Two experiments which compare the effectiveness of the auditory and visual elements in instructional films in order to study their relative contributions to learning are described in this paper. Two films dealing with aerodynamics were used in one experiment, and one film dealing with desert survival was used in the other. Multiple choice item…

Discussion of the development of instructional multimedia materials focuses on a study of undergraduates that examined how the use of visual icons affected learning, differences in the instructional effectiveness of visual versus auditory processing of the same information, and timing (whether simultaneous or sequential presentation is more…

Accompanying the rapid changes in technology has been a greater dependence on automation and numerical control, which has resulted in the need to find ways of preparing programers for industrial machines using numerical control. To compare the hands-on equipment method and a visual media method of teaching numerical control, an experimental and a…

Describes study of undergraduates conducted to test the effectiveness of illustrations in texts, based on two hypotheses concerned with the differences between analogical and literal illustrations in serving two specific instructional functions and ways in which male and female students utilize illustrations. Results are analyzed, and…

Describes a statistical integration of findings from 74 studies of visual-based college teaching. Results indicating that students in such instruction generally learned slightly more but that there was no effect on course completion rates or student attitudes are discussed, and 19 references are provided. (Author/BK)

Noting that both the structural characteristics of television and the characteristics of the viewer may influence comprehension of television news, a study tested the hypothesis that the synchronous presentation of television news will maximize learning for viewers with low prior knowledge of program content. Synchronous and nonsynchronous…

The study investigates the effects of linguistic medium (English vs. Chinese), mode of stimulus presentation (visual vs. auditory), and noun frequency on short-term serial recall and serial learning. The results indicate that auditory input facilitates learning for American subjects but not for Taiwanese subjects, who learned somewhat faster with…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to comprehending, interpreting, and evaluating information from a variety of…

Describes a study that found, contrary to previous reports, that a strong, symmetrical release from proactive interference (PI) is the normal outcome for switches between American Sign Language (ASL) signs and English words and with switches between Manual and English alphabet characters. Subjects were college students enrolled in their first ASL…

A village in the rural area of India--Kishan Garhi-- is studied in this visually oriented social studies unit designed for higher education students. Concerned with the contemporary condition of human society rather than the historical evolution of the third world, this unit deals with the process of rural social change and the interaction of…

Presents the results of a questionnaire (in appendix) that asked 1,388 students to identify their perceptual learning style preferences. Analyses of the questionnaires indicated that nonnative speakers' learning style preferences often differ significantly from those of native speakers. Many variables are related to differences in learning styles…

A grade 6/7 class which constructed and explored three-dimensional shapes with the VREAM virtual reality (VR) development system program was compared with a grade 5/6/7 control group using card nets (diagrams which can be cut out/folded). Results indicated that VR had little impact on shape visualization and name writing, but it strongly enhanced…

This action research project devised a program designed to increase the use of visual elements in middle school core subjects and assessed its impact on student recall, teacher awareness, and use of visual/spatial elements. Observation, surveys, and interviews documented teachers' and students' limited knowledge and use of visual/spatial elements…

The drivers in a battalion about to be deployed to Germany were taught the meanings of international road signs using one of the following techniques: Sign Only, in which the road signs were presented via a slide projector and the names of the slides provided orally by the instructor; Sign Elaboration, which was identical to the Sign Only…

A study investigated the development of information processing as it relates to the development of reading skills by studying how good readers and poor readers utilized orthographic information. Subjects, 90 good and poor readers from grades 2, 4, and 6, participated in four 30-minute sessions in which they were required to make a same/different…