Objectives

What do you want your students to do? What visible results should you see that assures you they have learned what you want them to learn? You may want to define and list these for your students prior to any text you present to them.

Objectives should specify four main things:

• Audience - Who? Who is this aimed at?
• Behavior - What? What do you expect them to be able to do? This should be an overt, observable behavior, even if the actual behavior is covert or mental in nature. If you can't see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, or smell it, you can't be sure your audience really learned it.
• Condition - How? Under what circumstances will the learning occur? What will the student be given or already be expected to know to accomplish the learning?
• Degree - How much? Must a specific set of criteria be met? You may want total mastery (100 percent), or you may want them to respond correctly 80 percent of the time, etc. A common (non-scientific) setting is 80 percent of the time.

This is often called the ABCDs of objectives, a nice mnemonic aid!

Example:

After reading this information, you will be able to define in writing the five most common causes of Type 1 errors with 80% accuracy.

Please see the Educational Goals and Objectives site for more information at http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxb11/Objectives/index.htm

Advanced Organizer

This is a sentence or paragraph that explains what the student will do while interacting with your text and other materials. Think of it as a guide students can read before they begin their interaction, reading, etc. to make the structure of your presentation apparent. An advance organizer may help your students focus their efforts in the direction you believe to be most beneficial.

Example:

The following lesson is designed to introduce you to widgets. What are widgets? How do we use them? What are the potential dangers in using widgets?

Text Structure

Here are some basic guidelines:

• The most basic form of text manipulation is to make certain type larger or bolder than the rest. This gives emphasis to that type because it looks more important than surrounding text.
• In scanning a page, the emphasized elements stand out from the others; they take priority and will be read first. Conversely, if you want to de-emphasize some information, you can make it smaller or lighter than normal.
• In general, follow the same guidelines you would for a report, newspaper, or other print layout: biggest text for headlines, smaller text for subheads, and smallest text for the main body of text. Use plenty of white space and avoid smaller font sizes.
• There are some special considerations for any text you may have to turn into an image (e.g., drop caps) and optimizing them for accessibility. If you have to turn any text into an image, be sure to add ALT (alternative) text to that image. ALT text is a brief description of the image. ALT text is read aloud by screen readers that are used by viewers with visual disabilities
• Use MathML or LaTex (see https://accessibility.psu.edu/?s=mathml) for mathematical formulas, as screen readers will read aloud the formula properly.

Titles

You may want to keep titles short and descriptive.

Example:

Introduction to Kinetic Energy

NOT

An Introduction to One Form of Energy: Kinetic Energy

Headings

Headings can break long passages of text into concept chunks. You may want to examine your text and insert headings at appropriate places. You should use styles to define your headings as this helps to optimize the document/page for accessibility. See the Penn State Accessibility Web Site Headings section at http://accessibility.psu.edu/headings/ for more information.

Tables

Use tables to display related pieces of data in a concise manner. Keep the following best practices in mind to ensure your tables are accessible and screen readers will read the table properly:

• Always use tables for data only and not for design purposes.
• Do not merge or split table cells.
• Avoid empty cells by using a dash to fill the cell.
• Do not allow table rows to break across multiple pages.
• Never create extra space within a cell by adding hard returns or spaces (as the blank spaces will be read aloud to the user by the screen reader). Use other methods (e.g., CSS) to provide vertical space.
• Always include a caption for your table.
• Never nest a table within a table.

Avoid Placing Many Acronyms Together

Always define an acronym when first used. Do not use jargon or "in-house" language the reader might not be familiar with:

Jargon Example: Place the PDQ unit in the DSG ASAP.

Sentences

Do not use jargon or "in-house" language the reader might not be familiar with:

• As a general rule, consider keeping sentences short. Avoid multiple subordinate clauses.
  Example of multiple subordinate clauses: Answer four questions including at least one from at least two sections (1-5).
• Use active voice whenever possible.
  Example: "The rainfall affected the vegetation." as opposed to the passive voice "The vegetation was affected by the rainfall."
• Use positive terms whenever possible. For example, use "greater than" as opposed to "less than."

