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

8.8. Psychological Reasons for Using a Visible Author

The main rationale for using a visible author style is to promote learner motivation. For example, Nolen (1995, p. 47) suggests that when authors are visible, students might see the author as "a personal guide through an otherwise difficult domain." Paxton (2002, p. 202) proposes that "a human-to human relationship between author and reader is encouraged by the presence of a visible author." Consistent with Mayer's (2005d) extension of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning shown in Figure 8.5, the visible author technique can help prime a sense of social presence in the learner—a feeling of being in a conversation with the author. The activation of social presence, in turn, encourages ...