The influence of bimodal combinations of audio, visual, and textual components on recall of content material

The present study looked at the use of basic learning modalities: visual, audio, and textual, to ascertain whether a certain combination of two modalities (i.e., audio-visual, audio-textual, and visual-textual) produced better recall of content material. Past research has studied the effects of using multimedia software on recall by implementing additional components such as animation and other auditory adjuncts (e.g., sound effects or music). The present study measured recall without these additional adjuncts by using tutorial software made from a PowerPoint program about the structure and function of the human heart. Implementing a between-groups design, participants were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: audio-visual, audio-textual, or visual-textual. In the audio-visual condition, participants were presented with Heartware containing only the audio version of the tutorial and the visual illustrations of the heart. The audio-textual version of the software consisted of the same audio lesson as in the audio-visual condition, in combination with the textual presentation of the information. Lastly, in the visual-textual presentation, participants were exposed to a combination of the textual format and the visual illustrations format of the lesson. Results did not indicate a significant difference in recall between the three experimental conditions. Additional tests also found no significant interaction effect between the three experimental conditions and the three lessons presented in Heartware