Effects of time-compressed audio and adjunct images on learner recall, recognition, and satisfaction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-compressed narration and representational adjunct images on undergraduate college students’ (1) ability to recall and recognize information in a multimedia learning environment, and (2) overall satisfaction with this type of learning environment. The goals of this research were to shed light on time-compression technology incorporated into multimedia learning environments, help fill the existing gap in the research literature by merging two disjoint bodies of research, and aid instructors and instructional designers to better understand time-compression technology while creating rigorous multimedia materials.

This research was guided by the underlying principles of multimedia learning. The experiment was a 4 Audio Speeds (1.0 = normal vs. 1.5 = moderate vs. 2.0 = fast vs. 2.5 = fastest rate) x Adjunct Image (Image Present vs. Image Absent) factorial design. Audio speed and adjunct image both served as between subject conditions. Cued-recall, content recognition and learner satisfaction served as the dependent measures. Multimedia interventions were developed to execute this design.

A total of 305 research participants were recruited from a public, southeastern university in the United States in this study. Fifty-five percent of the participants were male and 92% indicated that English was their primary language. Forty-nine percent of the participants were junior classification, 4% were freshman, 19% were sophomore, 26% were seniors, with the remaining indicating other. The median age of the participants was 22, and ranges in age from 18 to 53 years old.

Data were analyzed using a series of factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedures. Results showed statistically significant differences at 2.5 times the normal audio speed, in which performance on cued-recall and content recognition tasks was significantly lower than other audio speeds. Furthermore, representational adjunct images had a significant positive effect on cued-recall, but not content recognition. Participants in the normal audio speed and picture present groups were significantly more satisfied than other treatments. Recommendations for future research are provided as well as advice for instructors, instructional designers and learners interested in time-compression technology.