Test Order Effects in a Study of Multimedia Learning

Abstract

PowerPoint is widely used as a lecture aid in classrooms. In several well-controlled laboratory studies, variables were evaluated that may help or hinder learning from PowerPoint presentations used in academic classrooms and tested whether Mayer's principles of multimedia learning explain the effects of these variables. Pilot work, in which test order was varied, suggested that it would influence scores on measures of retention and comprehension. In this study, the effects of test order on student performance was explored.