The Multimedia Principle
Overview
Learners generally benefit from the inclusion of words with graphics rather than the use of either words or graphics alone.
Learners generally benefit from the inclusion of words with graphics rather than the use of either words or graphics alone.
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Guidelines for Use
To be effective, graphic inclusion should not be an after-thought but rather a carefully considered incorporation based on the lesson content and audience. Evidence suggests that experts learn equally well with or without graphics whereas novice learners benefit from their inclusion. Lesson content can be broken down into five content types: facts, concepts, process, procedure, and principle. The following guidelines discuss selecting appropriate graphic types according to lesson content type. Some graphic types lend themselves to multiple content types; for brevity, each graphic type is defined once. When a graphic type is defined for the first time, it is formatted in italics and underlined for ease of reference.
Lesson Content Type: Facts
To be effective, graphic inclusion should not be an after-thought but rather a carefully considered incorporation based on the lesson content and audience. Evidence suggests that experts learn equally well with or without graphics whereas novice learners benefit from their inclusion. Lesson content can be broken down into five content types: facts, concepts, process, procedure, and principle. The following guidelines discuss selecting appropriate graphic types according to lesson content type. Some graphic types lend themselves to multiple content types; for brevity, each graphic type is defined once. When a graphic type is defined for the first time, it is formatted in italics and underlined for ease of reference.
Lesson Content Type: Facts
- Fact based content includes specialized or unique information.
- Students are often asked to label, locate, or appropriately identify.
- Representational and Organizational graphics are best used.
- Representational visuals illustrate the appearance of an object (e.g. labeled map of Canada); Organizational graphics illustrate qualitative relationships among ideas or content (e.g. Venn diagram).
- Concept based content includes categorization of objects, symbols, or events with a single name.
- Representational, Organizational, and Interpretive graphics are best used.
- Interpretive graphics make intangible phenomena visible (e.g. blood flow through a heart)
- Process based content seeks to describe how something works
- Interpretive, Transformational, and Relational graphics are best.
- Transformational visuals illustrate change over time (i.e. through animation or a series of still pictures); Relational visuals summarize quantitative data (e.g. data charts and graphs)
- Procedure based content describes a series of steps resulting in a desirable outcome.
- Transformational visuals are best used
- Principle based content describes cause and effect relationships
- Transformational and Interpretive illustrations are best used
- Decorative graphics serve to adorn a page without enhancing the message of the content (i.e. organizational graphic, aesthetic graphic, humorous graphic)
- Generally recommended to minimize the use of decorative graphics as they can become distracting
Good Examples of Use
Example 1- How to Fix an iPhone Screen
Example 1- How to Fix an iPhone Screen
- A series of transformational diagrams with instructional captions, explain how to fix an iPhone screen
- A great example of graphics (often representational) being used to assist in the explanation of facts and concepts
Helpful Resources
Resource 1 - E-Learning and the Science of Instruction
Resource 1 - E-Learning and the Science of Instruction
- The whole text is a wonderful resource; chapter four focuses on the multimedia principle: what it is and how to apply it.
- A brief (5:23) video summarizing multimedia theory while providing tips and guidelines that come as a result of applying Mayer’s work
- An article summarizing the research and theoretical underpinnings of the multimedia principal, including a thorough critique
Research
Brünken, R, Plass, J., & Leutner, D. (2003). Direct measurement of cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 53-61.
DOI: 10.1207/S15326985EP3801_7
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2011). Applying the Multimedia Principle. In E-learning and the Science of Instruction (pp. 67-89). (3rd ed.) San Francisco,
Ca: Pfeiffer. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/QR1n3m
Kumar, M. (2004). A Critical Discourse in Multimedia Design: A Pedagogical Perspective to Creating Engaging Online Courseware. E-Journal of
Instructional Science and Technology, 7(2), n2. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ850354.pdf
Brünken, R, Plass, J., & Leutner, D. (2003). Direct measurement of cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 53-61.
DOI: 10.1207/S15326985EP3801_7
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2011). Applying the Multimedia Principle. In E-learning and the Science of Instruction (pp. 67-89). (3rd ed.) San Francisco,
Ca: Pfeiffer. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/QR1n3m
Kumar, M. (2004). A Critical Discourse in Multimedia Design: A Pedagogical Perspective to Creating Engaging Online Courseware. E-Journal of
Instructional Science and Technology, 7(2), n2. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ850354.pdf