Visual Instructional Tip #1

Visual Instructional Tip:  Don't forget that the level of complexity and fidelity of the diagrams, images, slides, or illustrations you are creating should be matched to the academic level of the student.  If you are creating PowerPoint Slides, for example, use black and white line art for novices and photographs for advanced students.  

Why?  Advanced students can handle the complexity and fidelity of a photograph because they will have some idea already of what they are looking at, and in the end, they will be able to filter the important from the unimportant because of their pre-existing knowledge.   Novices, on the other hand, will find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of information in a photograph.