Where it is used
Each entry identifies the volume, edition, chapter or appendix in which the work appears.
The evidence behind the series
Follow the research.
Explore every source.
Browse the scientific research and professional literature used across all seven volumes of The Science of Learning for Educators.
7book volumes
8author ranges
1searchable library
Search the collection
Find a paper, author or idea.
Choose an author range, search a title or concept, or narrow the collection by source type. Open any result to see where it appears in the books, read its evidence summary and follow available source links.
3 references
-
- Vol 7 PE: App D
- Vol 7 RE: Chapters 1, 2, 4, App A, App B
multimedia learningdual-channel processinglimited cognitive capacityactive processingcognitive loadinstructional design principlesknowledge transfermultimedia instructionBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
The second edition of Multimedia Learning develops a research-based theory of how people learn from words and pictures. Mayer’s cognitive theory assumes separate verbal and pictorial processing channels, limited capacity in each channel, and active processing that selects, organises, and integrates information with prior knowledge.
Key ideas
The book reports controlled experiments behind twelve design principles, including coherence, signalling, redundancy, spatial and temporal contiguity, segmenting, pretraining, modality, multimedia, personalisation, voice, and image. These principles aim to reduce irrelevant processing, manage essential complexity, and encourage productive generative activity. Mayer repeatedly tests transfer, not merely recall, and discusses when learner characteristics or lesson conditions alter an effect. The guidance is conditional rather than decorative: adding pictures, narration, animation, or conversational language helps only when it supports appropriate cognitive processing.
Why it matters
For instructional designers and teachers, the central discipline is to match presentation choices to the architecture of human cognition and the lesson’s learning goal.
View or buy the cited work >>Read a similar article free online >>
-
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 9, App A, App B, App D
multimedia learningdual-channel processingextraneous processingessential processinggenerative processinginstructional design principleslearning transferdigital learning environmentsBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
The third edition updates Mayer’s programme of evidence-based multimedia instruction and expands it to fifteen design principles. It begins with three linked sciences: learning, which explains how cognition works; instruction, which tests what presentation methods support learning; and assessment, which determines what learners retain and can transfer.
Key ideas
The cognitive theory retains its dual-channel, limited-capacity, and active-processing assumptions. Principles are organised around reducing extraneous processing, managing essential processing, and fostering generative processing. Alongside established guidance on coherence, signalling, contiguity, segmenting, pretraining, modality, and personalisation, the edition considers embodiment, immersion, generative activities, and newer digital environments. Evidence is drawn mainly from controlled comparisons using retention and problem-solving transfer measures.
Why it matters
Mayer also treats boundary conditions, reminding readers that techniques interact with prior knowledge, pacing, content, and learning goals. The book’s practical stance is that multimedia should guide cognitive work, not maximise sensory richness: every added element needs an instructional function.
View or buy the cited work >>Read a similar article free online >>
-
- Vol 7 PE: App D
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 4
cognitive theory of multimedia learningworking-memory capacityverbal and pictorial channelssignallingtemporal and spatial contiguitysegmentingpretrainingredundancy principleJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Mayer and Moreno apply the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to situations in which required processing exceeds working-memory capacity. The theory assumes verbal and pictorial channels with limited capacity and meaningful learning that actively selects, organises, and integrates information.
Key ideas
The authors identify five overload scenarios and connect them to nine tested remedies. These include removing extraneous material, signalling essential structure, aligning words and pictures in space and time, offloading some visual information into spoken narration, segmenting learner-paced presentations, pretraining names and characteristics of key components, and presenting concise rather than redundant verbal material. Other techniques help learners hold representations in memory long enough to integrate them or encourage coordination between channels. The article grounds each recommendation in experimental comparisons rather than a general injunction to make materials simpler.
Why it matters
Its educational value lies in diagnosis: designers should identify the source of overload, preserve essential intellectual work, and select a remedy matched to that specific processing problem.
A transparent research trail
More than a bibliography.
What it contributes
Evidence summaries explain the central idea and why the source matters to educators.
How to access it
Entries link to lawful full text where available, or to a publisher, library or purchase page.
Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
Citation checks
References are checked against publisher records, scholarly indexes, DOI or ISBN metadata, repositories and author records where available. An entry marked [Citation not verified] preserves the wording found in the relevant volume without attributing findings to an unconfirmed work.
From sources to a coherent pathway