Posts in Category: Assignment 1: EduMedia Review
Assignment 1, Part 1
Mitosis – Crash Course Biology
The multimedia resource I have chosen for my first Educational Multimedia Review is the Mitosis episode of Crash Course Biology. This video holds a special place in my heart; I watched it so many times in Grade 10 biology. It was the first thing I thought of when reading “educational multimedia artefact.” Mitosis and its various stages were something I struggled to understand, but it was foundational knowledge for the units that followed (such as meiosis). This video was also what introduced me to Crash Course, a resource which helped me through a lot of science concepts throughout my education. It is a basic overview, but it contains enough information that it has been useful all the way through my University education as well.
This video opens with Hank Green against a black background, where he introduces the topic of the video. He engages with the audience and tries to make the subject interesting. After about 90 seconds, my attention was captured by the colours and animation style. They are bright and interesting without being overwhelming or distracting from the information shared. For a 15-year-old with undiagnosed ADHD, that was important. The first 90 seconds are dark and somewhat uninviting, and would not have drawn me to the video if I were not seeking out this information specifically. In future videos, they have changed this opening style to be more captivating.
Following the intro sequence with an excellent jingle, we dive into Mitosis and its phases. These are animated and divided up into digestible chunks, allowing you to go back and review particular sections. The animation is slow and does not require pausing to properly view what is happening, although I did find it useful to look at static images of the phases of mitosis after watching the video. The video ends with a review section to reinforce the lessons shared and strengthen retention. The video is relatively short and succinct, although it may not be viewed this way with today’s obsession with ultra-short-form media.
Some principles and theories:
Dual coding theory: making use of the two “systems” in our brains, combining audio instruction with visuals. Verbal and non-verbal processing.
Redundancy principle: Mostly narrated verbally with little text on screen; what is there is only to reinforce key phrases (signalling principle).
Segmenting: ideas are broken down into manageable chunks to limit intrinsic cognitive load.
Personalization principle: Hank talks to the audience like they are people, using common language and firmly basing the topic within our lives. Connecting with the audience, feeling more like a conversation than a lecture.
Voice principle: spoken in a human voice that we can relate to. Most videos in this playlist use the same narrator, which I think helps cut down on some confusion.
Theories of Multimedia Learning – EDCI 337. (2025, September 5). https://edtechuvic.ca/edci337/2025/09/05/theories-of-multimedia-learning/
Module 1: what multimedia learning actually claims
The claim that stopped me this week was the redundancy principle: that reading text aloud while the same text is on screen makes learning worse, not better. It is counter-intuitive. Every set of slides I have ever sat through does exactly that.
The explanation is that the visual and auditory channels each have limited capacity, and identical text in both spends that capacity twice for no gain. What convinced me was trying it: I recorded the same ninety-second explanation twice, once reading my slides and once with the slides reduced to a single diagram. The second version is shorter, and I can follow it without effort.
What I would change
Next time I will draft the narration first and let the visuals follow, rather than writing slides and then reading them. Sample post — replace with your own writing.