A concept that lacks parts and boundaries and can be represented by an interpretive graphic. Integrity adquality are two examples.

Transfer of relevant memories from long-term memory into working memory in preparation for learning. New content from the lesson is integrated into activated prior knowledge to form new mental models.

A device included at the start of a lesson to activate prior knowledge or build high-level knowledge overview. Provides learners with a lesson preview or analogouscontent to support integration of new content. See also comparative and Expository advance organizer

An instructional method that uses familiar content from a different domain that has similar functions or features as new lesson content. Used to teach new content in terms of familiar knowledge

Series of images that simulate motion.

Focusing of limited psychological capacity onto specific elements in the environment.

Lack of temporal concurrence; not occurring at the same time.

The ability to access knowledge and skills without using attention or working memory resources. Includes motor skills such as driving or typing and cognitive skills suchas reading. Many practice sessions are required to achieveautomaticity.

A term attributed to Edward Tufte to describe the extraneous detail included in charts and graphics that detracts from the point.

Engagement with instructional materials as a result of their comprehensibility. Building materials with igh cognitive interest leads to motivation.

The amount of mental work imposed on working memory during learning. It is affected by the amount of processing working memory must do while holding information in its limited storage capacity. Cognitive load is influenced by the amount of complexity or interactivity in lesson content as well as the prior knowledge of the learner. Novice learnersremost subject to cognitive overload.

A device to activate prior knowledge by referencing something analogous to the new knowledge and skillsinthe lesson introduction.

Visualization of the idea for an illustration or design, usually created as a guide for clients. "Tight comps and loose comps refer to the degree of detail, rendering and general accuracy." (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook 10th Edition, 2001).

People learn more deeply from multimedia lessons when distracting stories, graphics, and sounds are eliminated.

Lesson content that refers to a category of objects or ideas that includes multiple instances usually referenced by a single word. Contrast with Fact.

Factual content that has parts and boundaries and can be visualized with a representational graphic. Compare with Discrete fact.

People learn more deeply when corresponding printedwords and graphics are placed close to one another on the screen or when spoken words and graphics are presented at the same time.

Two or more concepts that can be classified in the same subclass. For example, dog and cat are coordinate concepts under the higher concept of pet.

A non-instance of a concept; an example used to teach a lesson concept by showing an example of a related but separate concept. For example, cat is a counterexample for the concept dog.

A device used to draw attention to part of the instructional environment.

A visual used to add aesthetic appeal or humor.

An instructional approach that starts with generalities such as rules or steps and then provides examples. Moves from the general to the specific.

Loosely, a description of the proposed physical characteristics of the product—size, paper, screen resolution if applicable, particular visual style, and other descriptive information about the final product.

An instructional approach that uses short lessons, and provides rules or steps, examples, and practice with feedback. See also Deductive learning.

An instructional approach in which learners are expected to build mental models with little or no guidanc.

Factual content in the form of isolated quantitative or qualitative data.

The ability to multitask by allocating mental capacity to multiple tasks.

A psychological theory that there are two distinct and independent cognitive systems for processing and storing information: one for imagery and one for words.

A roughly drawn mock-up of a book, brochure, or catalog idea. It is usually the size, dimension, and rough number of pages as is intended for the final product.

An instructional approach intended to improve motivation by embedding instruction in entertaining course elements such as games or popular film themes.

A statistic indicating how many standard deviations difference there is between the mean score of the experimental group and the mean score of the control group. An effect size of .8 or greater indicates a high significant effect.

Engagement in instructional materials based on content that reflects universal themes of life, death, sex, curiosity, or other emotive themes. Can be used to motivate learning but may have negative side effects.

Integration of new information in working memory into long-term memory for permanent storage.

Adverse effect of instructional methods that are helpful to novices when used for more experienced learns.

Any visual that helps learners build mental models—includes organizational, relational, transformational, and interpretive categories.

Lessons that are high in learner control and rely on the learner to select instructional course options they need.

A device to build a high-level knowledge structure during lesson introduction to help organize content details in the lesson. An overview of the lesson content.

Lesson content that consists of unique and specific information. Contrast with Concept.

Tasks that require learners to apply what they have learned to a novel situation, such as adjusting a general principle for a new problem. Contrast with Near-transfer tasks.

The ability to devote attention or mental capacity to one part of the environment when there are distractions in other parts of the environment. Compare with Divided attention.

Any iconic (pictorial) representation designed to optimize learning and work performance. Includes illustrations, drawings, charts, photos, organizational visuals, animation, and video. Also called visual.

An instructional approach in which the learner tries to accomplish an authentic job task, along with guidance from the instruction about how to process the incoming information. See also Inductive learning.

A type of spatial aptitude that supports the use of images to solve spatial tasks or problems. Individuals with this aptitude can hold and recall accurate mental images.

A theory stating that successful transfer requires new skills to be learned in the same context in which they will be applied.

Depiction of visual elements using various media and techniques such as pen and ink, watercolor, and computer drawing packages.

An instructional approach in which learners derive rules or inferences from examples or simulated experiences. Moves from the specific to the general.

The individual's capacity for verbal and for visual data in working memory subcomponents. Usually around 7 plus or minus 2 chunks.

A technique in a lesson intended to facilitate cognitive processing that underlies learning.

Case studies that are designed or scripted to support specific instructional goals. Compare to retrospective cases.

