Learner Preferences in Multimedia Design

From the multimedia research, a number of design principles have been developed in order to improve learning by reducing burden on working memory load (i.e., the multimedia principles). However, very little of this research has attempted to examine learners’ preferences of multimedia design. As a result, the purpose of this study was to examine learners’ preferences for multimedia in order to see if design principles align with learner preferences. The results of the study indicate that learners’ preferences partially align with the multimedia principles. Learners preferred multiple to single representations, which is directly in-line with the multimedia principle. However, learners overwhelmingly preferred text + narration + images which directly violates the redundancy principle. They indicated that they prefer options. They enjoy seeing the images and then want to choose if they want to listen, read, or do both. Given these results, it is clear that the multimedia principles are not always aligned with learner preferences.