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•        Limitations of Short-term memory

Short-term memory (STM) (or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory (when rehearsal or active maintenance is prevented) is believed to be in the order of seconds. Estimates of short-term memory capacity are 7 plus or minus 2 units, depending upon the experimental design used to estimate capacity. A commonly-cited capacity is 7±2 elements. In contrast, long-term memory indefinitely stores a seemingly unlimited amount of information.
Short-term memory should be distinguished from working memory which refers to structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information (see more details below).


Resource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-term_memory

When input is stored in the brain for shot-term memory, it will soon be forgotten. As short-term memory is to remember 7±2 elements.So if we want to remember for long-term memory, it should be strengthened circularly through review.

•        Gestalt Principles

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are: Similarity, Continuation, Continuation, Closure, Proximity, Figure and Ground,etc.
For example:Similarity
Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.

The example above (containing 11 distinct objects) appears as as single unit because all of the shapes have similarity.
Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst.
When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasised if it is dissimilar to the others. This is called anomally.

The figure on the far right becomes a focal point because it is dissimilar to the other shapes.
Resource:http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm

•        Dual coding

Dual-coding theory, a theory of cognition, was first advanced by Allan Paivio of the University of Western Ontario. The theory postulates that both visual and verbal information are processed differently and along distinct channels with the human mind creating separate representations for information processed in each channel. Both visual and verbal codes for representing information are used to organize incoming information into knowledge that can be acted upon, stored, and retrieved for subsequent use.
Each channel also has limitations. For example, humans have difficulty simultaneously attending to multiple auditory or visual cues, depending on expertise with the task or prior knowledge with the subject area. For example, a television documentary that shows images of plant and animal life in a rain forest while also simultaneously providing narration that describes the animal life could potentially provide for improved learning using the dual-code theory because the visual and verbal information does not compete with each other.
A multimedia presentation that shows multiple visuals such as an image of a speaker as well as the text that the speaker is reading, such as a series of bullet points, could overwhelm the viewer, depending on the person and the situation, because the viewer must now attend to two images.

Resource from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-coding_theory

According to the definition and illustration, we could relate this theory to our classroon. It is good demonstration of duel coding. We look at the textbook and PPT, and simultaneously listen to the teacher, this process is complementary and the visual channel and auditory channel is not competing each other, It is very interesting, cause a person can do different two things at the same time.

•        Multiple representations, modalities and multimodalities

Multiple representations : An external representation is something that stands for, depicts, symbolizes or represents objects and/or processes. Examples in physics include words, diagrams, equations, graphs,and sketches. The positive role of multiple representations in student learning has been suggested by many educators. H. Simon said: “Finding facilitating representations for almost any class of problem(s) should be seen as a major intellectual achievement, one that is often greatly underestimated as a significant part of both problem solving efforts in science and efforts in instructional design.”

Resource :http://paer.rutgers.edu/scientificAbilities/Downloads/FormAssessTasks/MultRep.pdf

Modalities: Modality (human-computer interaction)

In human-computer interaction, a modality is the general class of:

• a sense through which the human can receive the output of the computer (for example, vision modality)
• a sensor or device through which the computer can receive the input from the human

In less formal terms, a modality is a path of communication between the human and the computer.

When multiple modalities are available for some tasks or parts of tasks, the system is said to have overlapping modalities. When multiple modalities are available for all tasks, the system is said to have redundant modalities.

Resource :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modality_(human-computer_interaction)

Multimodalities:

Multimodality is "a new concept that allows telephony subscribers to move seamlessly between different modes of interaction, from visual to voice to touch, according to changes in context or user preference," officials from both companies said in a statement.

Resource :http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/wireless/article.php/976511/What-is-Multimodality.htm

•        Combining Visualization and Interactivity

Visualization :Visualization is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas since the dawn of man. Examples from history include cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek geometry, and Leonardo da Vinci's revolutionary methods of technical drawing for engineering and scientific purposes.
Visualization today has ever-expanding applications in science, education, engineering (e.g. product visualization), interactive multimedia, medicine, etc. Typical of a visualization application is the field of computer graphics. The invention of computer graphics may be the most important development in visualization since the invention of central perspective in the Renaissance period. The development of animation also helped advance visualization.

Resource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visualization_(computer_graphics)

Interactivity : In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:

1. Noninteractive, when a message is not related to previous messages;
2. Reactive, when a message is related only to one immediately previous message; and
3. Interactive, when a message is related to a number of previous messages and to the relationship between them^.