This meta analysis examines the effect of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) upon college student performance, addresses the impact of various study characteristics upon effects, and explores how media richness theory may predict CAI performance gains. Findings indicate that student performance gains are larger for CAI than traditional…

As part of an ongoing research program, the authors investigated the use of single-voiced narration and multi-voiced characterizations/monologues in a formative evaluation study of an instructional lesson on information processing. That lesson employed a design based on the use of content-related metaphors and a metaphorical graphical user…

We compared grades and course evaluations in an undergraduate social psychology course taught using 3 different instructional formats: traditional, traditional with a course guide, and multimedia with a course guide. Students' grades (N=937) and course evaluations of grading procedures (N=547) were higher when a course guide was available. The…

This article discusses the effectiveness of a theoretical-based integrated learning environment (ILE) for training non-traditional learners to perform the skills required to be successful in entry-level jobs. The ILE places instruction in a real-world, workplace context with realistic settings, characters, and storylines. The multimedia interface…

Universities currently are exploring an array of instructional media to facilitate the delivery of instruction. Consensus from the studies indicates that there is no significant difference in the achievement of students who participate in traditional or online coursework. However, little research has compared traditional learning with the new…

This study explored teachers' pedagogical strategies for using multimedia simulation to structure and support secondary science teaching. Expertise was investigated across a range of classroom settings to analyse how specialist knowledge is situated within and adapted to the teaching and learning context. Analysis of data arising from 10 lesson…

Consistent with social agency theory, we hypothesized that learners who studied a set of worked-out examples involving proportional reasoning narrated by an animated agent with a human voice would perform better on near and far transfer tests and rate the speaker more positively compared to learners who studied the same set of examples narrated by…

Using cognitive load theory and cognitive theory of multimedia learning as a framework, we conducted two within-subject experiments with 10 participants each in order to investigate (1) if the audiovisual presentation of verbal and pictorial learning materials would lead to a higher demand on phonological cognitive capacities than the visual-only…

Users of educational hypertext are faced with the challenge of creating meaning both within and between texts. Cohesion is an important factor contributing to whether a reader is able to capture meaning and comprehend text. When readers are required to fill in conceptual gaps in text, comprehension can fail if they do not have sufficient…

At San Diego Mesa College, we found that too many of our faculty were unaware of the wide variety of resources and services we provide, or how to integrate them into their programs. To remedy this, familiarize them with the LRC building, and provide hands-on experience with some of the materials we have, I presented a two-hour staff development…

Virtual Enterprises International is a high school program that teaches students about business by having them create and operate their own virtual firms. The program enables students to learn about careers, develop interpersonal and organizational skills, and use technology. The New York City Virtual Enterprises (VE) Central Office invited the…

Research suggests that students learn better when studying a picture coupled with narration rather than on-screen text in a computer-based multimedia learning environment. Moreover, combining narration with the visual presence of an animated pedagogical agent may also encourage students to process information deeper than narration or on-screen…

The rapid development of computer and Internet technologies has made e-Learning become an important learning method. There has been a considerable increase in the needs for multimedia instructional material in e-Learning recently as such content has been shown to attract a learner's attention and interests. The multimedia content alone, however,…

This study details an innovative approach to coordinating and enhancing multiple levels of assessment and discursive feedback around an existing multi-media curricular environment called Astronomy Village[R]. As part of a broader design-based research programme, the study analysed small group interactions in feedback activities across two design…

"Computer Images for Lesson Support" (CILS) is a module for primary teacher education that aims at educating prospective teachers in designing multimedia-learning environments, with the aid of the Logo program MicroWorlds, and using it with children. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected among 44 student teachers during their…