Table 1 summarizes three kinds of processing that can occur during multimedia
instructionextraneous processing, which drains limited cognitive processing
capacity without contributing to learning; essential processing, which involves
selecting relevant information and organizing it as presented in working memory;
and generative processing, which involves making sense of the material by
reorganizing it into a coherent structure and integrating it with relevant prior knowledge. This analysis is similar to that proposed in cognitive load theory
(Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011) and suggests the need for three kinds of
instructional design goals—reducing extraneous processing, when extraneous
processing and required essential processing exceed the learner’s cognitive capacity; managing essential processing, when the required essential processing exceeds
the learner’s cognitive capacity; and fostering generative processing, when the
learner has processing capacity available but chooses not to exert the effort to
use it for making sense of the material. These three types of goals form the
basis for three kinds of instructional design principles for multimedia learning,
which are presented in the next section.