Organization & Integration
Assumptions:
My users will be students in an 11th-12th grade Honors Physics class. As such, they have strong reading and technology skills.
Why this layout will work:
With this image I attempted to make a unit overview concept map using the principles of organization, hierarchy and gestalt.
The concept map shows the most important concepts from the entire thermodynamics unit. For organization, I have used color, location, and size to show hierarchy between primary and secondary concepts. The yellow circles represent the seven major ideas, and supporting ideas are shown in green ovals. All concepts are joined by linking arrows, many of which contain a phrase describing the connection. The textbook talks about techniques for showing hierarchy on page 146, including using visual metaphors to show relationships and lines and arrows to strengthen relationships. I have used both of these techniques here.
For gestalt, my idea was to add links that lead the user to greater detail about any individual concepts. This will contribute to parts being connected to the whole. I have also used proximity by placing similar concepts near one another. Meyer et al. (1996) conclude that scientific explanations are made effective when parts of the explanation are in view of the whole. Here I have tried to reproduce that by showing sub-concepts in the context of how they fit into the larger concepts. In addition, certain sub-topics are linked so the user can explore in greater detail - all while understanding the relationship to the greater whole by proximity.
As I build more material in this unit, I can link more individual pages off this main page.
User test:
When I showed this image to my wife, she commented that it was confusing because it was about confusing material. I can't deny - it does look kind of messy at a glance. Waiting to hear from my classmates if they can make any sense of it.
Feedback & Changes:
I will await feedback from my peers to see if any further revisions are suggested.
Reference:
Mayer, R. E., Bove, W., Bryman, A., Mars, R., & Tapangco, L. (1996). When less is more: Meaning ful learning from visual and verbal summaries of science textbook lessons. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 64-73.
My users will be students in an 11th-12th grade Honors Physics class. As such, they have strong reading and technology skills.
Why this layout will work:
With this image I attempted to make a unit overview concept map using the principles of organization, hierarchy and gestalt.
The concept map shows the most important concepts from the entire thermodynamics unit. For organization, I have used color, location, and size to show hierarchy between primary and secondary concepts. The yellow circles represent the seven major ideas, and supporting ideas are shown in green ovals. All concepts are joined by linking arrows, many of which contain a phrase describing the connection. The textbook talks about techniques for showing hierarchy on page 146, including using visual metaphors to show relationships and lines and arrows to strengthen relationships. I have used both of these techniques here.
For gestalt, my idea was to add links that lead the user to greater detail about any individual concepts. This will contribute to parts being connected to the whole. I have also used proximity by placing similar concepts near one another. Meyer et al. (1996) conclude that scientific explanations are made effective when parts of the explanation are in view of the whole. Here I have tried to reproduce that by showing sub-concepts in the context of how they fit into the larger concepts. In addition, certain sub-topics are linked so the user can explore in greater detail - all while understanding the relationship to the greater whole by proximity.
As I build more material in this unit, I can link more individual pages off this main page.
User test:
When I showed this image to my wife, she commented that it was confusing because it was about confusing material. I can't deny - it does look kind of messy at a glance. Waiting to hear from my classmates if they can make any sense of it.
Feedback & Changes:
I will await feedback from my peers to see if any further revisions are suggested.
Reference:
Mayer, R. E., Bove, W., Bryman, A., Mars, R., & Tapangco, L. (1996). When less is more: Meaning ful learning from visual and verbal summaries of science textbook lessons. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 64-73.