Towards the architecture of an instructional multimedia database

The applicability of multimedia databases in education may be extended if they can serve multiple target groups, leading to affordable costs per unit for the user. In this contribution, an approach is described to build generic multimedia databases to serve that purpose. This approach is elaborated within the ODB Project ('Instructional Design of an Optical DataBase'); the term optical refers to the use of optical storage media to hold the audiovisual components. The project aims at developing a database in which a hypermedia encyclopedia is combined with instructional multimedia applications for different target groups at different educational levels. The architecture of the Optical Database will allow for switching between application types while working (for instance from tutorial instruction via the encyclopedia to a simulation and back). For instruction, the content of the database is thereby organized around so-called standard instruction routes: one route per target group. In the project, the teacher is regarded as the manager of instruction.\ud \ud From that perspective, the database is primarily organized as a teaching facility. Central to the research is the condition that the architecture of the Optical Database has to enable teachers to select and tailor instruction routes to their needs in a way that is perceived as logical and easy to use

Pre-instructional strategies and segment length in interactive video programs

This study investigates the influence of pre-instructional strategies on the relationship between learner-controlled or program-controlled length of video segments and on related test performance on post-tests and retention tests. The study looks at the effect of presenting learning objectives in advance on the learning of factual information from interactive video programs. First-year students from two agricultural colleges in the Netherlands used a computer-controlled interactive video disk about the industrial process of cheese making and completed a posttest. A retention test was administered approximately two and a half weeks later. The program had two conditions, fixed and free. In the fixed condition, subjects worked through all seven chapters in linear order. In the free condition, students could vary the order of the chapters and view parts of the video as they wished. Results show a significant result for locus of control. Subjects in the no-pre-instruction condition performed better on test items that relate to incidental learning in the pre-instruction condition than on test items that relate to intentional learning in the pre-instruction condition. Overall, program control yielded a better posttest performance than learner control, although the effect size was rather small