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1、Review of Educational Research. Winter, 1983, Vol. 53, No. 4, Pp. 445-459Reconsidering Research on Learning from MediaRichard E. Clark University of Southern CaliforniaABSTRACT. Recent meta-analyses and other studies of medias influence on learning are reviewed, Consistent evidence is found for the
2、generalization that there are no learning benefits to be gained from employing any specific medium to deliver instruction. Research showing performance or timesaving gains from one or another medium are shown to be vulnerable to compelling rival hypotheses concerning the uncontrolled effects of inst
3、ructional method and novelty. Problems with current media attribute and symbol system theories are described and suggestions made for more promising research directions.Studies of the influence of media on learning have ken a fixed feature of educational research since Thorndike (1912) recommended p
4、ictures as a laborsaving device in instruction, Most of this research is buttressed by the hope that learning will be enhanced with the proper mix of medium, student, subject matter content, and learning task. A typical study compares the relative achievement of groups who have received similar subj
5、ect matter from different media. This research has led to so-called media selection“ schemes or models 1982). These models generally promise to incorporate existing research and practice into procedures for selecting the best medium or mix of media to deliver instruction. Most of these models base m
6、any of their prescriptions on presumed learning benefits from media (Jamison, Suppes,Salomon C. Kulik, Kulik, J. Kulik, Bangert, J. Kulik, Kulik, Kulik, Bangert, Levie Salomon, 1974b; 1979) that we study “attributes“ of media and their influence on the way that information is processed in learning.
7、In this view, many media possess attributes such as the capacity to slow the motion of objects or stimulus field or to “unwrap“ a three-dimensional object into its two-dimensional form. These attributes were thought to cultivate cognitive skills when modeled by learners, so that, for example, a chil
8、d with low cue attending ability might learn the cognitive skill of “zooming“ into stimulus details (Salomon, 1974a), or novice chess players might increase their skills in recognizing potential moves and configurations of chess pieces through animated modeling of moves and patterns (Blake, 1977). B
9、ecause this type of question dealt with the way that information is selected and transformed in the acquisition of generalizable cognitive skills, many believed that the possibility of a coherent theory dealing with media attributes was forthcoming (Olson, 1972; Schramm, 1977). In addition, it was e
10、xciting to imagine that these media attributes might result in unique cognitive skills because they promised to teach mental transformations which had not heretofore been experienced. The promise of the media attributes approach is based on at least three expectations: (a) that the attributes were a
11、n integral part of media and would provide a connection between instructional uses of media and learning; (b) that attributes would provide for the cultivation of cognitive skills for learners who needed them; and (c) that identified attributes would provide unique independent variables for instruct
12、ional theories that specified causal relationships between attribute modeling and learning-finally the evidence for a connection between media and learning. While the final point is most important, it now appears that the media attribute question has many of the problems that plagued the media compa
13、rison issue. Generally, the evidence suggests that only the second expectation has been fulfilled, which implies that media attribute research may contribute to instructional design but not to theory development.Media Attributes and Media The first expectation was that these media attributes would s
14、omehow represent the psychologically relevant aspects of media. Few of the originators of the media attribute construct (Olson Salomon 1974b) claimed that they were more then “correlated“ with different media. Since they were not exclusive to any specific media and were only associated with them by
15、habit or convenience, they were not “media“ variables any more than the specific subject matter content of a book is part of the definition of “book.“ In fact, the early discussions of the construct most often referred to “symbol systems“ or symbolic “elements“ of instruction. All instructional mess
16、ages were coded in some symbolic representa- _ p 451tional system, the argument went, and symbols vary in the cognitive transformation they allow us to perform on the information we select from our environment. Some symbolic elements (animated arrows, zooming) permit us to cultivate cognitive skills. However, many different media could present a given attribute so there was no necessarycorrespondence between attributes and media. Media are mere vehicles for a
