Indian Journal of Educational Technology
Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2023

230

Book Review

Multimedia Learning

THIRD EDITION, Richard E. Mayer

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2021

pp. xviii+433, ISBN: 978-1-316-63808-8

Abhay Kumar Shukla

Academic Consultant, CIET, NCERT

Email: abhayshukla.pmevidya@gmail.com

Technological advancements have 
brought revolutionary changes in 
the ways of communication. It has 
enabled the process of meaning-
making with multimodality i.e. the use 
of several modes (media) in a single 
artefact or instance or communicative 
event. Multimodality is not entirely 
a new phenomenon as images in 
addition to linguistic symbols have 
been used since time immemorial. 
However, developments in electronics, 
information and communication 
technology (ICT) transformed the 
traditional modalities of communication 
into what Bob Goldstein (1966) termed 
as multimedia. Multimedia is an 
evolutionary concept, and generically it 
may refer to the integrated combination 
of text, still images, video, animation, 
sound and also interactivity, however, 
the primary implication of multimedia 
entails electronic media. The potential 
of multimedia can be leveraged in 
every domain of human endeavour 
involving communication and thereby; 
in principle, multimedia has become a 
pervasive phenomenon.

Multimedia learning is a new-age 
phenomenon where multimedia is 
used to impart learning of any kind. By 
definition, multimedia learning is a form 
of computer-aided instruction that uses 
two modalities concurrently (Mayer, 
2002). The two modalities render 
two types of learning, visual (through 
pictures, written text, animations, and 
videos) and verbal (through spoken 

narration). Multimedia learning is 
growing as a popular alternative to 
classroom-based instruction. With the 
recent developments in the field of ICT, 
multimedia learning is not only enriched 
but also explored for its potential and 
sustainable implications for instruction 
and learning.

The volume in review is the third 
edition of MULTIMEDIA LEARNING by 
Richard F. Mayer. It is a seminal work on 
multimedia learning. The first edition of 
the present book appeared in 2001 and 
subsequently with the second edition 
in 2009 and a third edition in 2021. The 
book is also available as an eBook along 
with a hard/paperback edition. The 
book is rightly designated by the author 
himself as an outcome of labour of 
love which is evident from the content, 
coverage and comprehensiveness of 
the volume.

The book is divided into twenty-two 
chapters and organised into five 
sections. The aim of the book is to 
provide an up-to-date and systematic 
summary of research studies on 
multimedia learning, supplemented 
with complementary evidence from 
around the globe. The subject matter of 
the book concerns serving the needs of 
the professionals working in the fields 
of psychology, education, computer 
science, communication, instructional 
design, and game design. The volume 
claims to inform two interdisciplinary 
areas namely learning theory and 



Indian Journal of Educational Technology
Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2023

231

education practice.

The Section 1 entitled Introduction 
to Multimedia Learning divided into 
five chapters lays the background and 
foundational principles of multimedia 
learning. Each chapter is presented 
with a summary and outline of the 
contents. The section offers basic 
details like definitions, key-terms, along 
with research summaries, multimedia 
instruction cum assessment, and 
multimedia design principles.

Section 2 enters into the core of the 
volume and describes the Principles 
for Reducing Extraneous Processing 
in Multimedia Learning. Divided into 
five chapters, each chapter deals with 
one principle. Thus, five principles for 
reducing extraneous processing in 
multimedia learning namely coherence, 
signalling, redundancy, spatial 
contiguity, and temporal contiguity 
principles have been discussed in detail 
with appropriate examples. The section 
primarily addresses the problem of 
extraneous processing overload.

Section 3 continues with the core 
principles pertaining to multimedia 
learning. It deals with the Principles 
for Managing Essential Processing in 
Multimedia Learning in three chapters. 
Essential processing refers to cognitive 
processing i.e. cognitive aspects 
of multimedia learning. The three 
principles of essential processing that 
help to manage multimedia learning are 
segmenting, pre-training and modality. 

Section 4 entitled Principles for 
Fostering Generative Processing in 
Multimedia Learning is spread across 
6 chapters, each devoted to one 
principle. For fostering generative 
processing after essential processing, 
four principles namely personalisation, 
voice, embodiment, and generative 
activity have been found working while 
two others i.e. image and immersion 
principles have not been found working 

for multimedia instruction-based 
learning.

The volume ends with Section 5 offering 
a Conclusion of the present treatise and 
summarises the fifteen principles of 
multimedia instruction that are based 
on empirical evidence and grounded 
in theory. It also summarises different 
types of boundary conditions of these 
principles such as individual difference 
conditions, instructional content 
conditions, and instructional context 
conditions. Further, the chapter briefly 
recounts the progress in the past and 
also looks forward to the way ahead 
where the author refers to two possible 
directions in the field based on emotional 
design and motivational design. The 
book ends with the comments and 
suggestions related to future research 
for improving multimedia learning.

The volume entitled Multimedia 
Learning by Richard E. Mayer, as 
mentioned earlier, is truly an outcome 
of labour of love! It is a concise 
and compact yet comprehensive 
resource on the subject for students, 
professionals and researchers alike. 
Besides the treatment of the subject 
matter, the book is designed well with a 
learner-friendly approach. Each chapter 
carries a list of suggested readings 
followed by a list of references. The 
book also contains an author index as 
well as a subject index easing access to 
information at a glance.