Internal data suggests associates within the business unit are not engaging with eLearning—or possibly learning in general. This is manifesting as general complaints, low completion rates, and poor knowledge retention as reported by learners themselves.
This leads to incomplete knowledge and poor job performance, ultimately hindering the stakeholder's ability to operate effectively, which impacts revenue and growth.

To address this, the Learning & Development team, in partnership with the business, is launching a learning event targeted at Instructional Designers and their supporting associates (e.g., leaders). The goal is to increase awareness and application of multimedia, animation, and user interaction in instructional design to improve engagement and learning outcomes.

Business ObjectivesWhat does success look like for the business?

• Increased Learning Event Completion Rate - Measured via LMS data, benchmarked against historical learning events.
• Increased Associate Positive Sentiment Toward Learning Events - Measured via pre/post surveys using Likert scales; evaluated through a Kirkpatrick Level 1 framework.
• Increased Associate Knowledge Retention - Evaluated through Level 2 Kirkpatrick assessments or similar tools.

Learner Objectives
From the learner's perspective: "What's in it for me?"

Focusing on the first three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Remember (Level 1)
• Understand (Level 2)
• Implement (Level 3)

Learners will be able to

• Understand how multimedia, animation, and user interaction affect learning outcomes
• Articulate the meaning of Extraneous Cognitive Load
• Explain how good instructional design can reduce cognitive load
• Implement appropriate multimedia and interactive elements in future projects

Supporting Knowledge - To meet these objectives, the learning must include

• Definitions and examples of multimedia, animation, and user interaction
• Research linking these techniques to increased engagement and learning outcomes
• Overview of Cognitive Load Theory, with emphasis on Extraneous Load

Stakeholders
Ethan Nguyen, Maria Garcia
Design
Matt Gordon
Development
Matt Gordon
SMEs
David Kim, Aisha Patel
Review
Lily Chen, Jamal Robinson, All Stakeholders
Target Delivery Date
MM/DD/YYYY
Modality
eLearning (Self-Directed)
Estimated Completion Time
5 minutes
Known Constraints

• Cannot deploy via LMS (portfolio limitation); must be hosted on the web
• Must be responsive across desktop and smartphone devices

Out of Scope

• Technical training on how to implement multimedia or animations

Design Requirements
Multimedia

• Use images from Pexels
• Videos created with Adobe Express or similar

Animation & Interaction

• Use built-in Rise animations and interactions for rapid development

Visual Design

• Built-in Rise theme and color scheme
• Each page to feature a semi-opaque header image

Citations

• All academic and performance data must be cited within the course

Title
Enhancing the Learning Experience Through MAUI

About This Course
This course contains audio. Please make sure your device's volume is set to a reasonable level.

Disclaimer
While this is typically where legalese would go, instead we'll remind the reader that this is sample work prepared by Matt Gordon as part of a portfolio example. It's not intended to be reproduced or shared outside its stated purpose.

Learning Objectives - As a learner who has completed this course, you will

• Understand and articulate how multimedia, animation, and user interaction affect a learner's perception of a learning event, as well as the content
• Understand and articulate what Extraneous Cognitive Load is
• Explain how Extraneous Cognitive Load is reduced through good instructional design

Priming Question
Think back to a time when you participated in a learning event, either in-person or virtually, that just showed you a few PowerPoint slides, or a wall of text. How engaged were you?

The Effect on the Learner
What are Multimedia, Animation, and User Interaction?
These are tools that you're likely familiar with, and understand their effects on an intuitive level as an Instructional Designer.

Examples of Multimedia

• Text
• Audio
• Image
• Animation
• Video

Examples of User Interaction

• Clicking
• Sliding
• Toggling
• Dragging
• Dropping
• Typing

Enhance Your eLearning
Multimedia, Animation, and User Interaction (or MAUI) not only help the learner make a more meaningful connection with the material, but can also influence the learner's attitude toward the content and the learning event.

Audio Callout
Put another way, these tools and techniques help the learner positively engage with the learning event and the content. This can have a direct effect on the learner's ability to absorb and internalize the information being presented.

