Challenge B – Substantive Post 1

I chose Amy Adkins’s TED-Ed video “Why Do We Dream?” Since it turns a universal mystery into learnable pieces.

From a multimedia-learning lens, it maps neatly onto several of Mayer’s principles. The Multimedia principle states that people learn better from words and pictures together than from words alone. In this video, narrated explanations are paired with animation so the two modes reinforce each other. Coherence is respected by keeping visuals clean and avoiding decorative clutter while theories are introduced. Clear chaptering of the six proposed functions of dreams (remember, forget, keep the brain active, rehearse, heal and solve) exemplifies Segmenting, letting viewers process one function at a time.

The video also uses Signaling—arrows, highlights, and color shifts—to cue key terms and transitions. Explanations are delivered primarily through narration with minimal on-screen text, aligning with Modality and Redundancy (avoiding reading the same sentences that are being spoken). The timing of narration with the moment an animation unfolds demonstrates Temporal Contiguity, reducing the need to hold information in working memory.

To sum up, the video shows how deliberate use of coherence, signaling, segmenting, modality, and contiguity can turn an abstract topic into something understandable—and memorable. For me, these design choices didn’t just explain theories about dreaming more clearly, they also modeled how multimedia principles can transform difficult concepts into engaging learning experiences. This reinforces the idea that when theory and design align, learners are more likely to stay focused and actually retain what they’ve learned.