Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:02:10.012Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

17 - The Signaling (or Cueing) Principle in Multimedia Learning

from Part IV - Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing in Multimedia Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

Richard E. Mayer
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Logan Fiorella
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Get access

Summary

The signaling principle, also known as cueing principle, refers to the finding that people learn more deeply from a multimedia message when cues are added that guide attention to the relevant elements of the material or highlight the organization of the essential material. In this chapter, the main findings from research on signaling or cueing in multimedia learning are reviewed, addressing the effects of incorporating cues in the text, the picture, or both. In addition, the design of cues based on successful students’ eye movements and the effects of using experts’ or students’ eye movements as cues are discussed. This chapter shows that various types of cueing can have beneficial effects on learning and discusses potential boundary conditions.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alpizar, D., Adesope, O. O., & Wong, R. M. (2020). A meta-analysis of signaling principle in multimedia learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68, 20952119.Google Scholar
Amadieu, F., Mariné, C., & Laimay, C. (2011). The attention-guiding effect and cognitive load in the comprehension of animations. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 3640.Google Scholar
Boucheix, J.-M., & Lowe, R. K. (2010). An eye tracking comparison of external pointing cues and internal continuous cues in learning with complex animations. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 123135.Google Scholar
Boucheix, J.-M., Lowe, R. K., Putri, D. K., & Groff, J. (2013). Cueing animations: Dynamic signaling aids information extraction and comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 25(1), 7184.Google Scholar
Canham, M., & Hegarty, M. (2010). Effects of knowledge and display design on comprehension of complex graphics. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 155166.Google Scholar
Charness, N., Reingold, E. M., Pomplun, M., & Stampe, D. M. (2001). The perceptual aspect of skilled performance in chess: Evidence from eye movements. Memory and Cognition, 29(8), 11461152.Google Scholar
Crooks, S. M., Cheon, J., Inan, F., Ari, F., & Flores, R. (2012). Modality and cueing in multimedia learning: Examining cognitive and perceptual explanations for the modality effect. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(3), 10631071.Google Scholar
de Koning, B. B., & Jarodzka, H. (2017). Attention guidance strategies for supporting learning from dynamic visualizations. In Lowe, R., & Ploetzner, R. (ed.), Learning from Dynamic Visualizations: Innovations in Research and Practice (pp. 255278). Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
de Koning, B. B., Tabbers, H. K., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Paas, F. (2007). Attention cueing as a means to enhance learning from an animation. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21(6), 731746.Google Scholar
de Koning, B. B., Tabbers, H. K., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Paas, F. (2009). Towards a framework for attention cueing in instructional animations: Guidelines for research and design. Educational Psychology Review, 21(2), 113140.Google Scholar
de Koning, B. B., Tabbers, H. K., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Paas, F. (2010a). Attention guidance in learning from a complex animation: Seeing is understanding? Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 111122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Koning, B. B., Tabbers, H. K., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Paas, F. (2010b). Learning by generating vs. receiving instructional explanations: Two approaches to enhance attention cueing in animations. Computers & Education, 55(2), 681691.Google Scholar
de Koning, B. B., Tabbers, H. K., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Paas, F. (2011). Attention cueing in an instructional animation: The role of presentation speed. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 4145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, S., & Schwan, S. (2010). Comprehending animations: Effects of spatial cueing versus temporal scaling. Learning and Instruction, 20(6), 465475.Google Scholar
Folker, S., Ritter, H., & Sichelschmidt, L. (2005). Processing and integrating multimodal material: The influence of color coding. In Bara, B. G., Barsalou, L., & Bucciarelli, M. (eds.), Proceedings of 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 690695). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gegenfurtner, A., Lehtinen, E., Jarodzka, H., & Säljö, R. (2017). Effects of eye movement modeling examples on adaptive expertise in medical image diagnosis. Computers and Education, 113, 212225.Google Scholar
Grant, E. R., & Spivey, M. J. (2003). Eye movements and problem solving: Guiding attention guides thought. Psychological Science, 14(5), 462466.Google Scholar
Haider, H., & Frensch, P. A. (1999). Eye movement during skill acquisition: More evidence for the information reduction hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 25(1), 172190.Google Scholar
Harp, S. F., & Mayer, R. E. (1998). How seductive details do their damage: A theory of cognitive interest in science learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 414434.Google Scholar
Hayes, D. A., & Reinking, D. (1991). Good and poor readers’ use of graphic aids cued in texts and adjunct study materials. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 16(4), 391398.Google Scholar
