Analyzing the Coherence Principle 1

Running Head: ANALYZING THE COHERENCE PRINCIPLE

Analyzing the Coherence Principle

Kellie Schneider
Boise State University
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The Coherence Principle is the avoidance of extraneous material in a multimedia

presentation that clutters the lesson and does not support the instructional goal. While

adding interesting audio, pictures, and text may add emotional interest to a presentation

it probably won’t enhance learning and may even be detrimental to the instructional

goal. Extraneous sounds such as background music or other background sounds can

be distracting to a learner. They can overload the working memory and other essential

sounds, such as narration, are now in competition for cognitive processing. Graphics

that are added merely for the purpose of decoration can also add strain to cognitive

processing. The can cause distraction to the learner’s attention and disrupt the building

of cognitive links between pieces of learning material. Enhancing a presentation with

excessively wordy narratives or descriptions to create interest, elaborate on concepts,

or include technical details can also distract from learning goals (Clark & Meyer, 2003).

As stated by Clark & Meyer, “If the learner is successful in building a coherent mental

representation of the presented material, the learner experiences enjoyment” (p.142).

Learners will be engaged if the material is presented in an interesting way, but that does

not mean instruction has to be particularly flashy or excessively long. Higher quantity of

instruction does not necessarily equal higher quality of learning. Multimedia

presentations should be kept clear, concise, and to the point.

As an educator I have spent many days of my career in in-service training

sessions. One of these training sessions, conducted in the fall of 2008, was an

introduction to Dr. Ruby Payne’s research of the connection between generational

poverty and success in education. It was a very interesting presentation because some

parts of the presentation followed the principle of coherence and some did not. The
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instructor’s method was a lecture with a PowerPoint presentation. Some of the more

successful portions of the instruction included a simple slide with a diagram, labeled

with key terms. The instructor would then talk us through the graphic. This provided a

clear, concise explanation of those particular topics, without overwhelming us. Another

slide provided a table from Dr. Payne’s book A Framework for Understanding Poverty.

This table described how people from different classes tend to view different aspects of

life. The table provided insightful information, and we were given a copy of the table.

The instructor then provided us a few minutes to look through the table and ask

questions. Overall the presentation was very successful. I had attended a conference in

which we addressed the same information, but had a much longer time to learn it.

Knowing how much information could have been addressed, I think the instructor kept

the instruction very concise. There were no extraneous graphics or wordy descriptions

and he kept the language clear and free of technical jargon. During the same school

year I attended a staff meeting where neither the Coherence Principle, nor the

redundancy principle, was understood. The presenters were a small group of my

colleagues, fellow teachers, who had created a PowerPoint presentation. This

presentation included clipart, which really did not add understanding to the presentation;

it was merely for decorative purposes. In fact, it was silly and got the staff a little

distracted and they started talking to on another. The presenters had created slides with

background music and text, and then they read the text aloud, verbatim. I can recall this

part of the presentation, but I can’t remember what the presentation was about.

Narrating while the background music was playing was a clear violation of the

Coherence Principle.
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Coherence is the principle that ties all the other principles together because it

encourages clarity and conciseness. The Contiguity Principle encourages this same

concept by keeping words and graphics together in one area, keeping transitions simple

for the learner. The Modality Principle encourages clarity by dividing the workload of

sensory memory evenly between audio and visual senses. The Redundancy principle

encourages clarity by keeping explanations to one medium, and not repeating

information unnecessarily. All of these principles discourage the use of extraneous

material or instruction methods and are linked by the Coherence principle.

Psychologically, the Coherence Principle provides a generally smoother

transition for information to get from sensory memory to cognitive processing. Adding

extraneous graphics or sound will make learners pay attention, but appealing to

emotional interest does not promote deeper learning (Clark & Mayer). The presence of

extraneous material may also guide the learner toward inappropriate aspects of the

material, leading him or her to focus on unnecessary information (Mayer, 1999).

In general, I believe the Coherence Principle is sound. Working with young

children has encouraged me to be clear and concise in my instruction, especially in

multimedia presentations that I have created. This principle makes sense to me. It

reminds me of how many times I have told my students that they have to raise their

hand to speak in class. We can hear more than one person speak at a time, but we

really cannot understand unless we can focus on just one person. I do think that this

principle may be a little generalized and should certainly be viewed as a guideline, but a

guideline that should be followed as often as possible. I work with sixth-graders and I

have a required curriculum to teach. I try to bring out the most interesting aspects of that
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curriculum and employ teaching methods that will keep my students engaged, but

sometimes I just have to put a cute clipart or photo in a multimedia presentation. To

some, this may violate the Coherence Principle, but I think it is important for an

instructor to understand an audience. That cute clipart keeps the kids with me for just

another moment so I can give them the real meat of the lesson. Included in this

generalization, are the characteristics of learners. Clark and Meyer acknowledge that

their conclusions are based on research of novice learners. Bartholomé and Bromme

(2009) explore the depth of Mayer’s conclusions and how the coherence principle

applies to different types of knowledge in various situations. I would also like to see how

this principle applies, in a less general manner, to learners with strong background

knowledge as well as low-ability learners and content-specific instruction.

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References

Bartholomé, T., & Bromme, R. (2009). Coherence formation when learning from text

and pictures: What kind of support for whom? Journal of Educational

Psychology, 101(2), 282-293. doi: 10.1037/a0014312

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2003). E-learning and the science of instruction. Jossey-

Bass/Pfeiffer: San Francisco, CA.

Mayer, R. E. (1999). Multimedia aids to problem-solving transfer. International Journal

of Educational Research, 31(7), 611-623.