Does your online course pass for C.R.A.P.?
In instructional design, it is important to design courses that visually pass the "sniff" test. The "sniff" test I'm referring to is the one that tests for contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity or C.R.A.P. for short. This started me thinking about the courses that I design and how they would pass the C.R.A.P. evaluation. Would they pass muster? I have to delve a little deeper.
Are my courses visually appealing in the LMS? It's a question that I haven't really thought about in a long time. It feels like a great idea to revisit your course design and the C.R.A.P evaluation would allow you to do a quick litmus on the visual qualities of your course design.
Contrast
In order to do a C.R.A.P. evaluation, you must first consider the C which stands for contrast. Visual contrast means that you are providing enough elements that are different than each other while being closely associated. So, when you bold a heading before a paragraph, you are providing contrast. I think there are several key uses for contrast in the world of creating effective online courses.
Here are the reasons why CONTRAST in your online course is important -
1) Contrast helps students find material.
2) Contrast helps students digest material.
You can use contrast to break up large blocks of material in a lecture.
3) Contrast motivates students to interact with material.
It's the difference between plain text and text that has different fonts, bolding, colors, etc.
Repetition
Repeating elements is visually and psychologically powerful. When you repeat things, the brain goes "hey, wait a minute...that input is coming in again...I'd better make a note of it." It tells the brain that the material must be more important that the other stuff coming in.
In instructional design, it is important to design courses that visually pass the "sniff" test. The "sniff" test I'm referring to is the one that tests for contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity or C.R.A.P. for short. This started me thinking about the courses that I design and how they would pass the C.R.A.P. evaluation. Would they pass muster? I have to delve a little deeper.
Are my courses visually appealing in the LMS? It's a question that I haven't really thought about in a long time. It feels like a great idea to revisit your course design and the C.R.A.P evaluation would allow you to do a quick litmus on the visual qualities of your course design.
Contrast
In order to do a C.R.A.P. evaluation, you must first consider the C which stands for contrast. Visual contrast means that you are providing enough elements that are different than each other while being closely associated. So, when you bold a heading before a paragraph, you are providing contrast. I think there are several key uses for contrast in the world of creating effective online courses.
Here are the reasons why CONTRAST in your online course is important -
1) Contrast helps students find material.
Use contrast to attract students' attention to important material.
2) Contrast helps students digest material.
You can use contrast to break up large blocks of material in a lecture.
3) Contrast motivates students to interact with material.
It's the difference between plain text and text that has different fonts, bolding, colors, etc.
Repetition
Repeating elements is visually and psychologically powerful. When you repeat things, the brain goes "hey, wait a minute...that input is coming in again...I'd better make a note of it." It tells the brain that the material must be more important that the other stuff coming in.
Here are the reasons why REPETITION in your online course is important -
1) Repetition helps students understand some material.
For students who forget (most of them) things they are learning, repetition helps to "drill" it in the noggin.
2) Repetition encourages students to pay attention to important stuff.
With so much information from multiple classes, material that is repeated will often "float" to the top.
3) Repetition aids students in applying what they learned.
A student who remembers a technique or procedure from repeatedly being exposed to it will be able and willing to apply it on their own.
Alignment
Alignment comes in the form of vertical and horizontal alignment (or somewhere in between). It's like when you write a grocery shopping list and align all of the items to the left side of the page. It would be weird to align some words left; some words center and some words right.
2) Alignment encourages eye movement to key elements on the screen.
If you want to make sure that your students are reading what you present in the LMS, use tight, consistent alignment of elements on the page. Design your material so that the students' eyes flow continuously and don't have to jump too much on the page. Jumping leads to incomprehension and you know what that leads to!
3) Alignment fosters confidence in your students.
Visual alignment is a powerful psychological tool online. A strong, tight alignment can be a great instructional aid in cases where students have to assimilate unfamiliar, difficult or just large amounts of information. For instance, provide visually attractive concept maps with clearly aligned boxes on it as a midterm study sheet and students will want to study and understand the material. My students swear by my concept maps for writing their final projects and studying for the midterm exam. If you are not familiar with using concept maps, read this post about them HERE.
For students who forget (most of them) things they are learning, repetition helps to "drill" it in the noggin.
