Impact of words and pictures on elementary school students' retention and transfer

The multimedia principle is the phenomenon described by Mayer (2009, Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed.) that demonstrates higher levels of learning retention and transfer when instructional strategies integrate the use of words and pictures together rather than words alone or pictures alone. Though the multimedia principle has been studied extensively in adults, the literature reflects only a single study of Mayer's multimedia principle on children, and the sample in that study was middle school students. In the body of work investigating the multimedia principle, studies have found that the principle has proven to be more applicable to novice rather than expert learners and thus may have ramifications for children. Despite this, no sample of elementary school-age students has been investigated by Mayer. This issue raised the question of the relevance and applicability of the multimedia principle to younger learners. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of instruction using words and pictures, compared to words alone, or pictures alone, on elementary school students' retention and transfer of a multimedia presentation. Using a quantitative experimental design that replicated Mayer's original studies, 100 fifth-grade students from California participated in an Internet-based lesson on the human muscular system and completed pre and posttests to measure retention and transfer. Results from the study demonstrated that words and pictures increased the retention and transfer of learning in elementary students as compared to words alone or pictures alone. These results reflect the findings of prior research and extended the existing body of literature on the subject by providing a specific focus on learners of elementary age.