Signaling Principle

Overview

The signaling principle is one of the key principles in multimedia learning, according to Richard Mayer (Mayer & Fiorella 2014). In its execution, the purpose of the signaling principle aligns with its name in that important text and imagery within multimedia instruction is signaled, or cued, for the learner to focus on while relevant content is being discussed. Utilization of this principle is meant to allow learners to follow along with new content easier, organize new information more effectively, remember new information, and process learned materials faster and more efficiently. This principle can be best incorporated in e-learning environments where complex information is shown on the screen all at once, as learners are guided from concept to concept with fewer opportunities to miss critical information. This cueing can be achieved in a variety of ways, including vocal cues (“Look at the graph on the left”) or visual cues (highlighting or magnifying the text, image, or concept being discussed). The goal of signaling is to decrease cognitive load so that learners are able to focus only on relevant information without high risk of overwhelming working memory.

Evidence

Mayer, along with other researchers lay out three major benefits of incorporating the signaling principle in multimedia learning:

1. Signaling assists learners who struggle finding relevant information (Mayer & Fiorella 2014);
2. It allows for easier application of learning by allowing learners to organize relevant information with the learner’s prior knowledge (Mautone and Mayer 2001);
3. Signaling allows learners to organize their thoughts more efficiently as cognitive load is decreased (Moreno and Abercrombie 2010).

These findings validate the effectiveness of signaling as a technique, but other research shows potential limitations if not used in conditions which specifically benefit learners.

Design Implications

The implications and benefits of signaling goes beyond the academic aspect of understanding content; it also creates presentations which are easier on the eye, more coherent in their messaging, and more simplistic in the presentation’s aesthetic. For example, one aspect of signaling in visual content involves highlighting critical information the learner should prioritize in their understanding of the new material, as shown in Figures 1a and 1b (DeBell, 2020).

Figure 2

Signaling also allows for an experience that relieves clutter from the learner’s perspective. For example, in Life Noggin’s Why Do You Sleepwalk? video, a graph appears showing all stages of the sleep cycle while the narrator explains how the process begins. The REM cycle’s placement on the chart is highlighted throughout the entirety of this section as it represents the required prior-understanding for the information about to be introduced. The narrator begins to introduce new information relating to the graph detailing stages 3 and 4 of the sleep cycle. While the concept of those stages are being verbalized, the text “Stage 3” and “Stage 4” bounces in a way to draw the viewer’s attention to what’s being verbalized (See figure 2). Within seconds, at 0:28, the dialogue shifts to focus on what processes take place in the brain during those stages. As the narrator transitions, so does the animation, as the focus of the video brings us as viewers into the figure’s head to see a representation of a human brain appear. Despite all of the information presented in just a matter of seconds, the focus on critical information remains steady in focus.

Challenges

The signaling principle can be one of the more effective elements of multimedia presentation in e-learning. However, as with any principle or technique in education, its effectiveness relies on the user’s ability to incorporate only when necessary. For example, Stull and Mayer (2007) validate this in three experiments where the overuse of signaling in subjects did not result in higher proficiency. Naumann et al. (2007) corroborates this and provides evidence that signaling mostly benefits low-skill readers and has minimal, if any, effect on high-skill readers. Despite these examples, the effectiveness of signaling in e-learning content is still incredibly high and should be considered for learners, especially those who lack prior knowledge or who have lower reading comprehension.

References

DeBell, A. (2020, July 24). How to Use Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning [Examples Included]. Water Bear Learning. https://waterbearlearning.com/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning/

lifenoggin. (2016, June 27). Why do you sleepwalk? YouTube. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUeN4uHEaGY  

Mautone, P.D., & Mayer, R. E. (2001). Signaling as a cognitive guide in multimedia learning. Journaling of Educational Psychology, 93, 377-389

Mayer, R. E., & Fiorella, L. (2014). Principles for reducing extraneous processing in multimedia learning: Coherence, signaling, redundancy, spatial contiguity, and temporal contiguity principles. In R. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (2nd ed., pp. 279–315). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Moreno, R., & Abercrombie, S. (2010). Promoting awareness of learner diversity in prospective teachers: Signaling individual and group differences within virtual classroom cases. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 18(1), 111–130.

Naumann, J., Richter, T., Flender, J., Cristmann, U., & Groeben, N. (2007). Signaling in expository hypertexts compensates for deficits in reading skill. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 791-807.

Stull, A., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). When graphics improve liking but not learning form online lessons. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1618-1625.