Learning to use a graphics presentation package: the complexity of an undergraduate learning task

As part of an undergraduate module “Communicating and presenting information” students in small groups were asked to create a presentation using a computer graphics presentation package. At the end of the module a summative evaluation was conducted. Although this indicated that the students found the exercise worthwhile it did not show how the students actually learned to use the computer package. Using some ideas developed by cognitive psychologists, the author attempts to show that what appears to be superfically a relatively straightforward learning task is, in fact, quite complex. This case study indicates that lecturers need to pay greater attention to the tasks they ask their students to complete and the nature of the learning environment.