Paint me a picture: translating academic integrity policies and regulations into visual content for an online course

Abstract

In 2012, and 2014 Libraries and Learning Services from the University of Auckland created two online courses to introduce students to the concept of academic integrity and its associated values and expectations. The challenge was to introduce the somewhat dry subject matter to a diverse group of students in an engaging way and to avoid large tracts of text that were difficult to comprehend. Initial research undertaken by the development team suggested that visually representing bodies of text was an effective way of communicating with the target audience. Dual coding theory, multimodal instructional design and cognitive load theories provided a framework for the learning design approach taken by the design team who ultimately selected Richard Mayer’s (2001) Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning as a basis for designing the two courses. This paper outlines how the two courses were designed in accordance principles outlined in Mayer’s theory and how the design team integrated seven of Mayer’s twelve principles to create dynamic, visual and aural elements such as animations, narrations and text to engage learners in a more meaningful learning process.