Remove the Clutter

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Managing Cognitive Load in 05 Explanations & Modelling, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.

Why you might use it

The problem it may help with

Busy slides feel rich and teach little. Mayer's coherence principle is uncompromising: remove every word, image and sound that does not support the learning, because each one competes for attention precisely when the explanation needs space.

Clip art, background music, a themed border: none of it is neutral. If it is on the screen, it is being processed.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

Rebuilding a slide sequence on the digestive system, a teacher deletes the cartoon stomach, the sound effects and two of the three photographs, leaving one clear diagram and a handful of words. The content taught is identical; the competition for attention is not.

Try it

A way to begin

Open tomorrow's deck and remove everything decorative from a single slide. Teach it, and notice whether anything is actually missed.

What to notice

Reading what happens

• Where attention settles once the decoration is gone.
• Whether recall centres on the idea or on whatever accompanied it.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

• The hardest cuts are the interesting ones. The test is not whether an element is engaging but whether it supports the learning; the coherence principle draws the line there.
• Decoration for one class may be scaffold for another; what supports learning is judged in the room, not in the template.

Related strategies

Where this connects

• 🧠 Four Slots, No More Sweller: working memory holds about four items. Every screen element competes for those slots. Strip slides to essentials. Press B to blank the screen when you want attention on you. 05 Explanations & Modelling · Managing Cognitive Load
• 🔇 Say It or Show It, Not Both Sweller’s redundancy effect: narrating text on screen forces double processing. Say it or show it, not both. Use the B or W key to blank the slide while you talk through the idea. 05 Explanations & Modelling · Managing Cognitive Load
• 💡 Clarity Over Novelty The EEF found clarity matters more than delivery method. A diagram under a visualiser can outperform a polished video. Choose the tool that makes the idea clearest, not the newest. 05 Explanations & Modelling · Structuring Explanations
• ➡️ Signal What Matters Mayer’s signalling: bold, arrows and highlights direct attention to what matters. Use annotation tools to signal live during the explanation. Without it, learners search alone. 05 Explanations & Modelling · Managing Cognitive Load

Inclusive practice

The lens this connects with

Through the inclusive practice lens, this is one of the approaches that may reduce barriers around:

• Working memory and cognitive demand

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

Mayer's coherence principle, part of his cognitive theory of multimedia learning, is the source; Sweller's load theory explains what the clutter costs. The card’s attribution stands as published: Mayer.

The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Explanations & Modelling.