Mayer's Principles in Multimedia Learning

Mayer's Principles in Multimedia Learning provide guidance for designing multimedia instruction taking into account the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. The principles are aimed at achieving the three primary goals of instructional design: reduce extraneous processing, manage essential processing, and foster generative processing. Additionally, Mayer also proposes principles to use Social and Affective features of Multimedia Learning.

Principles of Multimedia Learning

Goal	Name	Description
Basic principles	Multimedia Principle	People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone
	Multiple Representation Principle	Using diverse representations of information that help students learn more effectively
	Expertise Reversal Principle	Knowledgeable experts require different instructional materials keeping into account their prior knowledge and skills. This would thus differ from instructional material given to novice learners.
Minimize extraneous processing	Coherence Principle	Eliminate extraneous material
	Signaling Principle	Highlight essential material
	Redundancy Principle	Do not add printed text to spoken text
	Spatial Contiguity Principle aka Cueing Principle	Place printed text near corresponding graphic
	Temporal Contiguity Principle	Present narration and corresponding graphic simultaneously
	Split Attention Principle	Present an integrated format of disparate sources of information
	Worked Example Principle	Provide problem formulation and solution to help gain initial cognitive skill acquisition
Manage essential processing	Segmenting Principle	Break presentation into parts
	Pre-Training Principle	Describe names and characteristics of key elements before the lesson
	Modality Principle	Use spoken rather than printed text
	Transient Information Principle	Help comprehensive processing of spoken information or animations in learners’ working memory and integration with prior knowledge in long-term memory
Social and Affective Features of Multimedia Learning	Personalization Principle	Put words in conversational style
	Voice Principle	Use human voice for spoken words
	Embodiment Principle	Give onscreen characters human-like gestures
	Immersion Principle	Incorporate multimedia design principles in immersive virtual environments
	Collaboration Principle	Strike a balance between advantages of learning in collaborative activities and mental effort required in its coordination
	Animation Principle	Organize information for incremental processing allowing learners to combine information primitives progressively and hierarchically into a mental model
	Emotion Design Principle	Make onscreen elements prime positive emotion
Fostering Generative Processing	Generative Activity Principle	Provide prompts for learning strategies
	Guided Discovery Principle	Provide hints and feedback as learner solves problems
	Mapping Principle	Ask learners to create a graphic organizer or concept map
	Principle of Appropriate Knowledge	Provide learners the necessary knowledge to learn and retain new information		Self-Explanation Principle	Ask learners to explain a lesson to themselves
	Generative Drawing Principle	Ask learners to make drawings for the lesson
	Imagination Principle	Ask learners to imagine drawings for the lesson
	Guided Inquiry Principle	Encourage learners to go beyond the information given and draw their own conclusions
	Feedback Principle	Provide novice students with explanatory feedback rather than corrective feedback alone
	Learner Control Principle	Give learners control over the instruction they receive, including the ability to select and sequence content, decide their pace of progress, and choose different ways of displaying information
	Cognitive Load Self-Management Principle	Teach learners the application of Cognitive Load Theory principles to manage themselves better during non-compliant instructions