The effect of microlearning and multimedia design on knowledge and skills acquisition of students in e-courses

Abstract

Although the term microlearning has been around since 2005 (Hug, 2005), its use, and research in the area, have resurged in recent years as adult learners have become increasingly more mobile and must deal with competing work, family, and educational priorities. Today’s learners, in both formal and informal academic and corporate learning environments, can benefit from microlearning’s smaller, single objective lessons that can be consumed quickly and easily. However, there are many variations of microlearning and ideas on how to create the instructional materials they include. While it may seem simple, the development process requires applying instructional design strategies and the multimedia tools necessary to deliver short, but effective instructional units. This article describes the results of a quasi-experimental action research project conducted to determine the effectiveness of micro-lessons integrated into university coursework developed using Mayer’s (2009) Principles of Multimedia Learning on learners’ knowledge acquisition and ability to perform a targeted skill.