Mayer’s principles were mostly quite intuitive to me as I’ve struggled in the past with cognitive overload, and have learned that I need to break information down into manageable chunks in order for myself to process it. His principles were very validating of my previous struggles as well as my strategies for managing them. One strategy that stood out was the discouraging of the use of excessive visual aids, as in the past I’ve always tried to include many visuals to keep my audience engaged.
For my Screencastify, I abstained from adding any additional visuals and kept to strictly what was on screen and on the score. I used my mouse for signaling instead of potentially disorienting zooms and visual effects, and kept my narration relevant to what was occurring on screen. I also tried to introduce a manageable amount of information, to avoid overwhelming my viewers. Musescore allows for the use of many different instruments, articulatory features, and auditory effects. However, these functions are for more advanced learners and can be confusing at first, especially when this video is only meant to be one’s first introduction to score composition. Since I was already introducing the new (and highly interactive) elements of pitch and note duration, all while learning a new computer software, I chose to cap these three elements and not delve into the array of features Musescore has to offer. I feel that I was able to integrate several of Mayer’s principles including signalling, minimizing extraneous load, and employing Cognitive Load Theory.