Using an approach to classroom research that D. Newman (1990) has termed a formative experiment, a study investigated the effects of engaging elementary school students in creating computer-based multimedia reviews of books they read independently. Formative experiments are designed to investigate how an instructional intervention can be implemented to achieve a pedagogical goal in a particular educational environment. Creating multimedia book reviews was the intervention; increasing the amount and diversity of students' independent reading was the pedagogical goal. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data were gathered during 2 academic years in 9 4th-grade and 5th-grade classrooms across 3 schools. Consistent with the intent of formative experiments, results are presented guided by the following questions: (1) What factors in the educational environment enhance or inhibit the intervention's effectiveness in achieving the pedagogical goal?; (2) How can the intervention and its implementation be modified during the experiment to achieve more effectively the pedagogical goal?; (3) What unanticipated positive or negative effects does the intervention produce?; and (4) Has the educational environment changed as a result of the intervention? Results indicated that the multimedia book review activity contributed to achieving the pedagogical goal of increasing the amount of children's independent reading; and school environments and teachers' roles to some extent shaped the effects of the activity. Findings suggest that formative experiments can address the limitations of conventional research methods previously used to study computer-based literacy activities in classrooms. (Contains 64 references, and 4 tables and 11 figures of data. Appendixes presents parent and teacher questionnaires.) (Author/RS)