Want students to actually remember what you teach online? Add pictures! This session shows how smart visuals can spark curiosity, boost brainpower, and make learning resonate. Discover tools, science-backed tips, and design hacks to transform text-heavy content into eye-catching, memory-boosting experiences your students will learn and love!

In online learning environments, visuals are more than decorative—they are cognitive tools that can drive student engagement, retention, and transfer of knowledge. Contemporary research confirms that strategically implemented graphics reduce cognitive overload and support the construction of meaningful mental models (Castro-Alonso et al., 2021). Yet, in practice, online courses often overuse text and underuse visuals, limiting opportunities for deep, multimodal learning.

Cognitive learning theory posits that learners actively construct knowledge by organizing and integrating new information into existing mental frameworks. Visuals aid this process by externalizing abstract concepts, supporting dual coding, and facilitating schema development. Well-designed visuals enhance intrinsic cognitive processing by making essential relationships more visible while reducing extraneous load (Mayer & Fiorella, 2022). When instructors utilize representational, organizational, and interpretive graphics in alignment with learning goals, they optimize the brain’s capacity to encode, retrieve, and apply information meaningfully.

This session explores evidence-based ways to use graphics to boost cognitive processing and emotional engagement in digital learning spaces. Anchored in current findings from multimedia learning, visual literacy, and educational neuroscience, we examine how visuals—when intentionally aligned with learning outcomes—can improve comprehension and motivation.

Beyond theory, we provide a practical framework for applying visuals at different stages of a course—from onboarding and orientation to assessments and feedback. Participants will see how infographics, visual organizers, icons, and illustrations can support different learning modalities (e.g., HyFlex, asynchronous online, synchronous remote) and enhance learner autonomy and confidence. We will also address how visuals can provide clarity in complex topics and increase transparency in assignment expectations or rubrics.

Importantly, we’ll discuss visual design through a lens of inclusivity and accessibility. Too often, course graphics exclude rather than include. By applying principles from Universal Design for Learning (UDL), culturally responsive teaching, and WCAG accessibility guidelines, instructors and designers can ensure that visuals support all learners, including those with diverse cognitive styles, visual impairments, and cultural backgrounds. Attendees will leave equipped to make visual decisions that are not only beautiful and brain-friendly—but also ethical and equitable.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify current research-backed benefits of visuals in digital learning

• Apply modern design principles to support working memory and engagement

• Recognize common visual design pitfalls that impair learning

• Leverage tools and strategies for accessible, inclusive, and effective visual communication

• Design visual materials that align with learning goals and cognitive principle

Participant Interaction:

Participants will:

• Evaluate real examples of course visuals and vote on their cognitive effectiveness

• Redesign a sample slide or announcement using provided visual frameworks and accessibility best practices

• Brainstorm in breakout groups to generate strategies for integrating visuals into a variety of modalities (e.g., asynchronous discussion, video lectures, assessments)

• Engage in a visual mapping exercise where they sketch or digitally design a visual organizer (e.g., concept map, timeline, diagram) tied to a real learning objective from their own teaching context

• Complete a “Visual Audit” mini-challenge where they can review a section of their own course (or a sample course) to identify opportunities for graphic enhancement based on cognitive load principles and Mayer’s multimedia learning guidelines

Cited Sources:

• Castro-Alonso, J. C., Paas, F., & Ginns, P. (2021). Optimizing multimedia learning in diverse settings: A cognitive load perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 33(1), 63–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09551-4

• Mayer, R. E., & Fiorella, L. (2022). Principles of Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

• Stull, A. T., & Mayer, R. E. (2021). Learning by drawing enhances comprehension in multimedia learning environments: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 1067–1097. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09577-8

Tina Calandrino, M.Ed.

Associate Instructional Designer at University of Central Florida

Martha Hubertz, Ph.D.

Associate Lecturer at University of Central Florida

Martha Hubertz is an Associate Lecturer of psychology at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Florida Atlantic University and joined UCF in 2018. She teaches various courses in psychology, such as general psychology, human development, social psychology, and research methods in psychology. She is also actively involved in mentoring students and conducting research in her field.

Martha Hubertz has received several awards for her teaching excellence and online innovation. She won the 2023 Online Learning Consortium Award for Excellence in Instructional and Teaching Practice, the Chuck D. Dziuban Award for Excellence in Online Teaching in 2020, the Rick Schell Award for Writing Across the Curriculum in 2019, and a Teaching Incentive Award in 2019.

She is also a member of several professional associations, such as the American Psychological Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (IAIED Society), and the Psychonomic Society.

Joe Fauvel, B.A.

Graphic Designer at University of Central Florida