Redundancy principles

The redundancy principle states that learners can learn better with animation and narration alone rather than adding redundant on-screen text. Potential problems with redundant text include learners focusing on the text instead of graphics, experiencing cognitive overload from multiple channels of information, and trying to compare different formats. However, redundant text may be acceptable in some special situations like when there is no graphic information, enough time to process materials, or the audio is difficult to understand. Several studies support the redundancy principle by finding better learning outcomes without redundant text or with audio and images alone compared to additional text. While the principle generally holds, more research is needed to determine situations where it may not apply depending on learner experiences.