e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

6.3. Evidence for Omitting Redundant On-Screen Text

Several researchers have put these two competing predictions to a test. In a recent set of studies (Craig, Gholson, & Driscoll, 2002; Mayer, Heiser, & Lonn, 2001; Moreno & Mayer, 2002a), some students (non-redundant group) viewed an animation and listened to a concurrent narration explaining the formation of lightning. Other students (redundant group) received the same multimedia presentation, but with concurrent, redundant on-screen text. In this series of four comparisons, students in the non-redundant group produced more solutions (ranging between 43 to 69 percent more) on a problem-solving transfer test than did students in the redundant group. The median effect size was greater than 1, ...