Educational Technology & Society 4 (4) 2001

ISSN 1436-4522
Innovative teaching: Using multimedia in a problem-based learning environment
Mai Neo and Ken T. K. Neo
Lecturers, Centre for Innovative Education (CINE)
Faculty of Creative Multimedia
Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor
Malaysia
Tel: +603-56357817
Fax: +603-56357817
kneo@pc.jaring.my
ABSTRACT
Presently, traditional educational approaches have resulted in a mismatch between what is taught to the students
and what the industry needs. As such, many institutions are moving towards problem-based learning as a
solution to producing graduates who are creative, can think critically and analytically, and are able to solve
problems. In this paper, we focus on using multimedia technology as an innovative teaching and learning
strategy in a problem-based learning environment by giving the students a multimedia project to train them in
this skill set.
The purpose of this project was to access the students skills in framing and solving problems using multimedia
technologies. The students worked in groups and each group had to pick a topic for their project, develop,
design and present it in a CD-ROM. They were then surveyed on their attitudes toward the project and their
skills as a team. Results showed that the students were very positive toward the project, enjoyed teamwork, able
to think critically and became active participants in their learning process. Therefore, multimedia-oriented
projects, like many other problem-based learning solutions, can be used alternatively as an innovative and
effective tool in a problem-based learning environment for the acquisition of problem-solving skills.
Keywords: Problem-based learning, Interactive Multimedia, Macromedia Director, Teamwork, Problemsolving
Introduction
One of the major concerns of many countries today is that there is a mismatch between graduates skills,
acquired from higher education institutions and the skill sets needed in industry. Many of the current graduates
are found to be lacking in creativity, communications skills, analytical and critical thinking, and problemsolving skills (Teo & Wong, 2000; Tan, 2000). As such, there is much need for institutions of higher education
to focus on training future graduates to be more adaptable to the needs of the industry.
Currently, many institutions are moving towards problem-based learning as a solution to producing graduates
who are creative and can think critically, analytically, and solve problems. Since knowledge is no longer an end
but a means to creating better problem solvers and encourage lifelong learning, problem-based learning is
becoming increasingly popular in educational institutions as a tool to address the inadequacies of traditional
teaching. Since these traditional approaches do not encourage students to question what they have learnt or to
associate with previously acquired knowledge (Teo & Wong, 2000), problem-based learning is seen as an
innovative measure to encourage students to learn how to learn via real-life problems (Boud & Feletti,
1999).
We would like to extend this contention further by using multimedia technologies to create a multimediaoriented project. By doing so, we hope to further develop the students' ability to become creative and critical
thinkers and analysers, as well as problem-solvers, within this multimedia-mediated problem-based learning
(PBL) environment. This learning mode is constructivist in approach whereby the students participate actively
in their own learning process and construct their own knowledge (Jonassen, Peck & Wilson, 1999).
Multimedia in education
The use of multimedia in industries has been extensive, as it has been effective in increasing productivity and
retention rates, where research has shown that people remember 20% of what they see, 40% of what they see
and hear, but about 75% of what they see and hear and do simultaneously (Lindstrom, 1994). This is especially
significant in the CBT (Computer-Based Training) modules in corporations like Ernst & Young, and Union
Pacific, where employees are trained in organisational procedures, and in flight simulations in the aviation
industry to train pilots. It is now permeating the educational system as a tool for effective teaching and learning.
With multimedia, the communication of the information can be done in a more effective manner and it can be
an effective instructional medium for delivering information. A multi-sensory experience can be created for the
audience, which, in turn, elicits positive attitudes toward the application. Multimedia has also been shown to
elicit the highest rate of information retention and result in shorter learning time (Ng and Komiya, 2000;
Hofstetter, 1995). On the part of the creator, designing a multimedia application that is interactive and multisensory can be both a challenge and a thrill. Multimedia application design offers new insights into the learning
process of the designer and forces him or her to represent information and knowledge in a new and innovative
way (Agnew, Kellerman & Meyer, 1996).

Multimedia, defined, is the combination of various digital media types such as text, images, sound and video,
into an integrated multi-sensory interactive application or presentation to convey a message or information to an
audience. In other words, multimedia means an individual or a small group using a computer to interact with
information that is represented in several media, by repeatedly selecting what to see and hear next (Agnew et.
al, 1996).
Multimedia is changing the way we communicate with each other. The way we send and receive messages is
more effectively done and better comprehended. The inclusion of media elements reinforces the message and
the delivery, which leads to a better learning rate. The power of multimedia lies in the fact that it is multisensory, stimulating the many senses of the audience. It is also interactive, enabling the end-users of the
application to control the content and flow of information (Vaughan, 1998). This has introduced important
changes in our educational system and impact the way we communicate information to the learners (Neo &
Neo, 2000). The evolution of multimedia has made it very possible for learners to become involved in their
work. With multimedia technologies, they can create multimedia applications as part of their project
requirements. This would make them active participants in their own learning process, instead of just being
passive learners of the educational content.
Problem-solving: The multimedia project in the classroom
The move towards using problem-based learning in many educational institutions has resulted in a shift in the
curriculum model. The focus is moving from content towards problems to provide a more realistic approach to
learning and to create an educational methodology which emphasises real world challenges, higher order
thinking skills, multi-disciplinary learning, independent learning, teamwork and communication skills via a
problem-based learning environment (Tan, 2000). However, this model can be further strengthened with the
inclusion of multimedia technology into this problem-based learning environment to enhance the students
learning experience. This reinforced model is illustated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The multimedia-oriented Problem-Based Learning curriculum model

