The use of animation and audio as a virtual panacea for everything from advertising to educational videos and instruction has created the presumption that any materials that use them 'must be better!' Now doubt that the addition of animation can improve message delivery on a number of scales, but the use of animation regardless of message and with little concern for systematic placement may be causing more harm than good. Combined with the increasing prevalence of computing technology and increasing ease of development on standard workstations the integration of animation in web-based instruction is a more realistic possibility. This study explores the effect of animation on higher order educational objective achievement in a web-based, selfpaced programmed instructional unit on the human heart and its functions for undergraduate students with majors outside of the life sciences