Multimedia Learning Theory

CORE DEFINITION

Developed by Richard Mayer from the 1990s onward and set out in Multimedia Learning. The theory rests on three assumptions: the mind processes information through separate visual and verbal channels, each channel has limited capacity, and learning requires active selection, organisation, and integration of that material. From these assumptions Mayer derived design principles, including the multimedia, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, coherence, signalling, and redundancy principles. The theory predicts not that more media helps, but that coordinated words and images within capacity help, and that extraneous material actively harms learning.