Student mastery of the academic vocabulary of course content is an important component of learning that content. This research study investigated the combination of two active multimedia strategies within 10 different high school science classrooms, to test for retention of science terminology. The dual process of learner-generated drawings combined with peer discussions were the two active strategies applied to determine if students in high school earth science courses would retain vocabulary terms better than using the passive strategies of quietly reading, copying, and studying the terms by themselves. Through this quantitative study, data were collected and analyzed from 209 high school students to determine if (a) students retained more definitions using the learner-generated drawings combined with peer discussions, compared to reading and copying the terms, (b) males retained more definitions compared to females, and (c) reading levels had an influence on the retention of the earth science vocabulary terms. The study found that there was a main effect of strategy and time. These findings have implications for the selection of instructional strategies by teachers for helping students maximize the retention of complex science terms for all students in classroom settings. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]