Studies of the effectiveness of computer-based instructional materials have, over the years, involved many groups and individuals. Interest has come from educators, psychologists, skills-trainers, and software designers, among others. Detailed evaluations have usually relied on traditional learning theories—behavioral, cognitive, motivational—against which experimental findings are compared. As a result, the conclusions of these studies often say more about particular learning theories than they do about specific instructional materials.

Nevertheless, certain common principles of evaluation have emerged. These are the principles that concentrate on the methods of evaluation, rather than on the specific interpretation of results.

This section summarizes a few of these principles.