The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional effectiveness of different levels of chunking (simple visual/text and complex visual/text), different forms of feedback (item-by-item feedback, end-of-test feedback and no feedback), and use of instructional gaming (game and no game) in complementing animated programmed instruction on a test measuring different educational objectives.

Previous research suggested that chunking of information helped reduce cognitive load, concentrating on important information. Feedback is an essential part of any type of instruction designed to help students learn more effectively. However, no one best type of feedback has been found to be most effective for computer-based education. Games have the potential of facilitating different types of learning outcomes by motivating students and allowing them to rehearse without cognitive load. This interactive information rich environment could cause cognitive overload if game factors such as clear goals, challenges and immediate feedback are not identified and designed clearly. That is why we need better models in order to understand what kinds of games, what types of feedback and chunking facilitate achievement of different types of learning objectives.

A total of 360 subjects participated in this study. A Posttest-Only 2 x 3 x 2 factorial experimental design was employed. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of twelve treatments (1) simple chunks + item-by-item feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; (2) simple chunks + item-by-item feedback + no game with programmed instruction with animation; (3) simple chunks + end-of-test feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; (4) simple chunks + end-of-test feedback + no game with programmed instruction with animation; (5) simple chunks + no feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; (6) simple chunks + no feedback + no game with programmed instruction with animation; (7) complex chunks + item-by-item feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; (8) complex chunks + item-by-item + no game with programmed instruction with animation; (9) complex chunks + end-of-test feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; (10) complex chunks + end-of-test feedback + no game with programmed instruction with animation; (11) complex chunks + no feedback + game with programmed instruction with animation; and (12) complex chunks + no feedback + no game with programmed instruction with animation.

Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine whether the mean post test scores of the treatment groups differed significantly from one another, whether the factors: A (simple visual/text and complex visual/text chunking); B (item-by-item feedback, end-of-test feedback, no feedback); C (game, no game) interacted significantly with one another with respect to each of the criterion measures being investigated, and specific items which were enhanced by different strategies. The enhanced items were categorized as follows: EIC = Identification questions enhanced with chunking, EIG = Identification questions enhanced with gaming, ETC = Terminology questions enhanced with chunking, ETF = Terminology questions enhanced with feedback, ETG = Terminology questions enhanced with gaming, ECC = Comprehension questions enhanced with chunking, ECF = Comprehension questions enhanced with feedback, ECG = Comprehension questions enhanced with gaming.

There were no statistically significant interactions among the different strategies on the different criterion measures (identification, terminology, comprehension and total). There were no statistically significant main effects with respect to the use of chunking strategies (simple visual/text and complex visual/text), and different types of feedback (item-by-item, end-of-test, and no feedback) in complementing programmed instruction with animation among the 12 treatment groups. There were statistically significant main effects with respect to the use of gaming among treatment groups on terminology and comprehension tests. There were also statistically significant main effects when focusing on items enhanced by different strategies when gaming was a factor on the terminology and comprehension tests.

The research findings indicated that gaming was an effective and motivational method to rehearse the information without causing cognitive load. Contrary to previous studies, chunking strategies were not statistically significant in this study. This might be related to the way chunking strategies were presented and their location in the instructional unit. Presenting chunking strategies along with additional strategies required the participant to process more information in a short amount of time. This could also cause information overload. In addition, feedback was important but, like in previous studies, this study did not indicate any statistically significant difference among the different types of feedbacks. Providing different types of feedback without knowing how learners would perceive, process and interpret the information might have caused cognitive load and performance of learners.