Cultivating Understanding: Teaching Monocots and Dicots with Purposeful Design

An opportunity for me to upskill my opening Google Slides, those that introduce concepts and lessons for my students, is by using Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning to redesign my older lessons into a richer learning experience.

One concept we explore before our edible plant lesson later in the year is how to identify a monocot versus a dicot. The ability for a student to look at a plant and recognize specific features is essential to the identification process.

In the past, I would use a Google Doc that simply showed an image of the basic characteristics of monocots and dicots. I also made copies of this for students to carry while identifying plants in the woods. But much like relying on a multiplication table or a calculator, I began to question whether students were truly learning the concepts or just leaning on the tool.

This diagram is useful, but it doesn’t fully follow Mayer’s principles. Looking at it from a Mayer’s lens, It’s a bit overloaded, with too many visuals and labels shown at once, which makes it harder to focus. It also doesn’t clearly highlight the key differences between monocots and dicots, so learners have to figure out what’s important on their own.

The layout isn’t perfect either. You have to scan around to compare features instead of seeing them clearly side by side. Plus, everything is presented at once and assumes prior knowledge of terms, which can be overwhelming. Overall, it combines images and text well, but it could be improved by simplifying, emphasizing key points, and breaking the information into smaller chunks. Below is my first version.

So, I applied Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning to redesign my slide.

My slides apply Mayer’s principles (Digital Learning Institute, n.d.) in several clear ways. I used the coherence principle by keeping each slide focused on one idea, such as separate slides for monocot leaves, stems, and roots, instead of combining everything into one crowded visual.

The signaling principle is shown through highlighting key terms like “Monocotyledon,” “Dicotyledons,” and phrases like “multiples of 3” or “multiples of 4’s and 5’s,” which helps direct attention to the most important information.

I addressed the redundancy principle by avoiding long blocks of repeated text and instead pairing short labels with visuals, like showing a leaf image labeled “parallel veins.”

The spatial contiguity principle is used by placing images right next to their labels, as seen on the monocot and dicot leaf slides, making it easy to connect visuals with concepts.

The temporal contiguity principle will be applied as I present, explaining each image (like roots or stem cross-sections) while it is on the screen.

I followed the segmenting principle by breaking the lesson into multiple slides, moving step-by-step from monocots to dicots and then into specific features.

The pre-training principle is supported by introducing terms like “monocotyledon” and “dicotyledon” early and explaining that they are simple to understand.

I also apply the modality principle by explaining the content out loud instead of putting all information in text.

The multimedia principle is evident through combining diagrams and real-life images with text on each slide.

The personalization principle is reflected in my conversational tone, such as saying a term is “a big word, but easy to understand.”

The voice principle is addressed through my use of a natural speaking voice during the presentation.

Finally, the image principle is followed by focusing on relevant plant visuals rather than including an image of myself, since the content visuals are what support learning.

These principles do to multimedia design what a sculptor does to a block of marble: they remove the excess and reveal a clear, focused structure. As you can see when comparing my old design to my new one, although the updated version is longer, it is much more digestible. The information is presented in a way that is clear, intentional, and consistent.

Here is my updated Google Slides using these concepts.

To support the lesson alongside the new slide, I will provide physical plant examples at each table. Students will compare, contrast, and handle these specimens while connecting them to what they see on the slide. This approach incorporates physical, visual, and auditory learning to reinforce the concepts. Afterward, we will go into the woods and test their understanding in a real-world setting.

It will take time to update all of my slides using Mayer’s 12 Principles, but I can already see the long-term benefits this will have on my instructional design and student learning.

Works Cited

Digital Learning Institute. (n.d.). Mayer’s principles of multimedia learning. https://www.digitallearninginstitute.com/blog/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning