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The project is a five-week course thatserves as an
introductiontop
 
 The project will cover design elements,
such asimages, fonts, colors and basic principles Upon the completion of
the course, students will be able to design a project (eg slide presentation)
with all the learned knowledge and skills a pplied

The primary audience will be   that are interested in information

design but have little or no experience in th is fieldThe 
will be
eight to twelve people

The course is designed in such a way that it not only provide s essential entry
knowledge and skills in Information D esign, but also has incorporated
activities that provoke  ΠlearningThese help make sure that the
learners would not feel intimidated by the course , and learners are more
likely to succeed when they believe in their ability to achieve a desired
outcome (Driscoll, 2005)

The course also advocates 



in class to ensure learners·
encodingand memory of new knowledge Almost after every demonstration
of new learning content, the students will be presented with sufficient
opportunities to drill and practice extensively, so that automaticity
(Schneider, 1977, as is cited in Driscoll, 2005 ) can take place

Next, the course promotes the use of 

 very lesson is permeated
with plenty of multimedia examplesto impress them through as many
sensory modes as possible, since ´viewing the same content through
different sensory modes enables different aspects of it to be seenµ (Driscoll,
2005, p 399) In that way, different learning styles of le arners can be
accommodated, while their learning results and motivation will be
enhanced at the same time (Driscoll, 2005)
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The students have learned about the design of fonts ³how to emphasize a
word, how to position different groups of information, etc

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The students will be able to apply what they have learned about fonts to
real practice

U

:
1| ach student must design a name card using any computer software or
application they are comfortable with in 10 minutes
2| Students will volunteer to share their name card design with the rest of
the class




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1| The information on the name card is not to describe who they are now,
but who they dream to be
2| The following elements must appear on the name card: a name, a job
title, an address, a phone number, an email address, as well as a
company·s name
3| verything can be made up

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This activity connects with the origins and determinants of motivation
(Driscoll, 2005) The design of content on the name card utilizes fantasy
The use of fantasy ´in learning entails providing learners with a meaningful
context for learning that is easy to augment with their imaginations µ
(Rieber, 1991, p 320) In this case, fantasy helps sustain the students·
interest in and attention on the activity, and bring about the desired change

This activity also successfully embeds learning in ´realistic« and relevant

environmentsµ (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996; p 393 ), since almost everyone
has seen a name card, or at least has a sense of what it looks like

The sharing of name card design helps build a learning community , in which
both teachers and students work collaboratively to achieve important goals
(Driscoll, 2005)

  



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The students have learned the features of different formats of images ³size,
the capability to be compressed, etc

U
: To strengthen the students· understanding and memory of
different images· formats as well as their features
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:
ach group will get a chance to choose from the many tiles on the screen
On the back of every tile is an image ach group can ask the instructor to
do threethings to find out what format the image is The group that earns
the most points will be rewarded

A
:For example, students can ask the instructor to enlarge the image |







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The instructor created a competitive environment for the students (groups
are competing with each other so as to get the rewards), because students
usually work harder under such a condition (Atkinson, 1964)

´Positive consequences can be especially useful «when learning tasks are

inherently boring or their relevance is not perceived by the learnersµ
(Driscoll, 2005) In this case, memorizing the differences between various
formats of pictures can be very boring, so it is wise for the instructor to
provide incentive for the students to pay a ttention and participate

´Learning in most setting is a communal activity, a sharing of the cultureµ

(Bruner, 1986, as is cited in Driscoll, 2005, p 396) , and higher mental
processes in humans develop through social interaction Therefore, the
students· working in groups in this case provides´a means for themselves to
understand point of view other than their own µ (Driscoll, 2005, p 397)

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The
e  have earne he ayo
and effe of i age in re entation.

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The tudents wi e able to apply the above nowledgeto practice.

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.| The students will be paired up and take a picture of each other  it could
be about any part of the student).

.| They will need to identify what type of ads their photos will be best for.
.| Every student will create a slide that includes his or her own photo and

also so e te ts to advertise whatever he or she likes within the photo.

.| Necessary changes ust be ade to the photo so that it atches

perfectly with of the ads.

.| The use of color and effects ust be displayed in the ads properly.

