Richard Mayer on Multimedia Learning, Transfer, and the Future of Educational Psychology (Ep. 001)

Richard Mayer is one of the most influential educational psychologists of the past half-century. His research on multimedia learning, instructional design, and cognitive processes has shaped how educators and designers think about effective teaching. Best known for his principles of multimedia instruction, Mayer’s work explores how students learn from words and pictures, how technology can enhance or hinder learning, and what cognitive science tells us about education in the digital age. Richard joins Thomas to discuss what makes a well-designed PowerPoint, why transfer is so elusive in education, how to balance cognitive load in instructional design, whether AI-generated feedback can be effective, what virtual reality gets wrong about learning, how prior knowledge impacts multimedia instruction, why game-based learning often misses the mark, whether younger generations are better at processing digital media, how to separate education fads from real breakthroughs, what he’s learned from decades of collaboration, and what he’s working on next. Read an enhanced transcript with helpful links at Eduaide.Ai. Recorded 15 January 2025