With the use of multimedia projects, students can utilise the knowledge presented to them by the teacher, and
represent them in a more meaningful way, using different media elements. These media elements can be
converted into digital form and modified and customised for the final project. By incorporating digital media
elements into the project, the students are able to learn better since they use multiple sensory modalities, which
would make them more motivated to pay more attention to the information presented and better retain the
information.
Creating multimedia projects is both challenging and exciting. Fortunately, there are many multimedia
technologies that are available for developers to create these innovative and interactive multimedia applications
(Vaughan, 1998). These techologies include Adobe Photoshop and Premier to create and edit graphics and video
files respectively, SoundForge and 3D Studio Max to create or edit sound and animation files, respectively.
They can also use an authoring tool such as Macromedia Director or Authorware to integrate and synchronise
all these media elements into one final application, add interactive features, and package the application into a
distributable format for the end-user. Another advantage of creating multimedia projects in the classroom setting
is that when students create multimedia projects, they tend to do this in a group environment. By working in a
group, the students will have to learn to work cooperatively and collaboratively, using their group skills and a
variety of activities to accomplish the projects overall objectives.
As stated by Agnew et. al (1996, p9), Student-created multimedia projects are beneficial, in addition, because
they often involve substantial work, open-ended assignments, theme-based activities, and knowledge and
experiences that the students draw from a wide variety of sources. Multimedia-oriented projects are a way for
students to achieve high self-esteem, to increase their ability to function as self-directed learners, to learn to
think effectively, and to practice problem-solving and decision-making (Agnew et. al, 1996). Therefore, using
multimedia in the teaching and learning environment enables students to become critical thinkers, problemsolvers, more apt to seek information, and more motivated in their learning processes. Multimedia is slowly
gaining ground as a way for students to represent the knowledge that they acquire in class and to construct their
own interpretation of the information acquired. It also fosters collaborative and cooperative learning between
and among students, thus better preparing them with a skill set for real-life work situations (Roblyer &
Edwards, 2000; Jonassen et. al, 1999).

1.
2.
3.
4.

Course structure of the Interactive Multimedia class

The class was structured toward creating a problem-based learning environment for the students in a multimedia
design context in order to harness their abilities to use and appreciate media effectively when representing
various pieces of information to convey a message to the audience. This problem-based learning environment is
employed to develop the students' capabilities to solve real-life problems and to exercise analytical, critical and
creative thinking in their work (Boud & Feletti, 1999; Newby, Stepich, Lehman & Russell, 2000). Thus, by
designing a multimedia application that is multi-sensory and interactive, the students are challenged to learn
more about their chosen subject material and to develop their abilities to analyse and draw conclusions from it.
Some of the goals for a multimedia project that were adapted from Agnew et.al (1996) for use in this class
included the following:
Higher-order thinking skills. Here the students were required to present their information appropriately
and effectively. They were also required to select the appropriate media and to use them effectively in
conveying their projects message, theme, drama and impact.
Group and interpersonal skills. This goal requires that the students to work successfully in a group and
with members of their groups in class and interacting with people outside of the classroom environment. This is
especially true when the students have to interview and do research.
Content and discipline. This requirement enables the student to learn significant facts and concepts in
the multimedia discipline as well as interdisciplinary topics. The students can also familiarise themselves with
the vocabulary of multimedia, its terms and interpretations.
Technical skills. No multimedia project is complete without the use of multimedia software technology.
Here the students will learn about project planning and acquire execution skills. More importantly, the students
learn how to use a multimedia authoring tool to complete their project and incorporate interactive features into
their presentations. These interactive links will work alongside the display of information in multimedia form,
using text, graphics, sound, video and animations, in an effective manner. The combination of all these elements
will bring about a successful final interactive multimedia application.
The Interactive Multimedia course is a course taken by second-year students of the Multimedia University who
are taking their Bachelor of Multimedia (BMM) degree. In this course, the students were given interactive
lectures on multimedia concepts and multimedia project development. They were also given interactive tutorials
and lab sessions on Macromedia Director, which would be the main authoring tool for them to use to create
their final multimedia project. Their task was to propose a multimedia topic of their choice and to design and
create an interactive CD-ROM application using multimedia technology.
Part of the class consisted of lectures that dealt with multimedia and the creation of multimedia presentations. It
involved providing students with the fundamental concepts of the multimedia process (see Figure 2). This
included deciding on the multimedia hardware and software, what was involved in creating a multimedia
project, how media elements were gathered and modified, the creation of the presentation interface, and the use
of interactivity in a multimedia presentation. These students have already been exposed to multimedia and using
some multimedia software packages. However, they have had no exposure to working with a multimedia
authoring tool, and in creating and managing multimedia project in a group setting.

