This study investigated the effectiveness of visual training or verbal training on how to use a text-picture processing strategy for learning from computer-based multimedia instructional material. Sixty-nine university students were randomly assigned to the verbal training group (students received text-based instruction for a text-picture…

Open Educational Resources (OER) and OpenCourseWare (OCW) target barriers of education and learning by sharing knowledge for free to benefit self-learners, educators, and students. This study aims to investigate the use of OER both as a supplementary resource for a traditional course and as a resource for self-learners. First, the attitudes and…

Two animations, one focused on the macroscopic phenomena and particulate conception of the three states of matter and the effects of heat on these states, and the other on solution formation and solubility were produced using Adobe Flash MX software. The first was designed for and tested on elementary school (3rd-5th grade) students. The second…

Animations were prepared using Adobe Flash MX and tested on elementary (3rd-5th grade) and secondary chemistry students. A pre- and post-test study was used to compare the learning gains of students who received the animations with those who received textbook reading time and discussion in class. The control and experimental groups were further…

The development of inquiry and project-based materials is challenging in many ways, not the least of which is the design of supports for teachers implementing such materials. We report on the design of educative and just-in-time teacher supports for an online project-based unit in ocean science. The teacher supports were visible as tabs on the…

Discusses hardware and software used to teach scientific method, ecology, evolution, mitosis and meiosis, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, circulatory and respiratory systems, reproduction and drugs, behavior, and genetics. (MKR)

College students learned about botany through an agent-based multimedia game. Students received either spoken or identical on-screen text explanations. Results reveal that students scored higher on retention, transfer, and program ratings in narration conditions than in text conditions. The media--desktop displays or headmounted displays--did not…

In these days of increasing concern for the state of the environment and declining biodiversity, it is important that students and teachers come to appreciate the value of life in all its forms. Natural history provides students with an opportunity to understand better how life on the planet interacts, as well as the place and responsibility of…

Describes a multimedia course in engineering developed to serve course materials to students in a more realistic form so that they will better understand the relevance of the material. Defines multimedia, discusses the advantages of multimedia presentation of course material, and provides details of the tools used in this project. (DDR)

Examines the effects of professional development in multimedia-based technology for 26 inservice and 14 preservice teachers on science and mathematics instruction. Focuses on three components critical to the success of this professional-development model: (1) linkage of pedagogy to technology; (2) collaborative teacher planning of instructional…

This study explores the way music operates in the mental processing of computer-supported instructional messages, whose other modes are text and graphics. The experiment examined the effect of music on the immediate recall and understanding of three equivalent science lessons delivered by a computer. The objective properties of the music were…

Five experiments explored a potentially more productive application of educational technology in which an individual learner has the opportunity to develop a social relation with a computer by interacting with an animated pedagogical agent. Results support the introduction of interactive pedagogical agents to promote meaningful learning in…

Describes the design of several CD-ROMs with different strategies and foci for teaching general chemistry with large databases of visual information. Presents a sample search with a CD-ROM. Discusses teacher resources including animations, visual databases for presentations, demonstration manuals, laboratory manuals, and encyclopedias as well as…

This paper discusses computer based virtual field trips that use technologies commonly found in public schools in the United States. The discussion focuses on the advantages of both using and creating these field trips for an instructional situation. A virtual field trip to Cumberland Island National Seashore, St. Marys, Georgia is used as a point…

Describes an introductory undergraduate astronomy course in which the large-lecture format was moved to one in which students were immersed in a technologically-rich, inquiry-based, participatory learning environment. Finds that virtual reality can be used effectively in regular undergraduate university courses as a tool through which students can…