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The instructor aims at creating meaningful learning for the students by
presenting materials and practices that are relevant to the learners· real
life and relating what the learners are supposed to know to what they
already know (Driscoll, 2005) The relevance and connection are built based
on the facts that advertisements can be seen everywhere and taking a photo
is a frequently performed action for almost every adult

This activity also promotes problem -solving skills, because it expects the
students to illustrate their mastery of knowledge and application of learning
content in many aspects³they need to pay attention to the use of fonts, the
position of image, and layout of text, etc However, it is only through such
kind of complex situations, can their problem-solving skills be best
developed (Driscoll, 2005)

 
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The students have read many terms about color ³resolution, saturation,
value, hue, etc

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The students will be able to recall and strengthen their memory of those
terms

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The instructor will assign a reading about color with a list of leading
questions Upon the completion of reading, the class will be divided in
several groups and play d
 to see how well they have memorized the
reading content As usual, the group that earns the most points will gain
rewards
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:
1 | The true or pure color [What is hue?]
2 | A higher percentage of white is added to the hue [What aretints?]



:
The instructor created a competitive environment for the students (groups
are expected to compete with each other so as to get the rewards), because
students usually work harder under such a condition (Atkinson, 1964)

´Positive consequences can be especially useful«when learning tasks are
inherently boring or their relevance is not perceived by the learnersµ
(Driscoll, 2005, p 325) In this case, memorizing dozens ofterms about color
usageis painful and dull, so it is wise for the instructor to provide incentive s
for the students to participate and concentrate

Another reason to use Jeopardy is tha t it is a typical and popular show

rooted in American culture, and in the theory of situation cognition, any
learning must start with a clear acknowledgement and an understanding of a
learner·s culture (Clancey, 1997)

Behaviorist approach can also be found in this activity: The instructor

evaluates the students· observable behavior to see if the instructional goals
are met, and this activity serves as reinforcement to the students· memory
of the reading content


   

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The students have learned the utilization of images, fonts, colors as well as
some basic principles

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To recall what they have learned so far;

To be able to interpret a design with his or her own experience and ration;
To be able to identify good elements and bad elements in design 

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1| ach group will choose one slide from the slides they have individually
created and post it on Blackboard
2| When one group·s slide is shown on the screen, students of other groups
will comment on the slide verbally (eg the color usage of heading is so
not professional), and observe the target group members· facial
expression
3| They could also ask questions about the slide (eg why do you choose
this type of font?), and every member of the target group must answer
the questions confidently and reasonably to let the class believe that the
slide is his or hers
4| The rest of the class will need to make a final judgment as to whose
design it really is based on their observation 
5| The side that successful completesthe assigned task (defending or
observing) will be rewarded




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Based on Gagne·s (1972) taxonomy of learning outcomes, the learning
content in this activity belongs to verbal information, and specifically higher
order rules Higher order rules require the learner·s ability to apply´ a new
combination of rules to solve a complex problemµ (Gagne, 1972, as is cited
in Driscoll, 2005, p359) In this case, the students will need to recall the
many rules they have learned about images, colors, fonts and layout so far
to determine what elements on the slide are appropriate and what elements
are tragic

Social interaction among group partners during instruction has a positive

impact on their learning In this activity, either side of groups must work
together to defeat the other side and win the rewards

Interpretivism can also be found in this activity The defending side needs
to interpret the slide using their own ration and experience, and explain
why certain element is used in a reasonable way

Finally, the teacher fosters multiple perspectives All students in the class
will have a chance to share their opinion on the same slide with each other
and come to understand another·s view (Cunningham, 1992)

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References

Atkinson, J W (1964) *
 






 Princeton, NJ: Van

Nostrand

Bruner, J S (1986) *
 






 
 Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press

Clancey, W J (1997) 






 
 


 
 


 New York: Cambridge University Press

Driscoll, M P (2005)






 




 Boston, MA:

Pearson ducation, Inc

Duffy, T M & Cunningham, D J (1996) Constructivism: Implications for

the design and delivery of instruction In D H Jonassen ( d),

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H 












 


 

 


 New York: Macmillan

Rieber, L P (1991) Animation, incidental learning, and continuing

motivationd
 









 , , 318-328