Figure 2. The multimedia process (Source: Neo & Neo, 1999)

The final project for the class involved breaking up the students into groups of 4 to 6 persons. Each group had
to create and design an interactive multimedia application of their choice on a CD-ROM. The students had the
option of choosing their own team members and the topic, and were given the entire 14-week semester to
develop the project. The purpose of this project was to access the students skills in framing and solving
problems using multimedia technologies. As a group, the students had to decide on the concept of the

presentation, the design of the presentation interface and navigation, and the appropriate digital multimedia
elements and interactive features to use to best convey their topic of interest.
Planning the application: Project proposal
The first stage in a multimedia development process is to come up with a project plan. This project plan will
define the scope of the final multimedia application, the targeted market and the treatment of the presentation.
After introducing the general theme to the class, the students had to submit a project proposal outlining their
topic of choice and the team members and their specific functions. They had to identify the target audience and
concept of their final project. Upon proposal approval, the team then had to create a storyboard. In their
storyboard, the group had to outline the specific interfaces of each screen, the media elements to be used and the
information that was to accompany the screen design. They also had to outline the type of interactivity that they
were going to use in each screen and their navigational structure. Each screen of the application was sketched
and the entire storyboard was submitted on paper.
It is also at this stage that the groups elected their group leader. The group leader would be responsible for
providing the direction and objectives for the final project and to moderate any disagreements that may arise
from the groups discussions. The groups were to meet and discuss their proposal outside of class times. After
the groups had been formed and the area of interest was identified, each group gave a short presentation and a
brief summary of their project in class.
Research: Acquiring the resources
At this stage of the multimedia project development, materials had to be gathered from the applications sources
to be used as information in the final project. To be able to assemble the various media elements for the final
multimedia projects, the groups had to collect materials from the various sources of their topics. These materials
range from brochures to product information, to photographs taken at the respective sites, to video footage shot
at the sites themselves. The media materials assembled were usually in analogue format. This meant that they
were collected in their raw state and not yet ready to be processed in the PC. The collection of materials at this
stage is critical because the groups had to make sure that they had enough material for use in their multimedia
presentations. Therefore, their brainstorming and planning stage prior to this provided them with their direction
and objectives for the project. The acquisition of the materials thus required the groups to visit the sites of their
topics, interview the necessary people and collect data on the topic.
Converting the media elements to digital
After all the materials have been collected and assemble in their raw analogue state, they have to be converted
into a standard digital format in order for the PC to be able to process them. This would entail using scanners to
convert images and graphics, and digitising any analogue video footage into digital movie clips. These files
were then saved as appropriate media formats and stored in the PCs hard drive. For example, images were
scanned and stored as JPEG (Joint Photography Experts Group), GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), or BMP
(Windows Bitmap) files, and digital movie clips were stored as AVI (Audio Video Interleave) or MOV
(Quicktime Movie) files.
Editing or creating media
Once the media elements have been digitised and stored in the PC, they can then be edited or modified in
software packages. In these packages, the media elements are modified to include special effects and filters to
further enhance its look and perspective. The group members who were designated as graphic designers had the
responsibility to edit images in image-editing packages. Many chose to use Adobe Photoshop for this purpose.
Adobe Photoshop is a sophisticated image-editing tool that is popularly used to modify and edit digital images.
Other media elements like animations were digitally created in animation software like Macromedia Flash and
3D packages like Kinetix 3D Studio Max.
Multimedia authoring: Macromedia Director
Authoring is the stage where all the media elements that have been created or modified and stored digitally in
the PC are brought together into one final application and integrated into a cohesive presentation for the purpose
of conveying a specific message to the audience. It is also at this stage that elements of interactivity and
navigation are incorporated to involve the user in the application and to create a multi-sensory experience.
Macromedia Director was chosen to be the primary authoring tool for this course. Director is currently the de
facto authoring tool for creating interactive multimedia applications such as kiosks, product brochures,
interactive advertising applications, and multimedia presentations. It is also very popularly used in the
Multimedia University for multimedia application development and interactive presentations. Director follows a
movie metaphor and has many elements of movie-making incorporated in its authoring scheme (see Figure 3).
These include a Cast Window to house media elements, a Stage to showcase the production, a Score to
synchronise the entire presentation, and Scripts to control each Castmember (Neo & Neo, 1999).
The students were taught the basics of Director and given tutorials in creating interactive applications using
Directors tools and features, and packaging techniques to save multimedia applications as standalone
presentations for CD-ROM delivery. In particular, they were introduced to Directors interface and working

