Abstract
People can learn more deeply from words
and pictures than from words alone. This
seemingly simple proposition – which can
be called the multimedia learning hypothesis
– is the main focus of The Cambridge
Handbook of Multimedia Learning 1 . Each
of the 35 chapters in this handbook examines
an aspect of the multimedia learning
hypothesis. In particular, multimedia
researchers are interested in how people
learn from words and pictures, and in
how to design multimedia learning environments
that promote learning. In this
chapter, I provide a definition of multimedia
learning, offer a rationale for multimedia
learning, outline the research base
for multimedia learning, and draw distinctions
between two approaches to multimedia
design, three metaphors of multimedia
learning, three kinds of multimedia
learning outcomes, and two kinds of active
learning.