[Athen] [EXT] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

[David McGeehan]

Kate makes some excellent points. I back-channeled with Robert that perhaps terse, explicit explanations of the multiple file formats may aid students.

Ann Newland's point about various file types not really meeting the spirit of UDL is also very valid, particularly when one considers assessment.

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Katherine Deibel
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 1:43 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] [EXT] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

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I was going to mention Ally in Blackboard as well. I can attest that students have reported a love of the ability to download texts as audio files. They even seem to have a high tolerance for annoyances like the audio including running headers and footers, page numbers, etc. It is definitely a universal design effect in action.

I will say that you are a bit justified in you concern on offering multiple choices for disabled students. If they lack experience in knowing what best aids them, they might face issues such as choice paralysis and overload. Even students who know what they mean may be frustrated if they can't identify what option best meets their preference. For example, an option may be called MP3 but the student is non-technical and just expects to see audiobook or audio file or talking book. I'll also mention the issue of learned helplessness here. The AT adoption literature talks a good deal about the impact of repeated bad experiences leading to poor motivation to explore further options. This could also be a risk of offering a lot of options.

I would say that all this can be readily mitigated if some guidance is provided. This could be one-on-one guidance by disability services staff. Or, it could be a more universal approach that provides brief explanations of what each option is and maybe even providing a decision tree or flow network to help a person determine something to try. Both the personal and general approach is probably best.

Katherine "Kate" Deibel, PhD
Library Accessibility Specialist
Twitter: https://twitter.com/metageeky
GitHub: https://github.com/metageeky

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of Robert Beach
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 1:18 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Athen] [EXT] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

Interesting question. From my experience, students without disabilities have just assumed they are being given options they can choose to best fit their technology needs. It falls into the universal design for learning and universal design for instruction models.

On our campus we are using Ally for Blackboard. This gives students the option to have a file that an instructor posts in one format converted to a different format. For example, if the instructor is posting PDF files, the student can instead have the file converted and downloaded as an HTML file which may work better for the technology they have available to them. They could also have the file downloaded as an audio file using synthetic speech so they can listen to the content rather than read it visually. There is really nothing to indicate that this is a disability thing in Blackboard.

Last spring we had more than two thousand files converted and downloaded as either PDF or EPUB files by more than 1,400 students. We do not have nearly that many students registered for accommodations at our school.

I'm not sure any of this helps, but that's about the best I can tell you. Students seem to like the ability to convert and download the format they like.


Robert Lee Beach
Assistive Technology Specialist - Student Accessibility & Support Services

Kansas City Kansas Community College
7250 State Ave. - Suite # 3384 - Kansas City, KS 66112
O 913-288-7671 | F 913-288-7678
rbeach at kckcc.edu<mailto:rbeach at kckcc.edu>



From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of David McGeehan
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 11:50 AM
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Subject: Re: [Athen] [EXT] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

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Thank you Robert for your response.

To clarify my question, when addressing accessibility issues and learning modality preferences, one approach is to provide the same material in multiple formats. In so doing, are other issues/problems introduced, i.e., redundancy cognitive overload, students unsure of what material type to choose, confusion about why multiple formats are presented, etc.

I'm speculating that students not living with a disability may not be aware of the accommodations provided to students with disabilities, so redundant material formats may confuse them.

(BTW, this question is not about extraneous cognitive load split attention, though insights into that would be welcome).


From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of Robert Beach
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 12:32 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Athen] [EXT] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

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I'm not sure I understand your question. When you say multiple formats, are you referring to providing a Word, PDF, HTML, audio, and EPUB format of the same material? Do you mean using multiple stimuli such as having the words highlighted while they are spoken so that there is the stimuli of motion, color, and sound to help with retention and comprehension?

Thanks.


Robert Lee Beach
Assistive Technology Specialist - Student Accessibility & Support Services

Kansas City Kansas Community College
7250 State Ave. - Suite # 3384 - Kansas City, KS 66112
O 913-288-7671 | F 913-288-7678
rbeach at kckcc.edu<mailto:rbeach at kckcc.edu>



From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of David McGeehan
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 11:24 AM
To: athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [EXT][Athen] How providing course materials in multiple formats may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy

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Hello,

Does anyone have information / insights regarding providing course materials in multiple formats and how that may impact the extraneous cognitive load of redundancy?

Thank you,

David McGeehan
Dr. David Adam McGeehan
Instructional Designer and Accessibility Specialist
Division of Educational Technology
Butler County Community College
107 College Drive
Butler, PA 16002
david.mcgeehan at bc3.edu<mailto:david.mcgeehan at bc3.edu>
724-287-8711 ext. 8019

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