areas and taught how to create animations, incorporate interactivity using Behaviors, writing simple Lingo
scripts and creating projectors to package Director movies for CD-ROMs or shocking the application for the
Web (Neo & Neo, 1999). Students also had to incorporate design principles acquired from any of their previous
classes into their interface design to be able to create screen interfaces for their final applications.
Packaging for delivery
Multimedia applications inevitably have large file sizes. Therefore, they cannot be accommodated by floppy
disks, but by multimedia-capable optical storage devices. Packaging involves the physical packaging of the
application and saving it onto an optical storage device. Thus, as the final step in their multimedia project
development, students had to create a standalone application andburn their application onto a CD-ROM. A
standalone application is a self-executing file that, when clicked, can be played back on an end-user's PC
without a helper software programme (i.e., the authoring tool, or Director, in this case). They also had to design
a CD-ROM cover for their applications. The CD cover would be a conceptual representation of their final
multimedia application and would have their production company listed. This was to give them authentic
experiences in packaging applications for market distribution.
Assessment criteria
At the end of the semester, the groups submitted their final projects on CD-ROM together with a copy of their
storyboard and project proposal. They were assessed on the following criteria:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Originality: How original or creative was their concept?

Critical thinking: How well were they able to convert their concept of their topic on the storyboard
into the final CD application? Was it well thought out?
Use of media: How successful were they in their use of media elements to represent their ideas?
Director: How well were they able to use the Director tools taught to them in their tutorials and lab
sessions?
Difficulty: How complex were their navigational scheme and interactivity (linear vs. non-linear) and
how was this accomplished?
Presentation: How well was the material presented?
Cohesion of application: How consistent were the digital materials used with the message to be
conveyed.
Team work: How did the team work together to produce the application? Did everyone perform their
specific functions?
Student evaluations
The groups or respondents (N=46) were also given a survey on their project and interviewed individually. The
survey consisted of questions to assess their interest in group project work and whether or not they were
motivated in their project development. The survey also tried to gauge their level of understanding and their
critical thinking skills, as well as how they worked as a team. The survey was measured using a 5-point Likert
scale, with 1 for Strongly Disagree (SDA), 2 for Agree, 3 for Undecided, 4 for Disagree and 5 for Strongly
Agree (SA). These questions made up several constructs to measure the students problem-solving skills,
collaborative efforts and team work. The results of the survey were tabulated and their corresponding means are
illustrated in Table 4.
Questions asked
Mean score
1. I found the project challenging
4.17
2. The project allowed me to be creative in my thinking
4.15
3. We were better able to present the concept using digital
4.11
multimedia
4. I was able to have creative input in the project
4.02
5. This project allowed me to think critically about the topic
3.98
6. The project enhanced my understanding of the subject
3.98
7. I felt very motivated doing the project
3.98
8. I understood the subject matter better after the project
3.98
development
9. I was able to learn more working with my teammates
3.91
10. The team was able to create the project with the existing
3.85
software
11. The group was able to achieve its goals
3.83
N = 46
Table 4. Means and percentages of students (ranked)

%
91
91
91
83
83
83
76
89
78
76
76

On the whole, the students in the Interactive Multimedia class responded very well to the course structure and
were able to have a positive attitude toward this problem-solving learning environment. Based on the results of
the survey, we found three areas that were significant in shaping these students' attitudes towards the project.
The first is that they were very motivated, enjoyed being challenged and able to have creative input and use
multimedia technology and software. This was represented by Questions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 with means of 4.17,
4.15, 4.11, 4.02 and 3.98, respectively. The second area is in their ability to think critically about the topic and
develop a deeper understanding of the subject via the project, represented by Questions 5, 6 and 8, each with
means of 3.98. The third area is the student's ability to function well as a team, represented by Questions 9, 10
and 11, with means of 3.91, 3.85 and 3.83, respectively.
Figures 5 (a), (b) and (c) illustrate some of the percentages of students who answered in the "Agree" and
"Strongly Agree" category (numbers 4 and 5 on the Likert scale). As shown below, 91% of the students found
the project challenging (see Figure 5 (a)), 89% felt that the project allowed them to have a better understanding
of their topic (see Figure 5 (b)), and 78% were able to learn from their teammates (see Figure 5 (c)).

Figures
Percentages of responses

5 (a), (b) and (c).

Showcases
The final presentations by
the different groups in the
class were varied. For
example, one group chose
to focus on the Malaysian
Petronas Twin Towers as
their topic and
highlighted areas such as
its architecture, retail
shops, prominent features
and information on how
to get there, focusing on a
more kiosk-based application (see Figures 6 (a) and (b)). As shown below, this
group used
customised cursors and hot spots, and combined 3D images with text and sound for a more futuristic approach.
Their information was complied from brochures obtained from the company and translated into electronic form.
They also had a link to the official website for users to access more information about the Twin Towers.
Figures 6 (a showase on Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers
Another group chose to focus on the racial mix of Malaysians, particularly those with mixed parentage (see
Figures 7 (a) and 7 (b)). They chose this topic in hopes to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of being
of mixed parentage, and intended this to be an educational application. Interviews were carried out on students
around campus who were racially mixed and their opinions on having mixed parentage were elicited. The
interface consisted of buttons linking to the specific mixed races and their various attributes, how specific racial
mixes are created and where they popularly reside in Malaysia, and statistics.

