The effects of time-compressed audio and verbal redundancy on learner performance and satisfaction

Digital audio is becoming increasingly popular in higher education with faculty digitally recording and broadcasting lectures for students to learn-on-demand. Students have discovered accelerated playback features in popular computer software and use it to reduce the amount of time spent listening to audio-enhanced instruction. In the current study, 183 undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three audio-enhanced multimedia presentations that were recorded at three speeds (1.0, 1.4, and 1.8). Results show no significant difference on performance across treatments and a significant difference on satisfaction in favor of 1.4 times the normal audio speed. The results also indicate statistical differences in favor of verbal redundancy, in which the same verbal information was presented on both an auditory and visual channel.

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