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34 - The Feedback 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
Cheryl I. Johnson  and
Matthew D. Marraffino
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

Feedback is widely considered an effective instructional technique that improves learning outcomes across a variety of multimedia learning environments, including interactive lessons, educational games, and simulations. The effectiveness of feedback depends on a number of factors, and in this chapter we focus on the content of the feedback message and compare corrective and explanatory feedback. Corrective feedback informs learners whether they were right or wrong, and explanatory feedback provides learners with an explanation for why their response was correct or incorrect. The feedback principle states that novices learn better with explanatory feedback than corrective feedback alone. In this chapter, we present evidence concerning the feedback principle, discuss boundary conditions that can limit its effectiveness, and explore adaptive training as an approach to mitigate some of these boundary conditions.

Keywords

feedback principlecorrective feedbackexplanatory feedbackcognitive theory of multimedia learning
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning , pp. 403 - 417
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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