I have been following the Tripp discussion and feel compelled to comment. I am a practitioner and try very hard to employ research findings in the multimedia products that I develop. I currently work in an organization that comes from the world of video. For years now, I have been concerned that our use of narration is not as affective as the use of text. My conviction is that students reading text to receive a message is a more active process than narration, which is a more passive mode. For now, I go on what I deem is common sense.
If Tripp's study among other things, can contribute to this question, I among others will be well served. Quite frankly, there has not been enough research on media and the effectiveness of the various methods and techniques used in multimedia. To simply say the issue is too complex is not good enough for those of us trying to apply theory and research. And with the millions being spent on training and education, we need to understand more about what we do.
It is my understanding that our purpose here is to pose legitimate questions and concerns (and hopefully, some solutions) to Steve so that he can improve his research parameters. I hope that this is what we are doing.