Both groups were also able to utilise a suite of

multimedia packages other than the Macromedia
Director, such as Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop
and Premier, to complete their project.
Figures 7 (a) showcase on mixed parentage in
Malaysia
Student interviews
We also conducted interviews with the groups to find
out more about their problem-solving skills and team
efforts. We found that the groups that did very well in
their projects had very good group leaders and worked
well together. Interviews showed that these groups collaborated well in
their collective
efforts. Many of these groups divided themselves into the general categories of Graphic Designers, Multimedia
Author/Programmer (using Director), Resource Manager, and Researcher.
From the interviews we did with the students as well as the surveys that we conducted, we found that the
majority of these students were very motivated and found working on their multimedia project very inspiring
and challenging. Many of them enjoyed exercising their creativity and multimedia skills in visually representing
their content material. Some even said that they liked doing the project because it allowed them to fully
understand what it takes to create a multimedia application from the beginning to end and how to work as a
team. They were able to learn more about their topic as well as creating multimedia presentations, and able to
design an interactive multimedia application with active links, thus supporting the propositions made by Agnew
et. al (1996) and illustrated by Table 8.
Group responses from interviews
Question: What did you learn from this project?
Group 1 : "We learnt more about topic as well as the software. We also developed a positive group attitude."
Group 2: "We learnt more about multimedia, developing a CD-ROM, software, navigation and interactivity."
Group 3 : "Teamwork is not so easy, but I learnt how to be a good leader. We learnt more about our topic. Fun
to know everyone on the team and had fun shooting video, never done it before."
Group 4: "Learnt more about group members."
Group 5: "Learnt more about software and hardware in multimedia."
Group 6: "I can use Director for my other projects now. It was very challenging"
For most of the semester, the groups would work either during class times to discuss their projects, or schedule
meetings outside of class times. The lecturer also met with the various groups each week to discuss their
progress and to act as a consultant and a guide to these groups.
Some groups did encounter scheduling problems with conflicting class schedules and problems with deciding
on which theme and topic to concentrate on during the initial stages of the project development, but they were
able to resolve them as the weeks progressed. They encountered some more problems when researching the site
of their topic of interest as not all groups received cooperation from their chosen topic. Therefore, they had to
work around that problem by either using information publicly available or by highlighting that topic indirectly.
By doing so, they exercised their creative and critical thinking toward these problems.
Groups that had good leaders and good teamwork were able to finish their projects early. Their applications had
little or no problems. The translations of their storyboards into electronic presentations showed minimal changes
and they made good use of many media elements. The navigational links and interactive features were also
intact and the presentation ran smoothly from beginning to end. Some even went beyond what was taught in
class to include a difficult component like scripting.
Some groups had good leaders but were weaker in their application of multimedia knowledge. However, they
were still able to make a multimedia presentation of their topic, although the representations of their
information by the media elements were simpler than the stronger groups. Groups that did not have a strong
leader or were unable to cooperate did demonstrate a weakness in their overall presentations. This was due to
the fact that the dynamics within the group were not colloborative or cooperative at all. Statements elicited from
them include, "Don't take friends when doing groupwork," and "I will be more careful when choosing my group
members next time," and "I would work individually next time." For these groups, they would schedule
meetings with the lecturer to discuss their problems and present their solutions, with the lecturer acting as the
facilitator in these meetings.
However, these groups were small in number and still managed to complete their project, indicating that
although they were not able to fully cooperate with each other, they managed to stay as a group long enough to
finish the project. Surveys taken by these individuals still indicated that they were very much motivated to
doing their project but were unable to do their best because of their inability to get along as team members.