2) Repetition encourages students to pay attention to important stuff.
With so much information from multiple classes, material that is repeated will often "float" to the top.
3) Repetition aids students in applying what they learned.
A student who remembers a technique or procedure from repeatedly being exposed to it will be able and willing to apply it on their own.
Alignment
Alignment comes in the form of vertical and horizontal alignment (or somewhere in between). It's like when you write a grocery shopping list and align all of the items to the left side of the page. It would be weird to align some words left; some words center and some words right.
Here are the reasons why ALIGNMENT in your online course is important -
1) Good alignment of content fosters organization and navigation.
Clear navigation and content organization are two keys to a successful online course design. Indiana State University through its NSSE found that overall course organization was a major factor in student success online. Learn more about the NSSE in my most recent presentation HERE.
1) Good alignment of content fosters organization and navigation.
Clear navigation and content organization are two keys to a successful online course design. Indiana State University through its NSSE found that overall course organization was a major factor in student success online. Learn more about the NSSE in my most recent presentation HERE.
If you want to make sure that your students are reading what you present in the LMS, use tight, consistent alignment of elements on the page. Design your material so that the students' eyes flow continuously and don't have to jump too much on the page. Jumping leads to incomprehension and you know what that leads to!
3) Alignment fosters confidence in your students.
Visual alignment is a powerful psychological tool online. A strong, tight alignment can be a great instructional aid in cases where students have to assimilate unfamiliar, difficult or just large amounts of information. For instance, provide visually attractive concept maps with clearly aligned boxes on it as a midterm study sheet and students will want to study and understand the material. My students swear by my concept maps for writing their final projects and studying for the midterm exam. If you are not familiar with using concept maps, read this post about them HERE.
Proximity
Proximity means that things that belong together ARE together. Makes sense, right? Oftentimes in online course, information that should be together is not. One of my biggest pet peeves is the placement of the "class forum" at the very top of the course page. This is a good idea at the beginning of the course when everyone is in module 1. What about when its module 8? It's rough to have to scroll all the way up the screen to post or read a comment. Better idea: Add your class forum to the top AND to the left sidebar.
Here are the reasons why PROXIMITY in your online course is important -
1) Proximity helps students make sense of course material.
Grouping and batching material is an effective mental way to learning materials. Course material that is organized in good visual proximity has a better chance of being learned by your students. For instance, place all assignments for a week in the same place within a learning module.
2) Proximity encourages students to use the full resources of the courses.
If you want your students to use the library, why not place a help sheet for the library in the resources section of an assignment section in a module? That way, when students need that service, it is nearby.
3) Proximity allows students to relax more throughout the semester.
Have you ever had the student who frantically searches for materials as the semester marches on? By encouraging relaxation, students can avoid wasting time (and energy) looking for what they need to pass the course. Here's a big tip: Place duplicate links in appropriate learning modules to materials that are repeatedly used. For instance, place the syllabus and grade breakdown in the last module as students turn in assignment. They are most likely thinking about how they will be graded in the last week of the course.
1) Proximity helps students make sense of course material.
Grouping and batching material is an effective mental way to learning materials. Course material that is organized in good visual proximity has a better chance of being learned by your students. For instance, place all assignments for a week in the same place within a learning module.
2) Proximity encourages students to use the full resources of the courses.
If you want your students to use the library, why not place a help sheet for the library in the resources section of an assignment section in a module? That way, when students need that service, it is nearby.
3) Proximity allows students to relax more throughout the semester.
Have you ever had the student who frantically searches for materials as the semester marches on? By encouraging relaxation, students can avoid wasting time (and energy) looking for what they need to pass the course. Here's a big tip: Place duplicate links in appropriate learning modules to materials that are repeatedly used. For instance, place the syllabus and grade breakdown in the last module as students turn in assignment. They are most likely thinking about how they will be graded in the last week of the course.
Conclusion
In doing a C.R.A.P. evaluation of my own course designs, I found some areas that I can tighten up before the next semester starts. It's nice to do this quick evaluation on courses that you have taught awhile. It gives you some guidelines for tweaking the visual design of your course.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment on methods you use to critique your course designs. Bye for now.
* All images from Pixabay.com.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment on methods you use to critique your course designs. Bye for now.
* All images from Pixabay.com.
