For hundreds of years verbal messages - such as lectures and printed lessons - have been the primary means of explaining ideas to learners. In Multimedia Learning Richard Mayer explores ways of going beyond the purely verbal by combining words and pictures for effective teaching. Multimedia encyclopedias have become the latest addition to students' reference tools, and the world wide web is full of messages that combine words and pictures. Do these forms of presentation help learners? If so, what is the best way to design multimedia messages for optimal learning? Drawing upon 10 years of research, the author provides seven principles for the design of multimedia messages and a cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In short, this book summarizes research aimed at realizing the promise of multimedia learning - that is, the potential of using words and pictures together to promote human understanding.

"Written and admirable clarity...Helps to clarify a complex subject and to correct some frequent misconceptions about learning with new media. It is excellent in terms of its comprehensibility to readers of many different backgrounds. As a consequence, it should both help practitioners develop a more differentiated view of learning from multimedia and stimulate further discussions among scientists in the field." Contemporary Psychology

"well-organized chapters...Well-written and informative, the volume provides specific information for improving multimedia presentaions. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above." CHOICE Jan 2002

"[T]his book should be read by all students of multimedia learning." Imagination, Cognition and Personality