Perceived quality of multimedia educational content: A cognitive style approach

This is the post-print version of the Article. The oficial published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright, 2006 SpringerCognitive styles influence the way how humans process information, with previous research demonstrating that they have significant effects on student learning in multimedia environments. On the other hand, the perceptual quality of the human multimedia experience is notoriously difficult to measure. In this paper, we report the results of an empirical study, which investigated the relationship between user cognitive styles and perceptual multimedia quality, in which users had the possibility to specify their desired Quality of Service settings — in terms of frame rates and color depth. Results show that whilst color choice is impacted by a participant's cognitive style, such Quality of Service parameters do not significantly affect perceived multimedia quality, and that users do not necessarily choose optimum presentation settings to enhance their perceived enjoyment and assimilation of multimedia informational content

A psychology literature study on modality related issues for multimodal presentation in crisis management

The motivation of this psychology literature study is to obtain modality related guidelines for real-time information presentation in crisis management environment. The crisis management task is usually companied by time urgency, risk, uncertainty, and high information density. Decision makers (crisis managers) might undergo cognitive overload and tend to show biases in their performances. Therefore, the on-going crisis event needs to be presented in a manner that enhances perception, assists diagnosis, and prevents cognitive overload. To this end, this study looked into the modality effects on perception, cognitive load, working memory, learning, and attention. Selected topics include working memory, dual-coding theory, cognitive load theory, multimedia learning, and attention. The findings are several modality usage guidelines which may lead to more efficient use of the user’s cognitive capacity and enhance the information perception

The Effectiveness of an Interactive Multimedia Learning Explanation on Baccalaureate Nursing Students\u27 Mathematical Achievement and Self-Efficacy

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Learning Chinese Characters and German Words Using Multimedia

This study applies cognitive theory of multimedia learning and cognitive load theory to foreign language learning and examines in what conditions English-speakers benefit most from multimedia instruction. Sixty-four English-speaking college students learned either German words or Chinese characters. The reason for comparing these two languages is to assess the differences between low-knowledge and high-knowledge learners. We assume English-speakers have a better linguistic knowledge for learning German words than Chinese characters, because of the closer relationship between English and German languages than between English and Chinese languages. There were four cue conditions in which participants received either no cue, a verbal cue, a visual cue, or both cues on the screen accompanied with the target foreign word. Consistent with previous studies, the findings show that participants recalled more foreign vocabulary when they were given both verbal and visual cues other than only having one type of cue. When compared with students who learn German words, students who learn Chinese characters benefit more from this multimedia environment. No significant relationship was found between the words recalled in different cue conditions and verbal and spatial ability test scores in this study. This study supports that multimedia boosts foreign vocabulary learning performance and our findings provide an additional implication that multimedia exerts a different degree of effectiveness on different kinds of language learners, depending on their prior linguistic knowledge

Quality Control in Online Courses: Using a Social Constructivist Framework

There has recently been increased interest in the quality of online courses. Faculty from the School of Education at Marquette University suggest using social constructivist theories in the design and development of online courses and in the training and pedagogy of online instructors to ensure quality in online courses. Quality can be designed into online courses by focusing on complex tasks, using multiple perspectives, establishing a learning community, encouraging the social negotiation of meaning and providing assistance for learners at various levels. While good design can go a long way to ensure quality in online courses, the quality of the instructor is equally critical. Training instructors to establish a supportive climate, provide constructive feedback, and ask critical and probing questions leads to high quality online instruction

Strategies for Defining and Understanding Critical Technology Integration Terms

Educational technology scholars believe that teachers should understand how to effectively integrate technology in their teaching. This study identified key terms related to integrating technology in education and investigated the effectiveness of three online instructional strategies (Text-only, Text plus Video, and Text plus Video plus Question) in conveying meaning to native and non-native English speakers. During the term identification phase, educational technology experts reviewed 79 terms and after a second analysis, reduced the list to 21 key technology integration terms such as collaborative eLearning, ePortfolios, WebQuests, synchronous learning, and digital storytelling. The second phase of the study engaged 42 native and 53 non-native English speakers (95 total) in learning terms from three instructional strategies. In a within-subject repeated measures design, participants studied 21 terms (7 for each strategy), and completed a comprehension test. Results revealed that instruction using Text plus Video (M = 4.70, SD = 1.55) and Text plus Video plus Question (M = 4.72, SD = 1.63) were both significantly more effective at the p < .01 level than Text-only (M = 4.04, SD = 1.93) for non-native English speakers. There was a significant correlation (r (53) = .31, p < 0.05) between the Text-only comprehension scores and the self-rated level of English proficiency for non-native English speakers. Differences between the instructional strategies on comprehension scores were not significant for native English speakers. Non-native speakers learned more when terms were presented using both tangible (images) and arbitrary (language) symbol systems. Non-native English speakers may have benefited more from images because tangible symbol systems are more universally understood than arbitrary language symbols. Thus, native speakers easily understood these terms from written descriptions in their native language, whereas non-native speakers had more difficulty in drawing meaning solely from descriptions in their second language. Results indicate that when key concepts are presented using both tangible and arbitrary symbol systems, a wider range of learners will understand them. Learners with higher levels of English proficiency also understood terms better. Native speakers easily understood these terms from the written descriptions. This ceiling effect may have concealed benefits of the video and question strategies. Future studies might use more difficult terms and more challenging questions. Other studies might consider relative benefits of these instructional strategies under incidental as opposed to intentional learning conditions

AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER-BASED ANIMATIONS AND VISUALIZATION SEQUENCE ON LEARNERS' UNDERSTANDING OF HADLEY CELLS IN ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION

Research examining animation use for student learning has been conducted in the last two decades across a multitude of instructional environments and content areas. The extensive construction and implementation of animations in learning resulted from the availability of powerful computing systems and the perceived advantages the novel medium offered to deliver dynamic representations of complex systems beyond the human perceptual scale. Animations replaced or supplemented text and static diagrams of system functioning and were predicted to significantly improve learners' conceptual understanding of target systems. However, subsequent research has not consistently discovered affordances to understanding, and in some cases, has actually shown that animation use is detrimental to system understanding especially for content area novices (Lowe 2004; Mayer et al. 2005). This study sought to determine whether animation inclusion in an authentic learning context improved student understanding for an introductory earth science concept, Hadley Cell circulation. In addition, the study sought to determine whether the timing of animation examination improved conceptual understanding. A quasi-experimental pretest posttest design administered in an undergraduate science lecture and laboratory course compared four different learning conditions: text and static diagrams with no animation use, animation use prior to the examination of text and static diagrams, animation use following the examination of text and static diagrams, and animation use during the examination of text and static diagrams. Additionally, procedural data for a sample of three students in each condition were recorded and analyzed through the lens of self regulated learning (SRL) behaviors. The aim was to determine whether qualitative differences existed between cognitive processes employed. Results indicated that animation use did not improve understanding across all conditions. However learners able to employ animations while reading and examining the static diagrams and to a lesser extent, after reading the system description, showed evidence of higher levels of system understanding on posttest assessments. Procedural data found few differences between groups with one exception---learners given access to animations during the learning episode chose to examine and coordinate the representations more frequently. These results indicated a new finding from the use of animation, a sequence effect to improve understanding of Hadley Cells in atmospheric circulation

An evaluation of the effectiveness of face-to-face versus e-learning in the UAE Civil Defence sector

In the UAE, e-Learning has been adopted as a new learning mode to increase awareness and standards of building fire safety of it civil defence workforce. Training in this sector has been mainly based around traditional classroom approaches. This research specifically focuses on an online approach to delivering and sustaining the continuous professional development (CPD) of UAE fire fighters. The key aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and performance between face-to-face learning and e-Learning. The central research question is: does learning effectiveness differ between traditional learning and e-Learning? This study employs a quasi-experimental research design to evaluate the three different learning interventions: face-to-face learning, high media rich e-Learning and low media rich e-Learning. A survey method was selected to gather the data on learning effectiveness following the completion of the training programme from a sample of participants (n=412) professionally engaged in the civil defence sector. A key finding was that across all measures of learning effectiveness: engagement, cognitive performance and behavioural performance, scores in the face-to-face mode were significantly better than in the e-Learning mode. Furthermore learning effectiveness was found to be significantly better in high media rich than low media rich e-Learning design. The findings indicate that learning styles impacted on learning effectiveness between the three modes of learning. There was significant interaction between learning styles and learning mode on learning effectiveness. There were statistically significant differences in learning effectiveness for all learning styles. In 7 out of the 8 learning styles (Active, Reflective, Verbal, Visual, Sequential, Global, Sensing, Intuitive) learning effectiveness was higher on average in the face-to-face learning mode than in both of the e-Learning modes. The differences in terms of effect sizes varied between these learning styles. Only reflective learning exhibited a higher learning effectiveness score for high media rich e-Learning than face-to-face. Spatial ability did not have any statistically significant effect on learning effectiveness in the two learning approaches of traditional and e-Learning. However when comparing the two types of e-Learning high spatial ability learners performed less well in the low multimedia mode than in the high multimedia mode. This research provides evidence to show that learning styles are significantly related to learning achievement in e-Learning and there are differential effects for different learning styles. The study also provides evidence that the use of rich multimedia is positively related to higher learning effectiveness. The findings contribute to empirical evidence for differences between face-to-face and e-learning and the role of media richness and learning styles. The findings have practical implications for learning strategies