多媒体学习的科学体系及其历史地位——兼谈教育技术学走向“循证科学”之关键问题

The Scientific System of Multimedia Learning and Its Implications for Instructional Technology to be an Evidence-Based Science

理查德·梅耶是国际公认的多媒体学习研究领域的开拓者和奠基人,其领衔的多媒体学习研究也已形成了由基本假设、学习科学、教学科学和应用领域构成的严谨科学体系。多媒体学习融合了学习科学(认知理论)和教学科学(教学设计)的研究成果,使得学习与教学、理论与实践之间形成了一种互惠关系。这正是多媒体学习研究称之为一门扎根于理论的循证科学的理论特质之体现。从历史的视角来看,在教育研究科学化的历史进程中,首先是学习科学破解了人类学习的理论难题,之后是学习科学向教学科学的转化实践。而多媒体学习研究中的"化归"思维在一定程度上使得多媒体学习的理论具有了在学习实践中进行普遍应用的基础性价值。教育技术学要想走向科学化,应该走出追求实用主义的"寻证"之路,走向扎根于科学理论基础的"循证"之路,同时应该在方法学上寻求突破。

Richard Mayer is well-known as the founder and leading figure in the field of multimedia learning.The science of multimedia learning that he and his colleagues established is a rigor system which includes basic assumptions,learning science,instructional science and applications.In multimedia learning research,the science of learning and the science of instruction are integrated into a whole and a reciprocal relationship is formed between teaching and learning,and theory and practice.The distinctive characteristic of multimedia learning research is theoretically grounded and evidence-based.Historically,the progress of scientific research in education begins with the breakthrough in learning research made by psychologists,and then moves into the next period in which the findings from learning research are transformed into the field of instructional science.Benefiting from the meta-thinking style in multimedia learning research,the theory of multimedia learning can be applied in various domains and settings.For instructional technology research,what we could learn from multimedia learning research is to move from the pragmatic proof-seeking approach to a theoretically grounded and evidence-based one,and to pursue breakthroughs in methodology.