The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms at East Tennessee State University regarding technologies in multimedia classrooms, students' learning achievements, instructors' instructional methods, and students' learning styles. Two surveys in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms were designed to measure and compare students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms. The VARK (Fleming, 2002b) learning style survey was used to calculate the students' learning styles.
The research was conducted during spring semester, 2002. Participants in this study included 187 students in multimedia classrooms and 110 students in traditional classrooms at East Tennessee State University. The majority of students were from the School of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology. The results of data analysis showed that there were no significant differences in students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding technologies, learning achievements, and learning styles. However, there were significant differences in students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding instructors' instructional methods. Students in multimedia classrooms had better perceptions of instructors' instructional methods than students in traditional classrooms. Furthermore, the majority of students in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms had positive attitudes towards multimedia classrooms.
Several recommendations for future research, VARK learning styles, and administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University resulted from this study. A future study with a larger and more diverse population using both quantitative and qualitative methodology is recommended to further explore the effectiveness of multimedia classrooms in higher education. Reinforcement of training, technical support, and classroom maintenance are recommended to administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University in order to use multimedia classrooms more effectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-1878 |
| Date | 14 December 2002 |
| Creators | Zhang, Shouhong |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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