Matching modality by conveying complementary information through auditory and visual channels increases retention, transfer, and engagement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2016 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Using both channels to convey appropriate and complementary information increases students' retention, ability to transfer information, and engagement with videos. → Brame Cynthia J 2016

Evidence¶

Brame Cynthia J 2016¶

Brame Cynthia J. (2016). Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content. CBE—Life Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-03-0125

q2 · i? · review · r2

The essay reports, citing Mayer and Moreno (2003), Guo et al. (2014), and Thomson et al. (2014), that "Using both channels to convey appropriate and complementary information" increases retention, transfer, and engagement. Examples include narrated animations and Khan Academy-style tutorials.

"Using both channels to convey appropriate and complementary information has been shown to increase students’ retention and ability to transfer information (Mayer and Moreno, 2003) and to increase student engagement with videos (Guo et al., 2014; Thomson et al., 2014)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

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• Presenting words as spoken narration rather than on-screen text alongside graphics improves learning — related
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• Voice-based multimedia settings (animation+voice and picture+voice) produce better learning performance than picture+text — related
• Signaling with on-screen text, color, contrast, or symbols improves retention and transfer from animations and video — related
• Media-rich videos combining text, pictures and voiceovers are rated more engaging than text-only videos — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Symbolic training transfers to the auditory modality, improving spoken number-word magnitude comparison — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Congruent pictures paired with text facilitate reading comprehension better than text alone or pictures alone — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Synced auditory and visual information in narrated presentations produces better learning than single-channel or out-of-sync presentation — related
• Observing gestures aids recall more when gestures provide complementary rather than redundant information (review attributes this to Austin et al., 2018) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Observing gestures embedded in instruction aids learning, especially when gestures convey a different strategy than speech — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Emotionally expressive gestures are associated with better retention than neutral gestures, and gesture and facial expression effects are complementary — related
• Concrete visual presentation can convey only concrete, simple meanings; abstract and general meanings are conveyed by language — related