bloom's colleagues and students.

Richard Mayer's theory of multimedia learning offers guidelines for organizing and presenting educational materials that integrate various media formats, including text, images, animation, audio, and video. Based on two other concepts—cognitive load theory and dual coding theory—Mayer's theory explains how our brain perceives, processes, and remembers information.

Based on his research, Mayer formulated a number of principles of multimedia learning, which represent practical advice for developing materials that facilitate the easier assimilation and retention of information by students.

Aaron Barlin identified the corresponding Mayer principles for the first five levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, which most effectively facilitate the performance of various cognitive tasks. In doing so, they ignored principles inherent in slide presentations, such as the multimedia principle, which requires combining text with images, as well as aspects not directly related to the presentation of materials.

Barlin did not analyze the sixth level of Bloom's taxonomy—creation—from this perspective. The fact is that this cognitive task is not covered by Mayer's principles. It does not relate to the process of presenting learning material to students, but rather concerns answering open-ended questions, creative expression, and experimentation on the part of students.

Bloom's "Remembering" Level Tasks and Mayer's Concept of Coherence

The principle of coherence states that learning materials should use only those visual elements that are truly necessary to accomplish a specific learning task. This design approach promotes a clear, logical, and accessible presentation of information, eliminating unnecessary and distracting elements.

The task of remembering and recalling information is classified as the first level of Bloom's Taxonomy. To successfully learn new material, students need to activate their prior knowledge, that is, recall what they have already learned on the topic. Clear visual cues can significantly assist this process; however, if there are too many elements on a slide, this can distract attention and make it difficult to recall the necessary information.

Aaron Barlin illustrates his point with the following example: imagine that students in a design course need to recall the key principles they have previously studied. In this case, you could invite them to refer to their own presentations, created with these principles in mind and which they consider their achievements.

You shouldn't do this:

The previous slide contains an excessive amount of text and unnecessary elements, which distract attention and make it difficult to perceive the main information.

• The slide is overloaded with unnecessary details. For the sole purpose of recalling previously learned material, too many visual cues are used: the title, the list of questions, key phrases in bold, logo icons, and thematic images. Each of these components is distracting, and as a result, the student may lose focus on the main task instead of concentrating on it.
• The components placed on the slide appear disjointed, and there is no necessary visual connection between them. As a result, the instructions describing the task and the task itself, which the student must complete, lose their consistency.

This is better:

Aaron Barlin recommends including only the illustration on a slide that directly relates to the topic of the task. This proposal has two main advantages:

• The image presents key semantic components that can help students recall the necessary information: the setting (design in a digital environment), the creative process, and the feeling of satisfaction from a well-completed task.
• The slide contains only the necessary information—a single image that harmoniously complements the oral explanation. For example: "Think about a presentation you particularly enjoyed. What design elements make you most proud?

The Comprehension Goal in Bloom's Taxonomy and Mayer's Redundancy Principle

Richard Mayer explains the redundancy principle through the lens of cognitive overload, which occurs when identical information is presented simultaneously in different forms, such as text and audio. In educational presentations, this principle is often overlooked when the presenter simply reads from the slide, repeating what has been written.

Why is this approach not optimal? Dual coding theory provides the answer to this question. Regardless of how a person perceives speech - through hearing, sight, or tactile sensations, for example, when reading Braille - the verbal information processing system is activated. In other words, when reading, a person internally pronounces the text. When information is presented both verbally and verbally by the instructor, it places an excessive load on the verbal system, making it difficult to process. Aaron Barlin argues that learning new information is more complex than simply recalling it. Therefore, it's crucial to design slides based on the principle of redundancy, which helps avoid unnecessary repetition and, therefore, reduces the cognitive load on students. As a result, they will be able to devote more mental effort to understanding new material.

As an illustration, the author shows a slide explaining the principle of redundancy to an audience that has no prior knowledge of the idea.

Don't do this:

In this slide, the image itself illustrates the principle of redundancy. The information contained in the image is repeated in text format and will likely be voiced by the speaker. As a result, this slide does not enhance comprehension:

• Because the same concept can be presented in different formats, it can be difficult for the student to determine which specific element of the material to focus on first.
• The slide demonstrates a desire to convey information at any cost, as if the author doubts the sufficiency of his explanation. This lack of confidence is more likely to confuse the student than facilitate their understanding.

This is better:

By removing the explanatory text and leaving only a schematic representation of the idea in the image, the slide will become more effective.

• Each visual component contributes to overall understanding. Elements such as unnecessary captions like "This is a triangle" and a character showing confusion vividly illustrate the essence of the principle of redundancy.
• In this version, the emphasis is not on explanation, but on the student constructing an understanding of the concept based on the elements provided—in accordance with the constructivist approach.

Bloom's Application Goals and Mayer's Segmentation: Relationships and Significance

The essence of the segmentation principle is to divide large blocks of information into smaller parts and present them in stages, rather than all at once. This helps avoid overloading the student's working memory. It's also important to empower students to regulate the speed at which they absorb new information, for example, by clicking to open individual elements on a slide.

