ABSTRACT
A multimedia instructional message is a presentation containing words and pictures that are intended to foster learning. Examples include narrated animations, annotated illustrations, interactive simulations, and educational games. Given the increasing role of graphics in Web-based learning systems (such as illustrations, photos, animation, and video), this chapter examines research that is needed to inform the design of multimedia instructional messages. For the past 15 years, my colleagues and I at the University of California, Santa Barbara have conducted dozens of studies on how to incorporate pictures and words into multimedia instructional messages (Mayer, 2001, 2002). For example, we have examined narrated animations and annotated illustrations aimed at explaining how the human respiratory system works, how lightning storms develop, how a car's braking system works, how a bicycle tire pump works, and how an airplane achieves lift; and we have examined simulations and games aimed at teaching how an electric motor works, how to identify geological formations on a planet's surface, how a plant's physical features are suited to a environmental conditions, and how to add and subtract signed numbers. In general, the learners were low knowledge students in their first year of college or in high school. In this chapter, after briefly describing my research rationale, example materials, and theory, I summarize 10 research-based principles for the design of multimedia instructional messages. For each principle, I provide examples, summarize the research evidence, and relate the principle to a cognitive science model of learning.
