Substantive Post #2: Models of Active Learning

Active learning positions learners as active participants in meaning-making rather than passive recipients of information. I have observed how well-crafted in-game guidance can apply fundamental ideas from multimedia learning theory to maintain engagement and enhance comprehension in video game learning supports. To reduce cognitive overload and enhance retention, many games employ dual-coding, which pairs visual cues (such as maps, icons, and animations) with brief textual or verbal prompts (Mayer, 2020). Furthermore, progress bars, highlighted objectives, or sound effects that highlight important details and following actions are frequently used to provide clear signalling. A deliberate activation of the subconscious principle, where prior knowledge and intuitive reasoning are intentionally primed before introducing new content, is closely to the idea of pre-activation stasis, as learners benefit from a short pause or framing moment that helps them prepare their mental models before tackling complex problems.

In a health education or health informatics setting, I would create an authentic learning problem based on a simulated patient case using Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Students would be given a realistic scenario where a patient shows up with several symptoms and insufficient information. They would have to determine the issue, investigate potential causes, use clinical or informational techniques, and consider the results (Merrill, 2002). To support this process, I would develop interactive multimedia, such as a branching video narrative that changes based on student decisions, paired with an interactive dashboard that visualizes patient data trends. Instead of giving students all the material at once, this design would use segmentation by dividing the case into manageable steps (assessment, choice, result, and reflection). In order to clearly direct students to the most pertinent information at each level, signalling would be employed using headers, icons, and colour cues.

In EDCI 337, I notice clear examples of constructive alignment and backward design in how learning objectives impact both theoretical readings and practical blog-based multimedia assignments. Rather than just evaluating recollection, the course design encourages students to make objects that indicate comprehension, reflecting a learner-as-producer approach to active learning. This method is more cognitively engaged than the lecture-heavy classes I’ve attended in health and science areas since it challenges me to externalize my thoughts through writing, design, and reflection. This technique supports the sub-conscious principle by allowing me to generate meaning based on earlier academic and real-world experiences, rather than viewing learning as a surface-level activity.

Reflecting on the reading Students Need to DO Something, I strongly agree with the author’s description of passive learning environments in K-12 classrooms, in which students frequently sit through long periods of information delivery with few opportunities to apply or question what they are learning. Active learning is not more usual because of curriculum pressures and due to a lack of time. Structured peer discussion and problem-based learning are my favourites of the tactics listed since they allow students to test ideas jointly and receive quick feedback. These activities support dual coding when students put verbal explanations with notes, diagrams, etc., together.

This balance not only strengthens my intellectual grasp of multimedia learning theories, but it also allows me to build practical design abilities that I may apply in future academic and professional settings.

References-

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02505024

Mayer, R. E. (2020). Multimedia Learning. Higher Education from Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/multimedia-learning/FB7E79A165D24D47CEACEB4D2C426ECD#overview