Effects of Objectives, Practice, and Review in Multimedia Instruction

This study examined the effects of instructional elements (objectives, information, practice with feedback, and review) on achievement, attitude, and time in a computer-based, multimedia program. Undergraduate college students used the multimedia lesson to learn about artists and their painting styles. Results indicated that practice had a significant effect on achievement while objectives and review did not. Participants who used the program with practice performed significantly better than those who did not receive practice. Student responses to the attitude survey showed that they were sensitive to the presence or absence of the instructional elements investigated in this study. Participants who used the lean program (information only) had the lowest overall attitudes. Results of paired comparison questions on the attitude survey revealed that participants perceived information, practice, and review to be more helpful than objectives. Turning to time, participants who received the full program spent the most amount of time working though the multimedia lesson and those who received the lean program spent the least amount of time. Implications for designing multimedia instruction are discussed. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.)