Hegarty, M., Canham, M. S., & Fabrikant, S. I. (2010). Thinking about the weather: How display salience and knowledge affect performance in a graphic inference task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 36(1), 3753.Google Scholar
Holmqvist, K., Nyström, M., Andersson, R., Dewhurst, R., Jarodzka, H., & van de Weijer, J. (2011). Eye Tracking A Comprehensive Guide to Methods and Measures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jairam, D., Kiewra, K. A., Kauffman, D. F., & Zhao, R. (2012). How to study a matrix. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(2), 128135.Google Scholar
Jamet, E., Gavota, M., & Quaireau, C. (2008). Attention guiding in multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 18(2), 135145.Google Scholar
Jarodzka, H., Balslev, T., Holmqvist, K., Nyström, M., Scheiter, K., Gerjets, P., & Eika, B. (2012). Conveying clinical reasoning based on visual observation via eye-movement modelling examples. Instructional Science, 40(5), 813827.Google Scholar
Jarodzka, H., Scheiter, K., Gerjets, P., & van Gog, T. (2010). In the eyes of the beholder: How experts and novices interpret dynamic stimuli. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 146154.Google Scholar
Jarodzka, H., van Gog, T., Dorr, M., Scheiter, K., & Gerjets, P. (2013). Learning to see: Guiding students’ attention via a model’s eye movements fosters learning. Learning and Instruction, 25, 6270.Google Scholar
Jeung, H., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1997). The role of visual indicators in dual sensory mode instruction. Educational Psychology, 17(3), 329343.Google Scholar
Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educational Psychologist, 38, 2331.Google Scholar
Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1999). Managing split-attention and redundancy in multimedia instruction. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13(4), 351371.Google Scholar
Lin, L., & Atkinson, R. K. (2011). Using animations and visual cueing to support learning of scientific concepts and processes. Computers & Education, 56(3), 650658.Google Scholar
Lin, L., Atkinson, R. K., Savenye, W. C., & Nelson, B. C. (2016). The effects of visual cues and self-explanation prompts: Empirical evidence in a multimedia environment. Interactive Learning Environments, 24(4), 799813.Google Scholar
Litchfield, D., & Ball, L. J. (2011). Using another’s gaze as an explicit aid to insight problem solving. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 649656.Google Scholar
Litchfield, D., Ball, L. J., Donovan, T., Manning, D. J., & Crawford, T. (2010). Viewing another person’s eye movements improves identification of pulmonary nodules in chest x-ray inspection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 16(3), 251262.Google Scholar
Loman, N. L., & Mayer, R. E. (1983). Signaling techniques that increase the understandability of expository prose. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(3), 402412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorch, R. F. Jr., & Lorch, E. P. (1995). Effects of organizational signals on text-processing strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(4), 537544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorch, R. F. Jr., & Lorch, E. P. (1996). Effects of organizational signals on free recall of expository text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 3448.Google Scholar
Lorch, R. F. Jr., Lorch, E. P., & Klusewitz, M. A. (1995). Effects of typographical cues on reading and recall of text. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20(1), 5164.Google Scholar
Lowe, R. K. (1999). Extracting information from an animation during complex visual learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 14(2), 225244.Google Scholar
Lowe, R. K. (2003). Animation and learning: Selective processing of information in dynamic graphics. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), 157176.Google Scholar
Lowe, R. K., & Boucheix, J.-M. (2011). Cueing complex animations: Does direction of attention foster learning processes? Learning and Instruction, 21(5), 650663.Google Scholar
Mason, L., Pluchino, P., & Tornatora, M. C. (2015). Eye-movement modeling of integrative reading of an illustrated text: Effects on processing and learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 172187.Google Scholar
Mason, L., Pluchino, P., & Tornatora, M. C. (2016). Using eye-tracking technology as an indirect instruction tool to improve text and picture processing and learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), 10831095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, L., Scheiter, K., & Tornatora, M. C. (2017). Using eye movements to model the sequence of textpicture processing for multimedia comprehension. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(5), 443460.Google Scholar
Mautone, P. D., & Mayer, R. E. (2001). Signaling as a cognitive guide in multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 377389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mautone, P. D., & Mayer, R. E. (2007). Cognitive aids for guiding graph comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(3), 640652.Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E. (2020). Multimedia Learning (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, R. E., Dyck, J. L., & Cook, L. K. (1984). Techniques that help readers build mental models from scientific text: Definitions pretraining and signaling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(6), 10891105.Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E., & Johnson, C. I. (2008). Revising the redundancy principle in multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 380386.Google Scholar
McTigue, E. M. (2009). Does multimedia learning theory extend to middle-school students? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(2), 143153.Google Scholar
Moreno, R., & Abercrombie, S. (2010). Promoting awareness of learner diversity in prospective teachers: Signaling individual and group differences within classroom cases. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 18(1), 111130.Google Scholar
