The study examined whether the modality effect is caused by either high visuo-spatial load or a lack of temporal contiguity when processing written text and pictures. Students (N = 147) viewed pictures on the development of tornados, which were accompanied by either spoken or written explanations presented simultaneously with, before, or after the…

Motor skills are often demonstrated with a combination of verbal information and video demonstration. In this study, participants learned to tie nautical knots with a video clip demonstrating the motor task preceded by a descriptive or a metaphorical, picture-like verbalization. In a control condition participants learned the knots with a video…

When using modern educational technology, some forms of instruction are inherently transient in that previous information usually disappears to be replaced by current information. Instructional animations and spoken text provide examples. The effects of transience due to the use of animation-based instructions (Experiment 1) and spoken information…

This commentary focuses on the use of the eye-tracking methodology to study cognitive processes during multimedia learning. First, some general remarks are made about how the method is applied to investigate visual information processing, followed by a reflection on the eye movement measures employed in the studies published in this special issue.…

The author examines the empirical, methodological, theoretical, and practical contributions of the six studies in this special issue on eye tracking as a tool to study and enhance multimedia learning. The design of learning environments involving graphics should be consistent with a research-based theory of how people learn and evidence-based…

Two experiments examined visual attention distribution in learning from text and pictures. Participants watched a 16-step multimedia instruction on the formation of lightning. In Experiment 1 (N=90) the instruction was system-paced (fast, medium, slow pace), while it was self-paced in Experiment 2 (N=31). In both experiments the text modality was…

Based on current theories of multimedia learning, we propose a strategy for learning from animations. Two different experimental studies were conducted in order to evaluate the strategy. In the first study, 22 sixth graders learned from an animation without the strategy while 21 students were encouraged to make use of the proposed strategy during…

According to the modality effect in multimedia, a text accompanying a picture should be auditorily presented instead of visually in order to avoid split of attention. In two experimental studies (34 and 78 participants, respectively), the impact and possible compensatory effects of two aptitude variables, that is, memory strategy skills and…

Two experiments are reported that investigated the relative effectiveness of a realistic dynamic visualization as opposed to a schematic visualization for learning about cell replication (mitosis). In Experiment 1, 37 university students watched either realistic or schematic visualizations. Students' subjective task demands ratings as well as…

The present study extended multimedia learning principles beyond the lab to an ecologically valid setting (homework). Eighteen information cards were used to perform three homework tasks. The control group students learned from single representation (SR) cards that presented all information as printed text. The multiple representation (MR) group…

New technologies enable flexible combinations of text and interactive or non-interactive pictures. The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) whether adding pictures to texts is generally beneficial for learning or whether it can also have detrimental effects, (b) how interactivity of pictures affects learning, (c) whether the…

Comprehension of an illustrated document can involve complex visual scanning in order to locate the relevant information on the screen when this is evoked in spoken explanations. The present study examined the effects of two types of attention-guiding means (color change or step-by-step presentation of diagram elements synchronized with a spoken…

The focus of this special issue is on the cognitive load underlying processes of interactive knowledge construction in a wide range of instructional multimedia platforms. Multimedia comprehension involves the parallel processing of auditory-verbal and visual-pictorial channels within working memory. By means of integrating multimodal information,…

Introduces the articles of this theme issue, which aim to clarify the conditions under which multiple forms of representation are likely to support comprehension in multimedia learning environments and how specific features of multimedia can help learners learn complex subject matter. (SLD)

Reviewed research on the design of multimedia explanations. Findings show these effects of multimedia instructional design: (1) a multimedia effect; (2) a coherence effect; (3) a spatial contiguity effect; and (4) a personalization effect. Discusses each of these effects and shows how the same instructional design can be effective across different…