The Modality Principle

The modality principle claims that learning will be enhanced if presenting textual information in an auditory format, rather than in visual format, when it is accompanied with other visual information like a graph, diagram or animation.1) Ginns, Paul. Meta-analysis of the modality effect. Learning and Instruction 15, no. 4: 313-331. August 2005.

A recent meta-research1) has examined results of 43 studies and confirmed the following hypotheses:

“Presenting instructional materials using a combination of an auditory mode for textual information, such as spoken text, and a visual mode for graphical information, such as illustrations, charts, animations, etc., will be more effective than presenting all information in a visual format, such as printed text with illustrations, charts or animations.”

“The strength of this effect is moderated by the level of element interactivity of the learning materials.”

“The strength of this effect is moderated by the pacing of presentation, with a strong effect for system-paced materials but a lesser effect for self-paced materials.”