Running head: MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 1

Multimedia Critique #2: Brain Pop: Pollination

Leesa Parker

Coastal Carolina University

EDIT 720
MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 2

Multimedia Critique #2: Brain Pop: Pollination

BrainPOP is a website that offers short animated videos on various educational topics.

The site is specifically designed for third through 12th grade, so the topics range from simple

elementary topics like honeybees, to complicated subjects such as DNA. The site was created to

make complex topics easily accessible through fun, short, and laid-back videos. Along with each

video, BrainPOP provides a plethora of activities to go along with the topic. These can be

completed online, and some can be printed out and completed on paper. BrainPOP provides a

paper that supports and provides references to multimedia learning research as a basis for their

videos and format (SEG Research, 2008). They have over 1000 videos available to view. It is a

subscription service, which can be paid per class, school, district, or individually. However,

BrainPOP does allow access to several free videos and activities which can be accessed at

(https://www.brainpop.com/free-stuff/). All of the videos and activities follow the same general

format. The example used in this critique is a video only available with a subscription. It is a

video on pollination. Does BrainPOP follow the research for effective multimedia learning?

All videos follow the modality principle that animation and narration is more optimal

than animation and text (Mayer & Moreno, 2010). This is the default. There is an option for

closed captioning, but if the teacher has control, she can be sure to leave it turned off to avoid

extraneous cognitive load. The closed captioning may be used as adaptive technology for those

who are hearing impaired.

All videos begin with an inquiry-based question that Moby (a robot) and Tim answer.

Both of them usually interact in a humorous manner, and Moby usually gets himself into trouble

at the end of the video. This usually does not interfere with the learning, because the extraneous

“plot” is usually at the beginning and the end of the video. One may argue that this may not
MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 3

adhere to the coherence principle of removing unnecessary text, pictures, narration but it is not a

part of the lesson of the process of pollination. The main idea and lesson are clearly planted as

the middle of the video format. There are no other distracting background sounds, music, sound

effects in this particular video during the animation of pollination, which also adheres to the

coherence principle. Students who may be familiar with BrainPOP understand the structure of

the relationship between Moby and Tim, and anticipate an ending after the lesson. That perhaps

may cause a distraction if the students are frequent viewers of the videos.

Figure 1: Title of Video Figure 2: Opening question

The interaction among the characters as well as the conversational tone adheres to the

personalization principle which states that presentations that use less formal speech such as “you

and I” are more engaging to learners (Mayer, 2014). Tim speaks in such an informal tone to the

audience when describing complex topics which, according to multimedia theories, increases

engagement, which increases the chance that the content is stored in long-term memory.

During the animation, Tim explains the process of pollination through a series of separate

animations. While BrainPOP is not segmented, it does allow students to pause and review any
MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 4

information they may need repeated. This offers the learner some control which may allow them

to manage the intrinsic cognitive load (Mayer & Moreno, 2010), giving them a chance to pause

and digest the information they were given. Critical vocabulary is citied throughout the

animations of pollination. One very positive feature in the settings right on the control panel of

the video is a speed setting for Tim’s speech. He may talk a bit to fast for some students. If this is

the case, the teacher or student can toggle his speech to the “slower” speed. BrainPOP’s

animation follows the temporal contiguity principal of multimedia learning to reduce cognitive

load because they narration matches with the corresponding animation (Mayer & Moreno, 2010).

There is no pre-learning in BrainPOP, so it would be up to the teacher to pretrain the

students who have no schema of the parts of flowers. This will allow them to process the

information that is presented to them if they have the prerequisite knowledge needed to reduce

cognitive load (Mayer & Moreno, 2010). The vocabulary is flashed on the screen, not in a

sentence, but more as a signaling feature to show the student it is an important word to attend to.

One downfall to note, is that some of the labels are not in close proximity to the picture that it is

supposed to label, leading to poor spatial contiguity on some sections of the explanation. In

Figures 3 and 4 the label of the vocabulary words may confuse the viewer, causing them to

search out where the part is because the label is so separated from the graphic, which is known as

spatial contiguity (Mayer & Moreno, 2010). This extraneous error can be fixed by placing the

label directly above or on the part it is labeling. This can be particularly problematic for those

who have not been pretrained with the parts of a flower and are learning them through the video.

In figure 2 the anther is almost impossible to discern from the picture, although it does flash

black and brown in the video, but that may be a distraction to the learner, as well.
MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 5

Figure 3: An example of poor spatial contiguity Figure 4 : Another example of poor spatial contiguity

Another feature that is desirable with BrainPOP is the activities that come with each

video. Students are able to choose or teachers can assign practice online to be printed out, or

saved to do as a paper and pencil task. A practice or grade quiz is available to use as a formative

assessment as needed. There are diagrams and open-ended activities that students can use. A new

feature is mind mapping. Throughout these activities, students are able to review the video as

often as they need to in order to complete the practice in a meaningful way.

While BrainPOP may not be the perfect web site for all educators and learners, it prides

itself on multimedia learning principles to increase student engagement, practice, and learning.

For the most part, it seems to adhere to the Mayer & Moreno’s (2010) goals of “reducing

extraneous cognitive processing, manage intrinsic cognitive processing, and foster generative

cognitive processing” (p134). In addition, BrainPOP provides educators and students a plethora

of complex topics and practice activities that may allow them to add to their schema.
MULTIMEDIA CRITIQUE #2 6

References

Mayer, R.E., & Moreno, R. (2010). Techniques that reduce extraneous cognitive load and

manage intrinsic cognitive load during multimedia learning. In J. L. Plass, R. Moreno, &

R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive Load Theory (pp. 131-152). New York: Cambridge.

Mayer, R.E. (2014) Principles based on social cues in multimedia learning: Personalization,

voice, image, and embodiment principles. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge

Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (pp. 345-368). New York: Cambridge.

Pollination. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/pollination/

SEG Research. (2008). Understanding multimedia learning: Integrating multimedia in the K-12

classroom. Retrieved from https://aboutbrainpop.wpengine.com/wp-

content/uploads/2017/11/Understanding-Multimedia-Learning-2014.pdf