Overall, despite some problems in scheduling and personality conflicts, the students enjoyed working in teams
to develop their project. As the means and percentages had shown in Table 4, over 75% of the students
favourably rated team efforts (Questions 9,10, 11) and group participation as a factor in completing their
project, indicating that they were able to learn from their teammates, collaborate to achieve the group's goals
and collectively solve their multimedia design problems together. Specific questions on teamwork showed a
lower percentage in student responses (76% and 78%) as compared to the rest of the questions. This is probably
due to the fact that this is a new experience for these students who have little experience in working together to
solve problems. This is also reflected in some of the statements given by the groups in Table 8. However,
teamwork is still positively viewed by the students and should therefore be encouraged so that they will have
the necessary problem-solving skills when they face real-life situations, particularly in the IT-oriented business
environment of today.
Limitations
Although the class demonstrated a positive attitude toward using interactive multimedia in a problem-solving
learning environment, there are some limitations to this study which should be addressed. Firstly, to be able to
be successful in such endeavours, there must be adequate number of computers made accessible to the students
and teachers, in order for the work to be properly carried out. Secondly, multimedia authoring software like
Director or Authorware must also be provided. And lastly, training in these softwares should be provided to the
teachers so that they can conduct these types of classes. By making the hardware and software available, such as
in the Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia, both the teachers and students can use multimedia
successfully in their teaching and learning processes.
Conclusion
This paper has presented and discussed the use of multimedia in a problem-based learning environment to equip
students with high-order thinking and problem-solving skills and to enable them to experience an IT-oriented
learning situation. From the results, we are able to conclude that by integrating multimedia into the teaching and
learning process, the conventional PBL curriculum model is reinforced and strengthened and a multimediaoriented PBL curriculum model can be instituted. The multimedia project in this course enabled the students to
exercise their creative and critical thinking skills in solving their design and development problems, work
collaboratively to gain team-based experience, and to face the real-life situation of problem-solving. This is a
student-centered learning approach which allows them to construct their own knowledge and understanding,
and determine their own learning goals. The role of the teacher, on the other hand, changes from the sage on
the stage to a guide on the side, assisting the students in the construction of their knowledge.
As such, the use of multimedia technology and project are an innovative and effective teaching and learning
strategy because they motivate the students in their learning process and help them to acquire good problemsolving skills. As evidenced by this project, students became very active participants in their learning process
instead being passive learners, and were able to use various digital media elements to accomplish their project.
These findings are significant in that:
1.
by using a multimedia project, we can move towards the Constructivist learning mode, which is studentcentric. In this context, the students had to utilise their prior knowledge in other disciplines to breakdown the
problem into component parts, and then synthesize and re-construct a possible solution. This experience is
invaluable in creating a new generation of effective problem-solvers for the current industry needs.
2.
we successfully integrated multimedia technology into the problem-based learning classroom, instilling
effective learning how to learn and lifelong learning attitudes into the students, and
3.
they are in line with the Tapscott's (1998) proposition that today's generation is IT-savvy and look to
digital media for learning and they expect universities and other institutions of higher learning to provide IToriented programmes in their curriculum as well as in teaching and learning methodologies. As such, the
multimedia-oriented PBL curriculum model serves as a strong framework for teaching and learning in this
respect.
Multimedia-oriented projects, therefore, like many other problem-based learning solutions, can be appropriately
used as an innovative and effective tool in a problem-based learning environment for the acquisition of
problem-solving skills.

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BMC Med Educ. 2011; 11: 38.
Published online 2011 Jun 21. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-11-38
PMCID: PMC3152531
Instructional multimedia: An investigation of student and instructor attitudes and student study behavior
A Russell Smith, Jr, #1 Cathy Cavanaugh,#2 and W Allen Moore#1
Author information Article notes Copyright and License information
Abstract
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Background
In order to meet the educational needs of a diverse population of students, physical therapist educators are
utilizing instructional multimedia to teach psychomotor skills [1-3]. Traditional strategies to teach psychomotor
skills in healthcare education include lecture, textbooks, self-instruction, and live demonstration [2].
Instructional multimedia has been applied as a component of classroom activities, in pre-class preparation, or as
a stand-alone learning experience [4-6]. Increasing integration of instructional multimedia across disciplines has
been noted as access to educational technology has increased [7]. Some recently employed multimedia
technologies, including video, film, DVD/CD-ROM, computer simulations, slide presentations, audio
recordings, and web based content, have been utilized to present lectures, supplement classroom activities, and
demonstrate psychomotor skills [1-3,8-11]. Advantages of instructional multimedia include increased
availability and repetition of instructional content, improved ability of students to learn at their own pace,
increased student control of material, less demand on instructor time, and the provision of an alternative
approach to describe complex topics or three-dimensional relationships. Instructional multimedia may help
instructors address a range of diverse student needs including increasing study time and addressing multiple
learning preferences [3,5-7,12,13]. These advantages, especially when applied in a professional degree program,
align well with research on development of expertise, which attributes such development to intense practice
with directed feedback on performance [14]. Given that physical therapy is to a large extent a psychomotor
domain of practice, a physical therapy degree program may be considered in a sense predominantly a
performance improvement program [15]. Thus, the instructional multimedia program described here was
designed to improve student performance through practice and feedback without increasing lab, classroom, or
instructor time.
Much of the health education research concerning instructional multimedia has focused on cognitive [16,17]
and/or psychomotor [4,16,18-20] performance. Recently, investigations concerning student/instructor
perceptions of instructional multimedia have been published [21,22]. However, published reports examining
student/instructor perceptions of instructional multimedia in physical therapy education were not found. Where
cognitive and psychomotor performance are concerned, traditional forms of instruction and teaching with
instructional multimedia yield similar levels of performance among students and increased efficiency in

