It is interesting how my views on multimedia learning have kept evolving over the last couple of weeks based on discussions, readings, and presentations from the class. Let me start with one of my favorite multimedia principles, the Coherence Principle. First, I knew little about this principle before this course, and based on the way I wrote or developed my presentations previously, aesthetics and storytelling were equally important as the goal I wanted to pass on to my audience. Reflecting further now, I believe it was due to the type of audience I was engaging with, colleagues and senior colleagues whom I would be trying to “convince” on specific organizational policies or training them on a new software the organization had just acquired. Therefore, it was important to add words, pictures, and little stories that were not necessarily part of the subject but made the presentations more interesting (in my opinion) to appeal to their emotions and get their buy-in.
My views on the above started changing when I took this course. Recently, we were required to do seminal studies on multimedia from 2000 to 2010, one of the studies I researched was “The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media” (Mayer, 2003). The study explores four instructional design principles, their application, and performance across different media environments. Exploring the Coherence Principle, Mayer (2003) demonstrated that students gain a deeper understanding of multimedia presentations when extraneous materials are excluded. There is a general tendency, however, to include interesting but irrelevant materials in multimedia presentations, which Mayer termed “seductive details.” These can be counterproductive as they require more cognitive load to process.
More recently, research has, however, demonstrated otherwise. Building on previous studies, Wang and Adesope (2021) investigate the effectiveness of emotional design elements in multimedia learning environments. Emotional design features such as colors and shapes can be inserted into multimedia learning environments to influence learner's affect (Wang & Adesope, 2021) without distracting them from the primary goal of the content (Clark & Mayer, 2024). When certain relevant emotional design elements, such as colors and shapes, are used strategically, they can promote positive emotions that support engagement and learning without creating cognitive overload (Wang & Adesope, 2021). In their latest publication, Mayer and Clark (2024) acknowledge that more recent studies have shown that using specific colors and adding human-like expressions relevant to on-screen objects can enhance learning. Does this suggest seductive details can now also be integrated into presentations? Mayer and Clark (2024) draw a clear distinction between the two. For emotional design, relevant elements are made more interesting, aiding in drawing learners' attention to the core of the content. However, for seductive details, irrelevant elements in a graphic are made more interesting, which can distract the learner's attention from relevant elements.
This course has also deepened my understanding of engagement, a crucial concept in multimedia learning. As online learning becomes increasingly prevalent, engaging learners is essential for enhancing learning outcomes. Engagement can be described as meaningful mental interaction between the learner and the instructional environment, which supports the achievement of the learning goals (Clark & Mayer, 2024). For successful learning to occur, engagement activities must lead to generative processing. Generative learning is similar to the active learning assumption of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Like active learning, generative learning requires learners to actively select, organize, and integrate information with prior knowledge (Clark & Mayer, 2024; Mayer, 2003).
However, not all engagement activities are productive and lead to learning outcomes, and higher engagement does not necessarily make an activity more effective for learning. Mayer and Clark (2024) describe a study comparing learning from an interactive video game to a slideshow presentation. The results showed that the group from the presentation slideshow learned more. Activities like games and excessive elements, even though engaging, may sometimes introduce extraneous cognitive load, which can distract learners from the main goal of the content. As such, effective engagement should align with the coherence principle by excluding or minimizing extraneous material. Mayer’s perspective on coherence principle has evolved with recent studies, acknowledging new insights like the impact of emotional design elements on learning outcomes. These new insights allow for modifying emotional design features that maintain coherence while enhancing learner motivation and engagement. This refinement demonstrates a flexible application of the coherence principle to accommodate new types of learners used to high-intensity media.
Reference
Clark, R., & Mayer, R. (2024). E-learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mayer, R. E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media. Learning and instruction, 13(2), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(02)00016-6
Wong, R. M., & Adesope, O. O. (2021). Meta-analysis of emotional designs in multimedia learning: A replication and extension study. Educational Psychology Review, 33(2), 357-385.