The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: The Modality Principle in Multimedia Learning

This chapter presents a theory that is positioned at the third level, namely, the four-component instructional design model (4C/ ID) model, and discusses how this theory can be used to design multimedia learning environments for complex learning. It presents a general description of how people learn complex skills in environments that are built from the four components, how instructional control can be organized in these environments, and how different media can be used to implement each component and instructional control. The relationship between the four components and the assumed cognitive architecture is explained. Educational media and 22 multimedia principles are related to each of the four components and instructional control. The chapter reviews the contributions of the 4C/ID model to cognitive theory and instructional design, indicating the limitations of the model, and sketching directions for future research.