The role of practice in videodisc-based procedural instructions

The author reports a procedure for developing multimedia instructions that are `optimized´ according to certain criteria. She describes the design of interactive videodisc-based assembly instruction using IBM´s Info Window system. Research comparing interactive videodisc-based assembly instructions and passive videotape instructions is presented. Performance in building from memory an 80-piece object is assessed for six different groups. The main comparison is between groups which have interactive instructions and are allowed to build during training, and groups that have the same instructions but are not followed to build during training. The `build´ groups never perform better from memory than the `no build´ groups (on structure or efficiency) and sometimes perform significantly worse. An explanation is offered using a framework for multimedia concepts in memory. It is concluded that, when practice is mixed with simultaneous audiovisual instruction, the motoric elements created by practice do not become an integrated part of the concept of building the object formed from the audiovisual information. Instead, motoric elements remain `outside´ the concept