Why is the principle of segmentation key at the cognitive level of Bloom's taxonomy? As Aaron Barlin emphasizes, applying knowledge involves using new information to find solutions to problems or overcome challenges. Typically, this process is organically divided into stages that correspond to individual elements of information.

Let's assume that we are creating a slide with an assignment for students - to prepare an individual slide based on one of the previously studied Mayer principles.

You shouldn't do this:

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• The text looks like a single blur, and even the use of numbered and bulleted lists does not help improve the situation - the various sections illustrating different stages of the task are not clearly visually separated.
• Because the main and additional elements of the slide are intertwined, it does not contribute to the student's sequential perception of information, does not lead them step by step. Before you start following the instructions, you must first understand the structure of the instructions themselves.

This is better:

This example provides significantly clearer instructions:

• Each step is presented separately, and their order is clearly traced through the use of colored blocks and horizontal arrangement. Icons located below the step descriptions also help separate them: each icon symbolizes a specific action, without repeating information.
• Excessive text on the slide has been eliminated, which has made it more organized and aesthetically pleasing. Now the teacher can voice the information without overloading the visuals. This design makes it appropriate to use animation so that each step appears in turn when clicked.

Analysis Objectives According to Bloom's Taxonomy and the Mayer Signaling Approach

The signaling principle implies the need to clearly indicate those aspects that require special attention by students. For this purpose, visual aids such as arrows or lines are often used to illustrate connections between different parts of the material. Key ideas are also highlighted using color accents or different fonts.

Analysis using Bloom's Taxonomy involves the ability to break information down into its component parts, identify relationships and patterns, and understand its structure. Presenting educational material using the signaling principle will help students follow the necessary logical steps and provide them with a clear direction for their thinking.

Aaron Barlin gives the example of a slide design that aims to demonstrate to students how the principles of coherence, redundancy, and segmentation work together to enhance the visual appeal of educational content.

Don't do this:

The material is presented in the form of colored blocks, but the lack of visual connections between them makes it difficult to understand the relationships between concepts. As a result, instead of a living structure, a still image appears.

This is better:

Enabling arrows Adding information to a slide that illustrates the connections between content elements significantly improves the perception of the structure and makes it more dynamic. This allows the viewer to easily grasp the sequence of principles and understand how each of them interacts and complements the overall picture.

Bloom's Assessment and Spatial Relationship in the Context of Mayer's Theory

The principle of spatial relationship is based on a simple concept: text and the image it refers to should be close to each other, rather than at a significant distance. This simplifies the perception of information and relieves students from having to make additional efforts to match, for example, a diagram with its captions.

With Bloom's taxonomy, students analyze information using specific criteria or standards and form their own conclusions. To facilitate this process, it is recommended to place the assessment criteria close to the content that is being assessed.

Suppose students are asked to analyze the design of a poorly designed slide and make recommendations for improvement based on the principles developed by Mayer.

Don't do this:

This slide has a number of significant drawbacks:

• Despite the fact that the questions are located in close proximity to the assessment material, the student will still have to constantly switch their attention from the slide to the text block and back. This eye movement can distract from the main task - composing comments and suggestions.
• The questions look identical, and the student has no indication of which one to start with (except for their order). Thus, the assessment process loses its focus.

This is better:

In this example, the label placement has been modified. Text-specific questions are placed directly next to the text, image-specific questions are placed near the images themselves, and the overall content assessment question is presented in brackets that span the entire slide. These brackets serve as cueing, visually emphasizing the relationship between different blocks of information. Aaron Barlin notes that in this approach, the questions act as "magnifying glasses," allowing students to focus more closely on individual elements of the material.

In conclusion, the author reminds that you don't need to be a design expert to create high-quality educational presentations—you just need to be more mindful of their design. By treating visual design as an integral part of instructional design, rather than as a separate element, your educational materials will not only be aesthetically pleasing but also more effective.

Read also:

• The principle of consistency plays an important role in online course development because it helps create a consistent and understandable learning experience for users. Applying this principle helps avoid confusion and facilitate the learning process.

  First, consistency in the design of materials, including fonts, color schemes, and page structure, helps learners perceive information more easily. When all course elements are designed in a consistent style, it creates a sense of cohesion and professionalism.

  Second, it is important to maintain a consistent approach to information delivery. For example, if one module uses questions to test learning, other modules should also use similar methods so that learners can quickly adapt and understand what is expected of them.

  Furthermore, it is important to use stable formats for presenting content. If video, text, and interactive elements have a similar structure, users will be able to navigate the material more easily and absorb information more quickly.

  Finally, feedback should also be consistent. When students receive feedback on their successes and mistakes in the same format, it will help them better understand how they can improve their results.

  Thus, applying the principle of uniformity in the development of online courses helps create a more effective and comfortable learning environment, which, ultimately, contributes to successful learning.

• Six key aspects of cognitive load theory that methodologists should pay attention to.
• A checklist for course materials before launching it.
• Ten design mistakes that can ruin your online course.
• How to transform the original educational material into a high-quality course?