The functions of multiple representations

Multiple representations and multi-media can support learning in many different ways. In this paper, it is claimed that by identifying the functions that they Can serve, many of the conflicting findings arising out of the existing evaluations of multi-representational learning environments can be explained. This will lead to more systematic design principles. To this end, this paper describes a functional taxonomy of MERs. This taxonomy is used to ask how translation across representations should be supported to maximise learning outcomes and what information should be gathered from empirical evaluation in order to determine the effectiveness of multi-representational learning environments. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.