Attributes of delivery media in computer-assisted instruction

This study investigated the effectiveness of multimedia for training purposes, with a comparison made between three Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) techniques. The role of delivery media was explored with 57 university students who were randomly assigned to three experimental groups receiving the same sequence of four short computer lessons, but with different presentations: (1) text and still image; (2) text, still image and audio track of the text; and (3) text, video image and audio track of the text. Two levels of knowledge type, and the presence or absence of cue pictures on recall tests gave a 3 ×2 ×2 repeated measures design with subject's memory tested by a 40 item test. Multivariate analysis showed no significant effect for group. The pattern of results was however, in accordance with the dual coding theory of short term memory processing. A partitioned χ2 analysis showed significant group effects on individual test items. Results showed greater effectiveness of video and audio CAI over stills based CAI.