Comments on: Less text, more learning

By: Weekly links roundup by Communications from DMN

Weekly links roundup by Communications from DMN — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:30:58 +0000

[...] article argues that concise writing is better for [...]

By: I think there is something to this! « Random Thoughts

I think there is something to this! « Random Thoughts — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:12:48 +0000

[...] post, Wordiness and Instructional Design. He had a link to Cathy Moore’s post Less Text, More Learning. Cathy shares insights from a report on a study by Richard E. Mayer, William Bove, Alexandra [...]

By: The Mindjet Blog » When Less is More…

The Mindjet Blog » When Less is More… — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:54:45 +0000

[...] at the results of a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology which I discovered on Making Change, an instructional [...]

By: Less Text Is Better | Workplace Learning Today

Less Text Is Better | Workplace Learning Today — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:00:52 +0000

[...] Interesting post about research indicating that the lesson with the fewest words produced the most learning. [...]

By: Check These Out… « aLearning Blog

Check These Out… « aLearning Blog — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:00:46 +0000

[...] Why less is more, by Cathy Moore; note that this holds true ESPECIALLY for elearnig : http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2009/01/less-text-more-learning/ [...]

By: mewcomm

mewcomm — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:32:13 +0000

You got your point across Vijay! I found it stimulating and v alid ! It made me re read what you had said twice to grasp it!

Thanks for the guidance!
Cheers,

mike whatley
altadena, Ca.

By: Vijay Luthra

Vijay Luthra — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:15:06 +0000

It is evident I haven’t been able to get my point across. I apologize. As my last post on this matter I only have to say that it is the elimination of words that do not contribute to the understanding of the subject matter that result in better comprehension. There is large amount of literature on this topic and if someone is interested I’ll provide references.

By: Vijay Luthra

Vijay Luthra — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:07:18 +0000

My apologies for the duplication…I had inadvertently pressed the enter key before I was ready to post.

By: Cathy Moore

Cathy Moore — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:06:13 +0000

Thanks for the comments. If you’re concerned that deleting words will reduce understanding, please look at the study. The study makes clear that the researchers summarized information–they didn’t randomly delete words. The increase in test scores makes clear that these summaries increased understanding.

There are many other posts on this blog that go into more detail about how writing style can affect understanding and motivation. You can see these posts by clicking the “Writing tips” category.

By: Vijay Luthra

Vijay Luthra — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:04:45 +0000

Even if fewer words result in a lack or degradation of understanding? Do you mean that as the number of words is reduced there is a corresponding increase in the level of comprehension? Or that a judicial review of a document to weed out the superfluous words and phrases (and maybe even restructuring the written piece) clarifies the subject matter? Empirical evidence doesn’t compel us to suspend critical thinking but instead requires an open mind for the judicial review of the conclusions presented. All evidence, empirical included, yields results on the basis of its interpretation otherwise everything in the world would have already been decided on the basis of the observed (experiential) phenomenon! As new information becomes available, the same ‘facts’ lead us to different outcomes. For example, before Galileo’s interpretation the empirical fact was that sun orbits the Earth.