The theory behind the guidelines
The guidelines come from learning research. This page shows which models stand behind them, in plain words. You don't need to read it to use the guidelines.
The big idea: the same task, with less and less help
ALF lessons follow one idea, called Fade to Real: learners do the same task several times, and each time
- the help goes down (fewer instructions, shorter hints),
- the realism goes up (from a virtual room, to digital help on the real object, to the real object alone),
- the learner takes over more decisions.
| Stage | Where | Help | What it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orient | Before or at the start | Full | See the whole task, the goal and the background. |
| Practise in VR | Virtual room | High, then less | Learn the steps safely; mistakes cost nothing. |
| Transfer in AR | Real room, digital help on the real object | Low | Do the task on the real object, with labels where they're needed. |
| Perform for real | Real object, no headset | None | Show you can do it. This is the check of the goal. |
Not every lesson needs every stage. See Choose the stages.
Three models carry this idea:
- 4C/ID (van Merriënboer & Kirschner): complex skills are learned through whole tasks. Help decreases within a series of tasks, and realism increases across them. Background knowledge is given beforehand; step instructions just in time.
- Cognitive Apprenticeship (Collins, Brown & Newman): an expert shows, coaches and supports, then steps back. Learners put their thinking into words and reflect.
- Constructive Alignment (Biggs): the goal, what learners do, and how you check it must all aim at the same action.
What each part of the guidelines is based on
| Guideline | Model | In one sentence | What it means for your lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Constructive Alignment | Goal, activity and check aim at the same action. | One goal sentence; the final checklist checks it. |
| Goal | Revised Bloom; psychomotor levels | Goals differ in what they ask: remember, understand, apply… or imitate, refine, master. | Procedures follow the fading path; understanding follows the inquiry path. |
| Orientation | Advance organiser (Ausubel); Gagné's nine events | New knowledge anchors to an overview given first. | Start with the whole task or system. |
| Stages | 4C/ID; simulation fidelity | Whole tasks, support fading, fidelity rising. Doing the right actions matters more than realistic looks. | Same task in every stage; make actions and consequences faithful. |
| Stages | Transfer: identical elements, hugging and bridging (Thorndike; Perkins & Salomon) | Skills carry over when practice resembles the target, and further when learners reflect on what generalises. | Same order and words in every stage; end with reflection. |
| Each step | Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller) | Working memory is small. Bad design wastes it. | One action per step; show only what's needed. |
| Each step | Multimedia principles (Mayer) | Segmenting, signaling, spatial contiguity, coherence, redundancy, pre-training. | Short steps, instructions next to the part, no duplicated content, practise the controls first. |
| Each step | CAMIL (Makransky & Petersen) | Immersion raises interest and presence, but can also overload. | Immersion helps only if the design is lean. |
| Let learners act | ICAP (Chi & Wylie) | Interactive > constructive > active > passive. | Finish steps with an action; add predictions and discussions. |
| Let learners act | Embodied cognition (Johnson-Glenberg) | Gestures that match the real action support learning. | Hands for hand tasks. |
| Let learners act | Predict–Observe–Explain; guided inquiry | Predicting exposes misconceptions; exploration needs guidance. | Ask before you show; explore with a goal. |
| Let learners act | Multiple external representations (Ainsworth) | Graphs and 3D scenes help together only when learners are shown how they relate. | Point out what in the scene matches what in the graph. |
| Support and fading | Modeling (Bandura); Cognitive Apprenticeship | People learn by watching a model, when attention is guided and they can replay it. | Record a demonstration with your explanation; let learners pause and replay. |
| Support and fading | Worked examples and backward fading (Renkl & Atkinson) | Beginners learn from examples; remove help from the end first. | Show first, then fade the last steps first. |
| Support and fading | Expertise reversal (Kalyuga) | Help for beginners hinders advanced learners. | Offer different levels of help. |
| Mistakes | Feedback research (Hattie & Timperley; Shute) | Feedback works when it's specific, about the task, and timely. | Name typical errors at the step; debrief. |
| Mistakes | Contrasting cases (Schwartz & Bransford) | Comparing near-identical cases reveals the critical feature. | Show right and wrong side by side. |
| Close the loop | Kolb's learning cycle; retrieval practice | Experience needs reflection; recalling strengthens memory. | Reflection step; recall at the next session. |
| Motivation | Self-Determination Theory; ARCS; self-efficacy | Autonomy, competence and relatedness; early success builds confidence. | Early success, relevance, pair work. |
| Inclusion | UDL 3.0; language-sensitive teaching | Plan for different learners from the start. | Seated reach, consistent terms, pictures as well as words. |
| Comfort | Simulator sickness (Kennedy et al.) | Motion sickness adds load and shortens sessions. | Short sessions, no forced camera movement. |
What ALF can't do yet
The guidelines mark recommendations that touch on missing features with Not built in yet, and give a workaround:
- No reaction to wrong actions. A wrong press does nothing. Workaround: name typical mistakes on the step, and debrief.
- No automatic fading. Help doesn't adapt to how a learner performs. Workaround: separate scenes per run or level, ordered in the main menu, and learner choice.
- No answers in the headset. Learners can't type or record a prediction or reflection. Workaround: aloud, in pairs or on paper.
Further reading
- Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for Quality Learning at University (4th ed.). Open University Press.
- van Merriënboer, J. J. G. & Kirschner, P. A. (2018). Ten Steps to Complex Learning (3rd ed.). Routledge.
- Collins, A., Brown, J. S. & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, Learning, and Instruction. Erlbaum.
- Renkl, A. & Atkinson, R. K. (2003). Structuring the transition from example study to problem solving. Educational Psychologist, 38(1).
- Kalyuga, S. (2007). Expertise reversal effect and its implications for learner-tailored instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 19.
- Sweller, J., van Merriënboer, J. J. G. & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive architecture and instructional design: 20 years later. Educational Psychology Review, 31.
- Mayer, R. E. (2021). Multimedia Learning (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Makransky, G. & Petersen, G. B. (2021). The Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL). Educational Psychology Review, 33.
- Chi, M. T. H. & Wylie, R. (2014). The ICAP framework. Educational Psychologist, 49(4).
- Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work. Educational Psychologist, 41(2).
- Ainsworth, S. (2006). DeFT: A conceptual framework for considering learning with multiple representations. Learning and Instruction, 16(3).
- Johnson-Glenberg, M. C. (2018). Immersive VR and education: Embodied design principles. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 5.
- Perkins, D. N. & Salomon, G. (1992). Transfer of learning. International Encyclopedia of Education.
- Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1).
- Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory. American Psychologist, 55(1).
- CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines 3.0.