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35 - The Learner Control Principle in Multimedia Learning

from Part VII - Principles Based on Generative Activity in Multimedia Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Katharina Scheiter
Edited by
Richard E. Mayer  and
Logan Fiorella
Richard E. Mayer
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Logan Fiorella
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
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Summary

The learner control principle is that giving learners control over their instruction by allowing them to pace, sequence, and select information aids learning if learners possess high levels of prior knowledge and if they receive additional instructional support to orient themselves in the learning environment and to self-regulate their learning. Learner control has been suggested to afford an active, constructive processing of instruction, to increase and sustain the motivation to learn, to enhance the acquisition of self-regulatory skills, and to enable learners to adapt instruction to their preferences and needs. Despite these envisioned benefits, there is little empirical evidence supporting these claims, which is largely because these benefits are overwritten by the additional cognitive and metacognitive demands learner control imposes.

Keywords

learner control principlecognitive flexibility theoryhypermediaexpertise reversal effectprior knowledge
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning , pp. 418 - 429
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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