The Effect on the Learner
There are several large bodies of research that explore, test, and validate how various types of multimedia and user interaction affect the learner's experience and knowledge transference. So much so that it spans several academic disciplines beyond what we have time to discuss today.

For our purposes, we'll explore the following

- How MAUI promotes a positive perception of the learning event, as well as the content
- How MAUI reduces Extraneous Cognitive Load

Positive Learning, Content, and Active Learning

Study 1

“The qualitative results confirm the quantitative analysis that the enhanced interactivity design produced a more favourable user experience. The interactive features were generally well received, while the standard design was considered boring and was rated less favourably because of its absence of interactive features. Interestingly, this negative view also influenced perception of content even though this was identical for both designs, so the lack of engaging interactive features appears to have created a ‘negative halo’ effect on content.”
Source – Sutcliffe Study on ResearchGate

Study 2

“In each experiment, students’ engagement and active learning have been approximately 66% greater, than with the same material being delivered using bullet points, text, and speech, corroborating a range of theories presented by multimedia learning scholars like Sweller and Mayer.”
— David Roberts
Source – Roberts on Academia.edu

Cognitive Load Theory
To understand why it’s important to reduce cognitive load, we need to first understand the theory.

Developer Requirement:
Insert Explainer Video Here. It should include text and iconography as reinforcement. Use the same color scheme as the Rise course.

Explainer Video Script
Cognitive Load Theory was developed in the late 1980s through the work of John Sweller.

There are three types of cognitive load:
- Intrinsic Cognitive Load – The inherent level of difficulty of the instructional content.
- Extraneous Cognitive Load – The load generated by the way content is presented. This is the part instructional designers can influence and reduce.
- Germane Cognitive Load – The mental effort devoted to constructing long-term memory (schema).

If we reduce extraneous cognitive load through tools like MAUI, we increase the learner’s capacity to engage and retain content.

Recap
Instructional Designers can reduce the extraneous cognitive load of learners using multimedia, animation, and interaction.

Doing so improves

• Learner attitude
• Learner engagement
• Learner retention

Knowledge Check

Developer Requirements

• Learners must pass with at least 66%
• On completion, show a congratulatory message and exit instructions

Questions

True or False
Multimedia, Animation, and User Interaction can increase the learner’s engagement and ability to actively learn by up to 66%.
Answer: True

Matching
Match the correct cognitive load to its definition:

• Intrinsic – The inherent difficulty of the topic
• Extraneous – How the information is presented
• Germane – Building long-term memory (schema)

Multiple Choice
Which type of cognitive load can an instructional designer directly influence?
Answer: Extraneous Cognitive Load

Exit
Congratulations! You’ve completed the module.

Feel free to revisit any lessons to review. When ready, click the button below to exit and mark the course complete.

Although this sample does not include a finished course, development would be executed using Articulate Rise for

• Rapid authoring and responsive design
• Clear, accessible structure using Rise blocks (e.g., toggles, image-text pairs, click-to-reveal)
• Visual consistency via Rise’s built-in themes
• Accessibility features (alt text, captions, keyboard navigation)

Video assets would be created using Adobe Express or Vyond, aligned to a script and storyboard. Early prototypes would be shared for stakeholder review, followed by QA and finalization.

This project is not being deployed live. In a real-world setting, implementation would include

• Publishing to LMS or SCORM Cloud for pilot testing
• Setting completion tracking and quiz thresholds
• Launch planning with stakeholder communications
• Ensuring compatibility across devices and browsers

Implementation would be coordinated with technical partners and business leads to ensure seamless delivery.

Level 1 – Reaction
Learner feedback would be gathered via post-course surveys. These would assess

• Content clarity
• Perceived engagement
• Relevance to role and learning goals

Surveys would include both Likert-scale and open-ended questions.

Level 2 – Learning
Knowledge checks within the module would assess understanding of

• Multimedia and interactivity best practices
• Concepts from Cognitive Load Theory

Pre/post comparisons could be implemented in a live setting to track learning gains.

In a full rollout, I would also analyze LMS analytics and conduct stakeholder interviews to support continuous improvement.