Classification and analysis of instructional illustrations

PROBLEM It is almost indisputable that the lavish use of illustrations makes modem textbooks more attractive, and some research with younger children supports this view. However, the case for older learners is much less well established, and one wonders what essential educational role is served by the illustrations in many of the current printed materials. Illustrations certainly add to the size and cost of books, but what evidence is there that they add proportionately to learning? No satisfactory answers are available to this question, though a recent study by Albert Hickey (2) was a promising beginning. OBJECTIVES This study was conceived as a necessary preliminary to the systematic investigation of learning as a function of instructional illustrations. As such, its objectives were as follows: