The multimedia computer is a relatively new product that is capable of presenting information through a variety of media such as text, animation, video & sound. Commercial developers, researchers and other multimedia advocates have been making claims about the potential for multimedia in promoting learning and, consequently, its beneficial uses as a learning tool within the classroom. This study investigates the conditions under which the organization and coordination of multimedia sources promotes the acquisition of knowledge. Based upon a review of the literature, five hypotheses are generated with respect to the development of instructional software as an effective learning tool. These hypotheses are then tested in a study that looks at the effects of various multimedia designs. One hundred students, half of high-ability (i.e., high-stream) and the other half of average ability (i.e., regular stream), were assigned to one of five multimedia conditions (e.g., text only (T); text with animation (TA); text with animations and captions (TAC); animations and captions (AC); refined animation and captions (RAC)). The instructional material presented information on how to find South using two sticks, some string and the Sun. The TAC and RAC groups outperformed the other three groups on scores of verbal recall, visual recall, and enactment of the main procedures. These two groups also obtained higher scores on detailed analyses of written recalls. Finally, interaction effects for stream level and computer presentation group were also obtained. The results from this study are contrasted to those of an earlier study by Breuleux et al. (1993). The implications of these results are discussed in terms of statistical support for theoretically based guidelines for the development and design of effective instructional multimedia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.35199 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Auclair, Christian |
| Contributors | Breuleux, Alain (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001473846, proquestno: MM05385, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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