How to Create Effective Instructional Materials for All Students

Cindy Riedl
Jul 07, 2008

The increasing diversity of students in classrooms has caused many educators to search for easy-to-implement methods to improve the delivery of information that meets the needs of a wide range of learners. One of the easiest ways to improve access to information for all students, including those with learning disabilities, is by applying the basic rules of graphic arts and design to all written materials. This includes Word Walls, board work, graphic and advance organizers, as well as overhead or PowerPoint presentations. The teacher, using the same principles, to be more effectively appropriate for instruction, can also easily modify commercially prepared materials.

Teachers should be concerned with the elements of design because they determine how well the message of any material is transferred to the reader.  Good, clear visual signals help the student to grasp concepts more quickly (Using Type Right, Brady, 1993). Vast amounts of money are spent on research to produce the most effective graphic designs in advertisements to persuade the public to purchase goods or services. Those working in the field of layout and design have carefully researched techniques to enhance readability of design materials that can be used by teachers easily and successfully in the classroom during instruction.

Teachers do not have to be artists to implement these useful characteristics of layout and design that are clearly related to improving readability of text. They only have to consider each of the following basic elements when preparing instructional materials, which will help ensure that students can easily locate and identify information critical to learning.  

Contrast is the first element on the list of effective design principles. It can either attract or repel the reader. Contrast, or emphasis, creates interest by providing variety and helps the reader locate critical information quickly. It can be created carefully considering the background and text color of any material, (The Digital Teaching Portfolio Handbook: A How To Guide for Educators, Kibane & Milman, 2003).  The color of the text should be different and distinct from the color of the background.  Extreme white paper has been shown to result in the greatest legibility, (Graphic Design and Reading, Swanson, 2000).  Although using various colors for lettering may create greater student interest, lighter colors should be avoided because they may not stand out against similar paper or backgrounds.

Size is the second element of contrast.  Larger items will draw attention when paired with smaller ones.  The use of a larger font when paired with smaller types creates dramatic contrast and draws the reader's attention to critical information.  Also, using colored print or highlighting is a simple technique to help students locate items. Teachers can highlight critical information on prepared materials or teach students highlighting skills as a preliminary to starting work on any written task.  On the other hand, bold-faced fonts should be used infrequently because too much bold type darkens the page making it look dense and uninviting for the reader. Furthermore, bold-faced fonts in the middle of a block of text should be avoided, because they tend to draw too much attention to a specific word and away from the other words in the area.  Instead, surround critical information with space that is free of text or artwork and creates the desired contrast. The more important the information, the greater the white space surrounding it should be. In this way, the use of white space helps avoid clutter on the page and makes materials easier to read.

Special education teachers place boxes around critical information on student materials. Using thick, dark borders helps draw the eyes to materials. These word boxes can be especially helpful to students but it is important to make sure that the lines used are not so thick that they become more visually interesting than the text they surround.  The use of underlining text should be used sparingly because it obscures descending letters and may interfere with decoding of words. Highlighting is preferred to underlining.

Positioning or alignment is one of the most important elements of layout and design that can make reading either easier or more difficult. When layout facilitates natural eye movement, reader comprehension improves. Critical titles or directions should be placed at the top left corner of the paper.  Also, instructional materials should be typed or printed - not penned. When conveying important information on the board, print should be used because most students learn to read textbooks with a roman type- face and have become conditioned to read such fonts most easily.  Therefore, for students who are younger or disabled, teachers should select a font that closely matches this print.  Reading distance and age determines font size. Font sizes of 9 through 12 are most legible for adults, whereas a larger font size should be used for younger students or those with disabilities.  For overheads used in the classroom, fonts that are larger than 12 or 14 are necessary for easy readability. If using a page from the text, the teacher needs to enlarge the passage first on a copier, and then create the overhead copy for viewing.

For those teachers who continue to be concerned about the rationale that supports word-shape outlines for Word Walls, they should read what Swanson wrote:  " Words are perceived by their specific word-shape outline, which is unique for lower case words". (Graphic Design and Reading, 2000) Once the outline of a word has been learned, future recognition of that word occurs as a unit, not letter by letter. Using all capital letters removes the word shape outlines, thus forcing the reader to use letter-by-letter decoding, slowing the reading process down by as much as 20 %.

When deciding whether to use artwork on materials, care should be taken to assure that the graphic or artwork helps students focus on and learn the important information being presented. Some students will recall the picture associated with the written material better than the written material itself. When using pictures, teachers should glance quickly at the page and determine where their eyes are drawn. If the picture distracts their eyes from the print, the page may need to be simplified.

In summary, because teachers continue to be challenged by students with more diverse learning needs, more attention should be given to the elements of design and how they can be used effectively to improve learning.  The techniques discussed will guide teachers as they make decisions concerning instructional materials, Word Walls, board work, study sheets and overhead or PowerPoint presentations.