The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of context-dependency of seductive details on recall and transfer in multimedia learning environments. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, the purpose was to identify context-dependent vs. context-independent seductive details in a lightning animation. Seductive details were considered as interesting yet irrelevant sentences in the narration of lightning animation. Sixty-seven undergraduate students participated in Experiment 1 and assigned interestingness scores to the 28 content irrelevant sentences. Participants were assigned to two different groups, context-dependent seductive details group (CDSD) and context-independent seductive details group (CISD). Participants in the CDSD group assigned interestingness scores after watching a lightning animation to be familiarized with the context of lightning formation. Participants in the CISD group watched a historical inquiry animation as a distraction task before assigning interestingness scores. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that 13 of 28 sentences in the lightning formation text were seductive details according to participants of the study. Ultimately, 6 of the 13 seductive details were determined to be context-dependent and 7 were determined to be seductive details were context-independent. The purpose of Experiment 2 was to investigate the effects of context-dependency of seductive details on recall and transfer in multimedia learning environments. Undergraduate students (n = 184) were randomly assigned into four groups. Participants in all groups watched a lightning animation, and performed a recall and a transfer task. The first group watched an animation that did not include any seductive details. The second group watched the animation with context-dependent seductive details only. The third group watched the animation with context-independent seductive details only. The last group watched the animation with both types of seductive details. A 2x2 ANOVA for both recall and transfer, and contrast analyses were conducted to determine the effects of context-dependency of seductive details on recall and transfer. The results indicated that there was no significant effect of context-dependency of seductive details on recall or transfer. The findings are discussed in the context of the related literature and directions for future research are suggested. / Ph. D.

In this study, factors affecting eye tracking measures and achievement in multimedia learning were explored. Familiarity, redundancy, and control are three important factors, which affect the levels of achievement in multimedia learning. In this study, three experiments were conducted in which the main effects and interactions of familiarity, redundancy, and pace investigated. In Experiment 1, a chemistry lesson with narration were studied twice as multimedia lesson. In Experiment 2, different group of participants studied two versions of chemistry lessons. Both versions had subtitles / however, in one version in Experiment 2, narration was removed from background during the experiment. In Experiment 3, different group of participants studied two versions of mechanism lessons. One of the mechanism lessons was system-paced. The other one was also self-paced / however, in this one, the learner decided to proceed to next slide as his or her own choice. After studying lessons, participants completed an achievement test, which consisted of recognition, recall, and transfer questions. The results showed that fixation count, fixation duration, total fixation duration, and total visit duration showed significant differences as well as interactions as per fragments, familiarity, areas of interest, and type of images, varying in accordance with the lesson type. The correlations among scores of achievement tests and eye tracking metrics were also reported. The results are discussed within the scope of cognitive theory of multimedia learning design principles and cognitive load theory in the conclusion chapter.

No description available.

The purpose of this report was to investigate how people who order a soil analysis perceive the information about that process. According to the law the customers need to have information about the soil analysis if they order it. A new informational film about soil analysis was compared to the existing data to see how the customer perceives different types of information. Two groups took part in the survey, one group watched the informational film, and the second group only had access to the existing data. The results of the investigation show that the majority of the respondents in the second group think that there is too little information about soil analysis and that it is hard to find. The first group think that after watching the movie, they got all the necessary information about the soil analysis in an accessible way. However, most survey respondents want the information in text form. Those who saw the informational movie think they have a better understanding of how and why the soil analysis is done, compared to those who only had access to the existing information. Most survey respondents want to get information from the municipality / county government, but receive the most of it from consultant agencies.

This thesis is a single case study of the introduction and evaluation of new resources and new technologies in higher education; in which e-Proof was chosen as a single case. E-proofs are a multimedia representation of proofs, were created by Alcock (2009), and aimed to help undergraduates to read proofs for better proof comprehension. My thesis aimed to investigate whether the impact of reading such technology-based resource, e-Proofs, on undergraduates proof comprehension was better compared to reading written textbook proofs and if so, then why (or why not). To evaluate the effectiveness of e-Proofs, I used both qualitative and quantitative methods. First I measured undergraduates satisfaction, which is a most common research practice in evaluation studies, by using self-reporting methods such as web-based survey and interviews. A web-based survey and focus-group interviews showed that undergraduates liked to have e-Proofs and they believed that e-Proofs had positive impact on their proof comprehension. However, their positive views on e-Proofs did not evidence the educational impact of e-Proofs. I conducted an interview with Alcock for better understanding of her intentions of creating e-Proof and her expectations from it. Next, I conducted the first experiment which compared the impact of reading an e-Proof with a written textbook proof on undergraduates proof comprehension. Their comprehension was measured with an open-ended comprehension test twice immediately after reading the proof and after two weeks. I found that the immediate impact of reading an e-Proof and a textbook proof were essentially the same, however the long term impact of reading an e-Proof was worse than reading a textbook proof (for both high and low achieving undergraduates). This leads to the second experiment in which I investigated how undergraduates read e-Proofs and textbook proofs. In the second experiment, participants eye-movements were recorded while read- ing proofs, to explore their reading comprehension processes. This eye-tracking experiment showed that undergraduates had a sense of understanding of how to read a proof without any additional help. Rather, additional help allowed them to take a back seat and to devote less cognitive effort than they would otherwise. Moreover, e-Proofs altered undergraduates reading behaviours in a way which can harm learning. In sum, this thesis contributes knowledge into the area of reading and compre- hending proofs at undergraduate level and presents a methodology for evaluation studies of new pedagogical tools.

This is a study of the influence of the familiarity of students with the narrator of video tutorials, in a blended learning situation, on both the perceived and actual effectiveness of the learning materials, in terms of students’ learning efficiency – where a course is traditional in format and online learning is carried out with the help of Narrated Video Screen Captures (NVSCs). The study also focused on the interaction of student-narrator gender similarity and students’ individual differences (conscientiousness and test-anxiety) with voice familiarity. Thus, the study sought to fill a gap in knowledge regarding the influence of familiarity with the narrator in multimedia learning material on the efficiency of learning within a blended learning context. The research paradigm was deductive, employing a mixed methods and a case study research and using quasi-experiments. In order to compare the relational efficiency of the different instructional conditions, a calculative approach was used that combined measurement of mental effort with task performance. In addition to the mental effort questionnaires and task performance, students completed an assessment questionnaire for the NVSCs. In addition, semi-structured interviews and a follow-up questionnaire were used for collection of corroborative data, in order to shed more light on this matter. Findings showed significant influence of voice familiarity on most of the learning efficiency indices and on perceived effectiveness of NVSCs. Gender similarity was significant only with unfamiliar voice and there was no significant interaction between conscientiousness and test anxiety and voice familiarity. Thus, it was concluded that when students have a personal relationship with the class teacher, exposure to multimedia learning materials with an unfamiliar narrator has an adverse influence on their learning efficiency. These findings add to the established voice related principles of Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and Social Agency Theory. Contribution to knowledge was made by filling the gap in knowledge in the area of multimedia instructional design.

This study evaluated whether significant differences in statistical reasoning abilities exist for completers of short online instructional videos and formative quizzes for students in undergraduate introductory statistics courses. Data for the study were gathered during the Fall 2013 semester at a community college in Northeast Tennessee. Computer-based pedagogical tools can promote improved conceptual reasoning ability (Trumpower & Sarwar, 2010; Van der Merwe, 2012). Additionally, prior research demonstrated a significant relationship between formative quiz access and student achievement (Stull, Majerich, Bernacki, Varnum, & Ducette, 2011; Wilson, Boyd, Chen, & Jamal, 2011), as well as multimedia object access and student achievement (Bliwise, 2005; Miller, 2013). Four research questions were used to guide the study. A series of analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical procedures was used to analyze the data. Findings indicated no significant differences in statistical reasoning abilities between students who were provided access to supplemental online instructional videos and formative quizzes and students who were not provided access. Moreover, statistical reasoning abilities did not differ significantly based upon number of quizzes successfully completed, average number of quiz attempts, or number of videos accessed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-compressed narration and representational adjunct images on undergraduate college students' 1) ability to recall and recognize information in a multimedia learning environment, and 2) overall satisfaction with this type of learning environment. The goals of this research were to shed light on time-compression technology incorporated into multimedia learning environments, help fill the existing gap in the research literature by merging two disjoint bodies of research, and aid instructors and instructional designers to better understand time-compression technology while creating rigorous multimedia materials. This research was guided by the underlying principles of multimedia learning. The experiment was a 4 Audio Speeds (1.0 = normal vs. 1.5 = moderate vs. 2.0 = fast vs. 2.5 = fastest rate) x Adjunct Image (Image Present vs. Image Absent) factorial design. Audio speed and adjunct image both served as between subject conditions. Cued-recall, content recognition and learner satisfaction served as the dependent measures. Multimedia interventions were developed to execute this design. A total of 305 research participants were recruited from a public, southeastern university in the United States in this study. Fifty-five percent of the participants were male and 92% indicated that English was their primary language. Forty-nine percent of the participants were junior classification, 4% were freshman, 19% were sophomore, 26% were seniors, with the remaining indicating other. The median age of the participants was 22, and ranges in age from 18 to 53 years old. Data were analyzed using a series of factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedures. Results showed statistically significant differences at 2.5 times the normal audio speed, in which performance on cued-recall and content recognition tasks was significantly lower than other audio speeds. Furthermore, representational adjunct images had a significant positive effect on cued-recall, but not content recognition. Participants in the normal audio speed and picture present groups were significantly more satisfied than other treatments. Recommendations for future research are provided as well as advice for instructors, instructional designers and learners interested in time-compression technology.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Leer en Onderrig)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Politicians and educators are concerned about the level of literacy and numeric skills of learners in South-African schools. Educators are experiencing increased pressure to teach reading-, writing- and mathematical skills effectively (the so called 3 R's, namely reading, writing and arithmetic). It is imperative that the effective teaching of numeric and literacy should commence in the foundation phase, where the basis for more advanced skills should be established. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the development and implementation of multimedia learning and teaching support material (LTSM) by means of a digital book disc programmer (DBD) would contribute to effective facilitation of reading-, spelling- and mathematical skills. A positivist research paradigm served as the foundation for this study. A literature study was undertaken to establish how multimedia can be used as LTSM to improve reading, spelling and mathematical skills of foundation phase learners. Quantitative research was done wherein the variables were controlled and standardised procedures and measuring instruments were used to collect data. Statistical techniques were also used to analyse the collected data and draw conclusions, 'n Quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group-design was used over a four month period, in which learners were exposed respectively to traditional teaching on the one hand (control group) and intervention by means of exposure to the DBD-multimedia programmer (experimental group) on the other hand, in order to test the effect of the DBD. The results of this study indicated that the integration of the DBD programmer, as a form of multimedia LTSM, effectively supports the facilitation of reading-, spelling- and writing skills. The proposed model indicates clear guidelines for the development and integration of a multimedia teaching and learning support programmer to enhance the effective facilitation of reading-, spelling- and mathematical skills in the foundation phase. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Leer en Onderrig)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.