A visual used to illustrate an invisible theory, principle, or cause-and-effect relationship.

Sometimes called a dummy. A layout "may vary from a few scraggly pencil lines indicating type areas andrectangles showing size and position of illustrations to carefully pasted compositions that make use of dummy type (i.e. type of the size, weight, shape and kind intended) and photos of the illustrations" (Jan White, 1982).

Allowing the learner to control the presentation of the lesson such as the pacing, topics, and instructional elements such as practice or examples.

Part of the cognitive system that stores memories in a permanent form. Has a large capacity but cannot process information. A repository of knowledge and skills.

A physical device on which graphics are displayed such as paper or screen.

Knowledge structures stored in long-term memory that support human reasoning processes. Also called Schema.

Awareness and control of one's cognitive processing, including setting goals, selecting effective learning techniques, monitoring progress, and adjusting strategies as needed.

A visual note-taking process that pares thoughts to key words and pictures illustrating the relationshipsamong concepts.

A visual that provides retrieval cues for factual information.

People learn more deeply from multimedia lessons when graphics are explained by audio narration rather than on-screen text.

Computer Generated (CG)—A faithful reproduction of reality, using various media, including computer-generated drawing packages.

Any factor that causes a learner to initiate and complete an instructional goal.

Tasks that require the learner to apply a well-known procedure in the same way as it was learned. Routinetasks. Compare with Far-transfer tasks.

A visual that shows qualitative relationships among content. Tree diagrams are a common example.

A reference resource that provides information that helps workers complete job tasks while they are working. Also known as a job aid.

Research to determine what interventions will best support organizational goals and if training is an intervention, what media is the best delivery solution. Also called Needs assessment.

Engagement in instructional materials as a result of the learner's individual predispositions, hobbies, avocations.

Captured image, using photographic or digital technologies.

Tasks completed in unique ways each time based on the work circumstances. See also Far-transfer tasks

Lessons based on guidelines that must be adapted to various job situations.

An instructional approach in which learning is situated in the context of solving authentic work assignments or problems.

Lessons designed to teach step-by-step skills that are performed the same way each time.

Tasks completed in routine ways by following the same steps each time. See also Near-transfer tasks.

Lesson content that communicates a flow of events such as in a business or scientific process.

The physical dimensions on the medium that the graphic consumes.

Training that primarily presents information without explicit guidance to the learner for how to process it. Usually does not include learner interaction. Classroom lectures or video lessons are often presented in a receptive manner.

People learn more deeply from a multimedia lesson when graphics are explained by audio narration alone rather than audio narration and identical on-screen text.

Active processing of information in working memory, including mentally organizing the material.

A visual used to show quantitative relationships amongtwo or more variables. Bar charts and pie charts are common examples.

A visual that is intended to depict an object.

Transferring information stored in long-term memory to working memory. Also called retrieving process.

A case study usually presented in video that shows actual, unscripted work situations. Compare to Interactive cases.

Loosely drawn ideas in pencil on paper.

Advanced Distributed Learning's (ADL) Applied Sharable Content Object Reference Model. The SCORM is a collection of specifications based on other guidelines (including the AICC) that provide some standardization for instructional content delivered via the Web.

The actual words to be spoken or appear on screen. Used primarily in film and e-learning. Often used to communicate sequence and visual effects as well as actual words to be spoken or read.

A story or graphic added to a lesson in order to increase the learner's interest but which is not essential to the learning objective. Often depresses learning.

The list of still photos needed during a photo shoot with specifications as to location, character, and camera angle required. May also include other production information as needed.

A device to draw attention to or preview instructional content such as changes in colors or fonts or a header in text.

An interactive environment in which features in the environment behave similarly to real-world events.

Attraction to instructional materials as a result of the design of the materials.

An aptitude that supports the visualization of spatial changes.

An expressed learner choice for information presented in graphics or other forms. Contrast with verbal preference.

The amount of visual information that an individual can hold in working memory.

An individual aptitude that supports the use of abstract representations to solve spatial tasks or probles.

From the film industry, a rough drawing that has the same aspect ratio as the finished product. In e-learning used to show placement of text and graphics. Depending on the design and production team, it may be used as a communi ation tool for file names, programming specifications, and original renditions.

Visual treatments in which related graphic information is distributed over several pages or screens makingit difficult to see simultaneously. See synchronized graphic displays.

The outward appearance or features of graphics such as animation or line drawing.

Visual treatments in which related graphic information is integrated in ways that it is visible from one page or screen. See also Successive graphic displays.

Occurring in "real time"; events that exist at the same time.

Research to define the knowledge and skills to be included in training based on observations of performance and interviews of performers. Also called Job analysis.

A classification system.

A concept that has parts and boundaries and can be visualized with a representational graphic.

Application of previously learned knowledge and skills to situations encountered after the learning event.

A visual used to show changes or movement in objects over time or space.

Examples that have different surface features but illustrate a similar idea or task.

Interactive three-dimensional world that dynamically changes as the user moves through and views it.

The effectiveness of graphics at communicating complex content due to less psychological processing demands placed on working memory than text.

The learner's inclination and ability to attend to and to process graphic information. See also metacognition.

The choice a learner would make for content presented in graphics or in words.

Part of the cognitive system in which the learner actively consciously) processes incoming information from theenvironment and retrieved information from long-termmemory. Working memory has two channels (for example, visual and auditory) and is limited in capacity.