Summaries

Use summaries at the end of a passage of text.

• Summaries inform the learner that a lesson/unit/passage is finished and also organize and provide a synopsis of the material presented.
• Summary sections often mirror an advance organizer but are augmented with the key concepts the material covered.
• A summary points out what was important in the text and is a quick reference/refresher for students at a later time.

Questions in Text

You may want to include questions in your text at the end of a section that make the students reflect back on that section. This helps point out key concepts in a passage of text.

Readability Level

Ideally, you want the reading grade level of your text to match the level of your readers. On medium to long passages of text, it is possible to run readability formulas on the passage to roughly determine the reading grade level of the passage. These formulas are imperfect, considering only sentence length and word length while ignoring page layout, color, and other issues that could affect reading difficulty. Still, they can be useful at determining a ballpark figure. If possible, considering running several types of formulas on a passage to determine an average readability level. Here are two possibilities:

1. Flesch Reading Ease/Flesch-Kincaid Formula - If you use Microsoft Word, you can run this formula on a passage of text through Word's grammar options. You can determine the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.
2. SMOG Test - The Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) test is easy to administer. It is considered more accurate for materials written at more than a sixth grade reading level. The formula is as follows:
   1. Select three samples of 10 consecutive sentences each from different sections of your text (at least 100 words total).
   2. Count the total number of words that have three or more syllables in the 30 sentences.
   3. Calculate the square root of the number of words that have three or more syllables.
   4. Add three to determine the approximate reading level.

Bold and Italic Text

There are two common ways to manipulate text style: make the text bold and/or italic.

• When you make type bolder than the rest, it gives emphasis to that type because it looks more important than its neighbors. If possible, use the strong style in place of bold. While they look the same visually, the strong style is recommended to optimize your text for accessibility.
• Italics are often used in printed matter to give emphasis to a word or two within a block of regular text. Long lines of italic type are generally harder to read than regular text and the reader has to slow down to read it. Use italics sparingly. If you are only emphasizing one or two words, use the emphasis (em) style in place of italics. The em element is for words that have a stressed emphasis compared to surrounding text.

Underlined Text

Underlined text may be mistaken for link text. It is also difficult to make out certain letters with descenders (e.g., the letters j and g), as the underline crosses through and partially obscures the descenders.

Example: The balloon jiggled in the wind.

Thus, avoid using underlined text.

Color

Text colors can be changed for effect and impact.

• In addition to changing the color of body text, you can also change the color of links, active links, and visited links. Be cautioned that on the web, many people are used to seeing the default blue, underlined text for an unused link, underlined red for an active link (in the process of being clicked), and underlined purple for a visited link. If you change these defaults, you may confuse the user.
• If you want to set a specific background color, make sure the text in the foreground has a large contrast with the background. If the background is dark, use light-colored text, and vice versa. If your text color is too similar to the background color, it will be difficult to read.
  • Example: This is truly hard to read!
• Never use a red/green combination, as this will adversely affect certain colorblind readers.
• There are additional considerations to related to accessibility for use of color in text. Please see the Penn State Accessibility Web Site Color section for more information at http://accessibility.psu.edu/color/.

Putting It All Together

If you were to structure your text presentations as suggested, here is an outline you would follow to do so:

• List objective(s).
• List advanced organizer.
• Use titles to divide major sections.
• Use headings to sub-divide a major section.
• The text body should be divided into paragraphs with plenty of white space. Avoid small font sizes (below 12 point).
  • Use short sentences.
  • Apply bolding (via the Strong style) to emphasize key points/words.
  • Use color for emphasis. Make sure there is a high degree of contrast between the foreground and background colors.
• Use questions periodically to point readers to the key places in the text.
• Summarize the text, including all key points.