learning time [19]. For example, Kinney et al. (1997) found no differences in written test scores between
physical therapist students receiving instructional multimedia and students receiving interactive lecture
presentation for the management of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. However, the authors reported less
time was needed for the multimedia instruction group (mean 82.6 minutes) to complete the lesson compared to
the interactive lecture group (124.6 minutes) [19]. Barker (1988) investigated the effectiveness of interactive
videodiscs in the acquisition of upper extremity range of motion assessment skills in 40 undergraduate physical
therapist students. Although no differences in written or psychomotor performance were observed between the
multimedia group and the traditional group, participants in the multimedia group reported greater time
practicing than the traditional group, 11.16 hours as compared to 8.39 hours [4].
In health science education, when instructional multimedia increases the richness of the experience and are
accompanied by guidance from instructors or professionals, performance gains may be seen [15], as in
Holzinger et al.'s study of a supported simulation to teach blood flow. The study showed increased knowledge
when video, computer-based simulation and learning guidance were combined to scaffold learning through
increasingly complex stages. In fact, the more complex the learning demands, the greater the contribution of
dynamic media may be to the learning process [23].
Instructional multimedia for cognitive and psychomotor learning across higher education appears to be most
effective as a complement to classroom instruction rather than a substitute for classroom instruction [22,24].
Previous investigations of nursing students' attitudes towards instructional multimedia found learners identified
that instructional multimedia enhanced learning, allowed for greater flexibility, and provided a platform for
independent self-management of learning [22,25,26]. While students appreciate the increase in control
instructional multimedia provides them over their learning, many students may find motivation to be a
challenge in the absence of instructors or other students. In addition, learners may have preexisting attitudes
about the value of instructional multimedia based on their past learning experiences and knowledge of their
personal learning preferences. In fact, students' attitudes toward the instructional multimedia format are
significant predictors of course performance [27]. For example, students who believe they have difficulty
learning from reading will place high value on image-rich multimedia, while students who state they learn best
through interpersonal interaction will place low value on the time they spend using instructional multimedia
The degree of control students are able to exercise in a course activity depends on the structure and flexibility
designed into the activity by the instructor. Instructor satisfaction derives from congruence between the
instructor's beliefs about learning and the methods the instructor uses to facilitate learning [29]. Instructor
motivation to use instructional multimedia is based on the premise that students in health professions have
diverse needs and a preference for multimodal learning tools [30-32], and that multimedia may better serve
multiple learning styles [27].
Students/subjects in the present study were provided video clips with concurrent text of psychomotor techniques
(CD-ROM) to review and practice prior to the classroom meeting. This methodology is similar to learning in an
online environment where students learn through interaction within the online environment, not during actual
physical interaction with an instructor. In this way, the instruction represents a blended course model and
provides insight into a blended physical therapy course design. The application of video demonstrations with
audio narration and text for learning numerous psychomotor skills is supported by Mayer's multimedia learning
principle of modality [33]. Students using the physical therapy multimedia materials acquired knowledge of the
techniques through simultaneous visual and auditory modes, increasing the likelihood that the students would
successfully apply the techniques in the lab and clinic setting.
Bates and Bartolic-Zlomislic (1999) proposed the following as a framework to investigate the effects of
independent learning in an online environment: 1) performance-driven benefits (e.g., learning outcomes, student
satisfaction, instructor satisfaction); 2) value-driven benefits (e.g., access, flexibility, and ease of use); and 3)
value-added benefits (e.g., increased revenue related to new product/service generated, and reduced
traffic/parking needs) [34]. The focus of investigations of instructional multimedia in physical therapist
education has often been limited to the effect on learning outcomes [1-3]. The present study focuses on the first
two benefits as presented by Bates and Bartolic-Zlomislic, specifically performance-driven and value driven
benefits.
The performance-driven benefit of student satisfaction is of particular importance because of its task, course,
and program level implications. Students who are satisfied with their own performance and with their progress

are more likely to persist in their educational endeavors [35]. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the student,
the instructor, and the program for students to reach a motivating level of satisfaction in their courses. In the
case of the physical therapy courses investigated in this study, students were asked to use instructional
multimedia for self-directed learning, a method for which students vary in readiness and need for support [36].
The continual need for learning within individuals and the need to explore and to develop responsibility among
maturing learners [37] may be satisfied with instructional multimedia tools that students can control and use as
their abilities dictate.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of instructional multimedia on student study behavior, and
student and teacher attitudes toward instructional multimedia. Two research questions guided this study: (1)
What are the experiences of students and teachers of instructional multimedia as an instructional strategy? and
(2) Does instructional multimedia affect student study behavior?

