1. Five Common but Questionable Principles of Multimedia Learning Lourdes Arnal De Prats Robert Rivas

2. Principle 1 – Multimedia Instruction Produces More Learning than “Live” Instruction or Other Media Method Confounding Learning influenced by instructional methods embedded in instruction Instructional Method = any way to shape information that compensates for or supplants the cognitive processes necessary for achievement or motivation All instructional methods that are necessary for any kind of learning can be presented in a variety of media Learning Benefits due to multimedia alone have not been found

3. Principle 1 – Multimedia Instruction Produces More Learning than “Live” Instruction or Older Media Sensory Mode & Learning Learners are often overloaded by distractions in multimedia presentations (animations, video, colorful displays, sounds, music, etc.) – think cognitive load theory Integration of visual and narrative descriptions is beneficial to learning, but is not a benefit exclusive to multimedia

4. Principle 2 – Multimedia Instruction is More Motivating than Traditional Instructional Media or Live Instructors 3 outcomes of motivation – (1) active choice, (2) persistence, and (3) mental effort Interest Satisfaction = when students choose multimedia courses over traditional courses for convenience purposes – a negative relationship exists between interest and satisfaction Mental Effort = many instructional strategies & complex screen displays risk overloading working memory Persistence = lack of instructor interaction may result in lack of student persistence

5. Principle 2 – Multimedia Instruction is More Motivating than Traditional Instructional Media or Live Instructors Motivation to choose multimedia vs. motivation to learn Students expectations of flexibility and ease of learning in multimedia courses may cause reduced effort, and therefore reduced learning.

6. Activity

7. Principle 3 – Multimedia Shares Instruction for Different Learning Styles Students’ preferred learning method is often insignificant – learning style inventories usually attribute students with different learning styles Students regularly learn more in instruction that is not their preferred medium Increased instructional support in areas with little prior knowledge reduces risk of cognitive overload

8. Principle 4 - Multimedia Instruction Can Provide Active Pedagogical Agents That Increase Motivation and Aid Learning Agent Research results are mixed. In some studies the results indicate that motivation and learning is enhanced. Other studies provide confusing findings due to design errors. Well controlled studies provided consistent results: “PPP Persona “agent v. arrows study indicated that cognitive and performance tests were not affected by either media. In conclusion, animated agents do not increase learning Learners may form a social relationship with a computer without the help of an agent

9. Principle 5 - Multimedia Instruction Provides Learner Control and Discovery Pedagogy to Enhance Learning Forty years of research have not proven the efficacy, efficiency, and successful transfer of skills of unstructured and pure discovery learning Instructional support is not needed as much as learners gain mastery of basic knowledge.

10. Principle 5 - Multimedia Instruction Provides Learner Control and Discovery Pedagogy to Enhance Learning Pure discovery learning does not use instructional support; therefore, it imposes large amounts of extraneous cognitive load on novice and intermediate learners. The outcome is more mental effort and less post learning performance Supported instruction for lower levels of ability students resulted in higher scores Trashing or Floundering: Students lack of effective approach to interacting with the learning environment which interference with their ability to draw valid or helpful inferences from simulation outcomes.

11. Conclusions Multimedia is effective in reducing the time required to learn. According to Corbett there was a reduction of 40% learning time Multimedia is more attractive option for instruction Multimedia advocates emphasis that it is a tool to promote constructivist-based discovery and that it is self paced. Multimedia allows student to navigate between and within lessons. Less time required of expert teachers

12. Education Today & Tomorrow

13. Bad News… Students may be more interested in the technology and their learning is negatively affected by their lack of effort. When students lack prior knowledge they do not seem to benefit from self discovery / unstructured instruction Animated pedagogical agents do not seem to increase learning. On the contrary they can produce cognitive overload