Ozcelik, E., Arslan-Arib, I., & Cagiltay, K. (2010). Why does signaling enhance multimedia learning? Evidence from eye movements. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(1), 110117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ozcelik, E., Karakus, T., Kursun, E., & Cagiltay, K. (2009). An eye-tracking study of how color coding affects multimedia learning. Computers & Education, 53(1), 445453.Google Scholar
Richter, J., & Scheiter, K. (2019). Studying the expertise reversal of the multimedia signaling effect at a process level: Evidence from eye tracking. Instructional Science, 47(6), 627658.Google Scholar
Richter, J., Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2016). Signaling text-picture relations in multimedia learning: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 17, 1936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richter, J., Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2018). Signaling text–picture relations in multimedia learning: The influence of prior knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(4), 544560.Google Scholar
Rouet, J.-F., Ros, C., Goumi, A., Macedo-Rouet, M., & Dinet, J. (2011). The influence of surface and deep cues on primary and secondary school students’ assessment of relevance in Web menus. Learning and Instruction, 21(2), 205219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmerón, L., & Llorens, A. (2019). Instruction of digital reading strategies based on eye-movements modeling examples. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(2), 343359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scerbo, M. W., Warm, J. S., Dember, W. N., & Grasha, A. F. (1992). The role of time and cuing in a college lecture. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17(4), 312328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2015). Signals foster multimedia learning by supporting integration of highlighted text and diagram elements. Learning and Instruction, 36, 1126.Google Scholar
Scheiter, K., Schubert, C., & Schüler, A. (2018). Self-regulated learning from illustrated text: Eye movement modelling to support use and regulation of cognitive processes during learning from multimedia. British Journal of Educational Technology, 88(1), 8094.Google Scholar
Scheiter, K., Schubert, C., Schüler, A., Schmidt, H., Zimmermann, G., Wassermann, B., … Eder, T. (2019). Adaptive multimedia: Using gaze-contingent instructional guidance to provide personalized processing support. Computers & Education, 139, 3147.Google Scholar
Schneider, S., Beege, M., Nebel, S., & Rey, G. D. (2018). A meta-analysis of how signaling affects learning with media. Educational Research Review, 23, 124.Google Scholar
Schwonke, R., Berthold, K., & Renkl, A. (2009). How multiple external representations are used and how they can be made more useful. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 12271243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shah, P., Mayer, R. E., & Hegarty, M. (1999). Graphs as aids to knowledge construction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 690702.Google Scholar
Skuballa, I. T., Schwonke, R., & Renkl, A. (2012). Learning from narrated animations with different support procedures: Working memory capacity matters. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(6), 840847.Google Scholar
Sung, E., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Affective impact of navigational and signaling aids to e-learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 473483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive Load Theory. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tabbers, H. K., Martens, R. L., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2004). Multimedia instructions and cognitive load theory: Effects of modality and cueing. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(1), 7181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Titsworth, B. S., & Kiewra, K. A. (2004). Spoken organizational lecture cues and student notetaking as facilitators of student learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29(4), 447461.Google Scholar
Underwood, G., Chapman, P., Brocklehurst, N., Underwood, J., & Crundall, D. (2003). Visual attention while driving: Sequences of eye fixations made by experienced and novice drivers. Ergonomics, 46(6), 629646.Google Scholar
van Gog, T. (2006). Uncovering the Problem-Solving Process to Design Effective Worked Examples [Doctoral Dissertation]. Open University of The Netherlands.Google Scholar
van Gog, T., Jarodzka, H., Scheiter, K., Gerjets, P., & Paas, F. (2009). Attention guidance during example study via the model’s eye movements. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(3), 785791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Gog, T., Paas, F., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2005). Uncovering expertise-related differences in troubleshooting performance: Combining eye movement and concurrent verbal protocol data. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(2), 205221.Google Scholar
van Gog, T., & Scheiter, K. (2010). Eye tracking as a tool to study and enhance multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 20(2), 9599.Google Scholar
van Marlen, T., van Wermeskerken, M., Jarodzka, H., & van Gog, T. (2016). Showing a model’s eye movements in examples does not improve learning of problem-solving tasks. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 448459.Google Scholar
van Marlen, T., van Wermeskerken, M., Jarodzka, H., & van Gog, T. (2018). Effectiveness of eye movement modeling examples in problem solving: The role of verbal ambiguity and prior knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 58, 274283.Google Scholar
Yarbus, A. L. (1967). Eye Movements and Vision. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×