Research Questions 

In this study, as mentioned in the article, there were several issues that were addressed regarding the development of multimedia materials targeted for teaching. First of all, it examined whether providing pictures of items which are needed to be learned by the students assist in the memorization process. Next, it looked at the differences in the instructional effectiveness of visual aids versus auditory aids relating to the same information. Also, It examined whether two different sensory modes prove to be more effective in teaching than a single sensory mode. Furthermore, it examined the effect of timing by looking at the simultaneous and sequential presentations of information and observing which is more advantageous. Lastly, the study looked at how timing interacted with sensory mode to effect learning (This is the main research question since the author mentions that this is the area that has not been explored as the abovementioned notions).

Literature Review 

The literature review in this study appropriately and effectively coincides with the research questions. In other words, the reviewed literature is a match to each research question and there is high relevancy. For instance, there are examples of studies comparing visual versus auditory processing of linguistic information (Gulo & Barren, 1965; Thalberg, 1964), studies that are related to simultaneous processing of auditory and visual information (Broadbent, 1958; Travers, 1967), and studies that look at combining visuals with text for advanced comprehension (Glemberg & Langston, 1992).

Methodology

The study included 236 undergraduate education majors at a Midwestern University. The students were in fourteen different sections of an introductory course in instructional technology. There were intact groups but the subject were randomly assigned to six different treatment groups: reading the passage with accompanying map (Map of Ako island), reading the passage (Seventy-five lines long and one thousand and one hundred words) with map afterward, reading the passage with no map, hearing the passage with accompanying map, hearing the passage with map afterward, and hearing the passage with no map. The experimenter divided the class into two halves (randomly) and one half was taken to another room. Then, the subjects in both rooms were divided into three subgroups. In one room, an audiotape of the passage was played and  in the classroom, a research assistant passed out  a written copy of the same passage and gave subjects the same amount of time to read it.   The presentation of the Ako Map in each of the two rooms was different for each of the three subgroups.  One-third of the subjects had the map available during the presentation of the passage. Another  third of each group was given the map sequentially.  The final third never saw the map.  Afterwards, they were given the 15-item Ako Island Test. I believe that the methodology used in this study was sound and appropriate.

Results 

The researcher did a 2x2 ANOVA that includes the sequential and simultaneous timings of audio and visual groups. Since the researcher could not find any interaction, he dropped this control group from his first 2x3 ANOVA and decided just to test the differences between the subjects which saw the map and which did not. The mean score for subjects who listened to passage and saw the map was 8.8, while the mean score for the subjects who looked at both the passage and the map was 8.3. These means are pretty close to each other which shows that there is no difference between these groups. In addition to this, the ANOVA shows a statistically significant interaction between sensory mode and timing of map presentation but timing made no difference to the groups which had the map presented sequentially.

Conclusion

This study definitely shows the instructional efficacy of pictorial material, when included with verbal description. Seeing pictures and names of items on a map helped subjects remember those items better than they could remember items that were mentioned in a passage, but not depicted on the map. The article also indicated that the most effective way to present these types of materials was to provide the passage and map simultaneously to both auditory and visual channels. The dual processing of material in two sensory channels allow the learner to absorb more material than is possible for the learner to manage through the visual channel alone.