Assignment 6, Annotation

APA Citation

Lam, Paul., & McNaught, Carmel. (2006) Design and evaluation of online courses containing media-enhanced learning materials. Educational Media International, 43(3), 199-218. http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.lib.csusb.edu/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=108&sid=9af98d45-c288-4bc7-b96b-431f613f9ca8%40sessionmgr103

Review:
The intend of this article is to explore some media-enhanced courses using a variety of evaluation strategies so as to develop an interpretative-framework which may assist further development and evaluation work. This paper reports on the design and evaluation of three courses form a university in Hong Kong which incorporates media-enhanced learning materials. The study has also emphasizes factors that influence the success of the learning experience, which are attention to the quality and design of the media, considering student motivation and focusing on feedback on learning during the course. Bloom’s taxonomy was also linked to the practical considerations in the educational design.

The methodology was aim to be rich in descriptions to indicate the advantages and disadvantages of the learning intervention. The design used observations and evaluations for a reflection-improvement model in which the findings of the evaluation contribute to further improvements in each of the web-assisted courses under investigation. To perform this study the researcher gathered three cases (groups). Each case has one teacher and a classroom of university students. Case 1 is centered on students using animation and simulations to effectively explaining complex concepts and ideas that can only be represented by a series of sequential diagrams in text. Case 2 is centered on increasing students’ motivation to learn by using multimedia materials like audio and video for a more vivid representation of lessons. Case 3 is centered on students using multimedia for student-generated projects.

The type of research was qualitative. For instruments it used observations, and evaluations for each case. There were 70 evaluation plans containing 457 separate evaluation questions. The Multiple sources of data were collected as the evaluation data. The evaluations ranged from teacher reflections, student perceptions, and student actions. In case 3 the teacher made qualitative comparisons with previous years on the quality of the students’ work.

Each case had its’ own finding. For case 1, the students found it difficult to understand the flow of operation of the computing system. They also found it difficult to convert the descriptive text into circuit diagram. For case 2, the students agreed that audio clips were more helpful for learning how to apply language communication concepts and theories than text-based resources thus it became an advantage. Case 3, was also an advantage, the students agreed that the multimedia project work enhanced their creativity, trained them in a number of important skills like for example computer, video filming and analytical skills. It helped them understand more the material that they were reporting on. The overall finding in all three cases was that “yes to some extend and/or for some students” media elements described in all three cases does contribute to enhanced student learning. The research does state that further studies are needed.

Relevance:

The information of the article relates to the course research study in that the multimedia used in the study is similar to the one use in online course. For example for case 3 the students had to use audio clips. This is something we used in this course. According to the article, the students found this method to be helpful for learning how to apply language communication concepts and theories than text-based resources.

Besides this similarity, there is other multimedia that we used that has been studied in this article. The article also mentions the use of collaboration discussions to critique other students’ work which is the same as our blogs comments. Another way this relates to our study is the find out if the use of media engages and motivates learning.

Maria C. Pallares