This investigation compared time-compressed lectures with lectures taped at a normal word rate and examined the direct application of compressed lectures to the educational process. Participants in this study, 87 college students enrolled in Botany 100, were randomly assigned to four groups--one control group and three treatment groups. The experiment consisted of three lectures--on growth regulations, on plant diseases, and on systematics and evolution. Audio tapes of the lectures were compressed to 80%, 70%, and 60% of the normal word rate. Each tape was recorded to start at the normal word-per-minute rate and to build up to the desired compression rate within three minutes. A counterbalance design, Latin Square, was used to apply the experimental treatment to the three treatment groups. A factorial analysis of covariance with significance set at .05 was used for analyzing the data. Results indicated that there was no significant difference in the comprehension levels of the three treatment groups when compared to the control group. This finding remained consistent at all three compression levels. The implications are that the time-compressed lecture can be a significant factor from the instructional management standpoint. (Author/JM)