The popularity and capabilities of the www and related technologies, has provided new ways to scaffold student learning. Unlike traditional textbooks, websites can offer a wider range of media, greater interactivity, and faster feedback. Publishers, researchers, and others are exploring these new technologies and some have reported positive impact (e.g., Durrington, et. Al, 2006). Additionally, multimedia has the added benefit of allowing student to encode material using both verbal and auditory modes of memory (Paivio, 1990; Mayer & Sims, 1994). Theoretically multimedia has the potential to be an effective learning tool, but some researchers have argued that nonlinear path control can also lead to poor organization (Conklin, 1987; Thuring, Hannemann, & Haake, 1995; Eveland & Dunwoody, 2001; McDonald & Stevenson, 1996). Furthermore, Sundar (2000) reported that the presence of audio, video, and other visual imagery can have a negative effect on a user's perception of coherence.
For our research, we examined the impact on a new multimedia tool called Viziswap. The tool provides a platform for creating multimedia-learning modules. The modules can include non-linear or branching capabilities that allow students to approach the material different ways, and can provide exercises and rapid feedback to students. Viziswap is has been designed to be pedagogically effective and thus may not suffer from some of the issues raised by critics.
Study 1: Student Attitudes Method Traditionally, course evaluations emphasize the course as a whole and/or the faculty member, but not the materials used in the course. In order to develop a tool for assessing student attitudes about Viziswap modules, we ran a number of focus groups with students in Introduction to Psychology in order to get some ideas about the factors students thought were important in the materials they have used. Based on those focus groups, we developed a survey to assess student attitudes about the Viziswap modules. The initial survey was then reviewed by experts in survey construction, communication, and evaluation research, and experts in pedagogy, and was revised based on their recommendations. It was then given to a sample of students who completed it twice approximately 5 days apart, and results indicate very high reliability. Procedure A total of 478 students in courses in six departments: introduction to Biology, Psychological Science, and Criminal Justice; a Personal Finance course, and a visual design course in Journalism completed the survey online. Three of these courses, Biology, Psychological Science, and Personal Finance, were not currently using the multimedia software but were planning on doing so in the future and served as a baseline. Criminal Justice divided sections of the courses into groups using the multimedia software or traditional pedagogical materials. One department, Journalism, used the Viziswap software in all sections of the course.
Results
1. Consistent ratings across items among groups not using Viziswap.
2. Consistent ratings across items among groups using Viziswap.
3. Substantially higher ratings for Viziswap than for traditional educational materials
Study 2:
Student learning across two departments Method and Procedure The Journalism department developed a series of standardized exams that they have used for several years. This class is taught as in introduction to journalism and design, over five weeks, three times a semester. We compared student test scores from the multimedia sections taught this year with the test scores of students taught more traditionally the previous year on the four exam modules relevant for all sections. The Criminal Justice department administered an exam for the Fall and Spring academic terms. Each semester, classes were divided into two sections, one used Viziswap and the other a textbook. Students then took a multiple-choice exam in class, then the same exam a week later. Analysis We ran a One-Way ANOVA for the Journalism grades to check ensure the performance before Viziswap was stable between classes and semesters. Satisfied with a stable control group, we then ran an independent samples t-test using the previous year of data to the Fall class. Results from the Journalism class indicate that performance following the introduction of Viziswap was significantly higher in one module, but not significant for the other modules. This result suggests that multimedia can increase learning and in no case led to lower performance. We then compared the data from the Criminal Justice classes. Results indicate learning improved overall in the Spring compared to the Fall semester. Further, students in the Viziswap condition improved the greatest overall in both testing periods compared to the textbook condition.
Discussion
Our study provided evidence that students attitudes towards multimedia learning materials is more positive than their attitudes towards textbooks. Indeed, students indicated they were more engaged and hoped to have similar materials in the future. We conducted a series of focus groups to gain insights from students in those classes. Students indicated some minor usability problems, but largely preferred a multimedia medium. We also found that multimedia could improve test performance and performed at least as well as a textbook otherwise. In some ways we were surprised because the exams were not designed to test the objectives of the viziswap modules. In fact, the exams had been written before the modules were created. We would expect even bigger effects if tests were specifically designed to measure learning with respect to the goals of the multimedia modules.
