In a series of experimental studies, this paper reports on the understanding achieved by learners when studying a complex domain in computer science, that is, the subject of memory management concepts in operating systems. Seven different multimedia instructions were used in this study to explain the subject of memory management concepts – (G1) Static and text (Control), (G2) 2-D Animation and Text, (G3) 2-D Animation and Voice, (G4) 2-D Animation and Voice and Text, (G5) 3-D Animation and text (G6) 3-D Animation and Voice, (G7) 3-D Animation and Voice and Text. The purpose of these experiments is to understand how students learn and which combination of instructions help student learn better. A total of a hundred and twenty students who had no prior knowledge on the subject were given a test on recall and transfer knowledge after viewing the treatments. An independent sample t-test, paired t-test and two-way ANOVA test was run to get the results. This paper reports the results of the experiment which may provide useful guidance for instructional designers specifically in the area of computer science.