Normal Versus Instructional Text: An Example

The following excerpt is from "The Stage In Action" by Helen Manfull and Lowell L. Manfull, copyright 1988. The same text is used to show you how to break down text for an instructional environment. The example begins an advanced organizer and lists the instructional objectives, then breaks down the print into a series of smaller chunks and bulleted lists, the most effective way to present text on the Web. Styles are used where appropriate. The text is followed by several key questions and a summary.

Normal Example

The Nature of Drama

Aristotle, then, conceived of tragedy as being the imitation of a major deed or action depicting through its enactment the striving of the human soul toward some goal with the intention of purging negative emotion while teaching oblique lessons of life. In examining the art form with his students, the Greek teacher concluded that tragedy contained six elements or components--plot, character, thought, diction, music and spectacle. Of the elements, three--plot, character and thought--were essentially the subject of plays; that is to say, plays are about stories and people and ideas. Two of the elements--diction and music--represent the tools or materials playwrights use to fashion their drama. Dramatists employ words, sound and symbols as well as verse and rhythm and music to create the play script. And the final element, spectacle, relates to the manner in which the art is presented to the consumer--in this case a staged production in a theatre.

Of all the elements, according to Aristotle, plot was the most important; he referred to it as "the first principle," "the soul of tragedy," "the first and most important part of Tragedy," and "the first level of all imitation," He was convinced, it would seem, that a play needed a strong storyline in order to accomplish its purpose. He probably reasoned that if you wished to write a play imitating a major action such as "to re-establish God's order in the realm," then the most expeditious and practical way to accomplish your aim was to find a story that could be used to demonstrate such a quest--just as Shakespeare did in Hamlet. "Plot," he said, "is the imitation of the action." By "action" in this instance he meant the one major profound deed that the play will depict; and plot now becomes the primary means of depicting or imitating that deed or action.

---

---

Revised for Instructional Presentation

Introduction

The purpose of this reading is to introduce you to the key elements of a Greek tragedy according to Aristotle.

When you complete this reading, you should be able to list without error the six elements of a Greek tragedy. You should be able to describe in writing Aristotle's conception of the plot, including all four of his descriptions.

---

The Nature of Drama

Aristotle, then, conceived of tragedy as being the imitation of a major deed or action depicting through its enactment the striving of the human soul toward some goal with the intention of purging negative emotion while teaching oblique lessons of life.

In examining the art form with his students, the Greek teacher concluded that tragedy contained six elements or components:

1. Plot
2. Character
3. Thought
4. Diction
5. Music
6. Spectacle

Of the elements, three - plot, character and thought - were essentially the subject of plays; that is to say, plays are about stories and people and ideas.

Two of the elements - diction and music - represent the tools or materials playwrights use to fashion their drama.

Dramatists employ words, sound and symbols as well as verse and rhythm and music to create the play script.

And the final element, spectacle, relates to the manner in which the art is presented to the consumer - in this case a staged production in a theatre.

Of all the elements, according to Aristotle, plot was the most important; he referred to it as:

• "The first principle"
• "The soul of tragedy"
• "The first and most important part of Tragedy"
• "The first level of all imitation"

He was convinced, it would seem, that a play needed a strong storyline in order to accomplish its purpose. He probably reasoned that if you wished to write a play imitating a major action such as "to re-establish God's order in the realm," then the most expeditious and practical way to accomplish your aim was to find a story that could be used to demonstrate such a quest--just as Shakespeare did in Hamlet.

"Plot," he said, "is the imitation of the action." By "action" in this instance he meant the one major profound deed that the play will depict; and plot now becomes the primary means of depicting or imitating that deed or action.

---

Follow-up Questions

1. What are the six elements of a Greek tragedy?
2. How does Aristotle describe a plot? List all four ways.

---

Summary

Aristotle believed that a Greek tragedy contained the following elements:

1. Plot
2. Character
3. Thought
4. Diction
5. Music
6. Spectacle

Of these, he believed that plot was the most important. He referred to it as:

• "The first principle"
• "The soul of tragedy"
• "The first and most important part of Tragedy"
• "The first level of all imitation"