Methods
Sample
Students from two entry-level physical therapist graduate education programs agreed to participate in the study.
Program 1 had 27 participants (18 females and nine males, mean age = 24.69 years) in a first-semester course.
Program 2 had 23 participants (13 females and 10 males, mean age = 25.13) in a second-semester course. Both
groups were enrolled in introductory level orthopedic physical therapy courses.
Procedures
The study was conducted over five weeks at each of the two universities. During the first week of the study, all
participants provided written informed consent and basic demographic information. Next, participants from
each university were divided into one of two groups, Group A or Group B. Students in Group A received
reading assignments and content objectives related to knee special tests and accessory movement testing.
Participants in Group B received compact discs (CDs) with knee techniques, in addition to, the same reading
assignments and content objectives that Group A received. During week two of the study, students from Group
A received live instructor demonstration of knee techniques followed by practice with instructor feedback.
Participants in Group B, having received CDs during week one of the study, moved directly to practice with
instructor feedback. Both groups received a total of 120 minutes of time with the instructor during separate
sessions. Group A's session included live demonstration, Group B's session did not include live demonstration.
During week three of the study, participants received instruction on ankle/foot techniques. During this week,
Group A received CDs and practice time with instructor feedback, and Group B received live demonstration and
practice time with instructor feedback. Once again, each group received a total of 120 minutes with the
instructor during separate sessions. During weeks 4 and 5 of the study, students underwent practical and written
testing related to knee and ankle/foot techniques and students and instructors completed the questionnaire
examining their attitudes toward the learning process. Data pertaining to performance on written and practical
examinations were published previously [3].
Research Design
The independent variable was instructional method, either multimedia instruction or traditional classroom
demonstration. The dependent variables were student study behavior, and student and instructor attitudes.
Student and instructor attitudes and student study behavior were assessed by a written questionnaire consisting
of seven statements with Likert scales and six open-ended questions. Approval for this study was obtained from
the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Florida.
Instructional Multimedia
Instructional CDs containing psychomotor skills of accessory movement testing and special tests for
examination of the knee or ankle/foot were developed by the primary investigator. Twenty-three techniques
were presented for the knee and 20 techniques were presented for the ankle/foot. Each technique was described
in text format with concurrent audio-video presentation of the technique (Figure (Figure1).1). The audio/video
presentation of each of the skills was approximately 30 seconds in length. Media was rendered into a

Flash format and students were required to install Adobe's free Flash Player to view the videos on their
personal computers.

Figure 1
Screen capture of interactive video layout. Study participants were given a CD-ROM containing multiple
short videos of various ankle and knee examination skills to practice before class.
Tests and Instrumentation
The written questionnaire used in this study to assess students' attitudes toward each instructional strategy was
modified from a survey developed by Toth-Cohen (1995) [38] (Appendix 1). Instructors' reactions to the
instructional strategy were assessed by a written questionnaire similar to the student version (Appendix 2).
Student study time alone and with classmates were recorded by the student on the written questionnaire. Total
study time was calculated by adding the reported alone study time and the classmate study time.
Data Analysis
Independent, group, and total study time data were analyzed using ANOVA. Analysis included a comparison of
study times between the two physical therapy programs and between the two instructional methods.
Additionally, descriptive analysis was conducted for study times for each program and for the instructional
strategies. For study time analysis, data were transferred to SPSS 18 and alpha level was set at p < .05.
Qualitative descriptive analysis was performed for the Likert scale statements and for the open-ended questions.
In addition, response frequency for each of the Likert statements were tabulated using Microsoft Excel 2007.
Lastly, Mann-Whitney tests were performed for each of the seven Likert statements within the knee and ankle
groups. Data was transferred to SPSS 18 for this analysis and alpha level was set at p < .05.
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Results
Study Times
Twenty-five subjects in the live demonstration knee group completed the questionnaire regarding study times.
The mean time studying alone was 47 minutes, mean group study time was 24.8 minutes, and total study time
for this group was 71.8 minutes. Twenty-one students in the knee instructional multimedia group completed the
questionnaire regarding study time. The mean study alone time for this group was 32.9 minutes, group study
time mean was 32.9 minutes and total study time was 65.7 minutes. Twenty-three subjects in the live
demonstration ankle group completed the questionnaire regarding study times. The mean study alone time was
30.7 minutes, mean group study time was 32.6 minutes, and total study time for this group was 63.3 minutes.
Twenty students in the ankle instructional multimedia group completed the questionnaire regarding study time.
The mean study alone time for this group was 24.3 minutes, group study time mean was 7.5 minutes and total
study time was 31.8 minutes (Table (Table1).1). ANOVAs comparing study times for each instructional method
and for each program are presented in Table Table2.2. Results of ANOVA related to student study behavior
related to knee content indicated no main effects and no interaction. Results for study alone and total study time
of the ankle content indicated no interaction between strategy and school and no significant main effects.
Results of ANOVA related to study time with classmates of ankle content indicated there was no interaction
between strategy and school, however, group study time was significantly different when comparing
instructional strategies and group study time (F = 6.496; p = 0.015). Students in the live ankle demonstration
group spent more time studying in groups than students in the instructional multimedia group.

Table 1
Descriptive statistics for knee and ankle study times

Table 2
Results of ANOVA comparing study times between subjects and program, and subjects and instructional method
Student Attitudes
Mann-Whitney U compared student responses to knee and ankle Likert statements for the two instructional
groups. No significant differences were found (Table (Table3).3). Response frequency for student attitudes
toward instructional strategy for knee and ankle are presented in figure figure2.2. Forty-one subjects from the
combined knee and ankle multimedia groups participated in the survey, for a response rate of 82%. Forty-eight
subjects for the combined knee and ankle live demonstration groups participated in the study, for a response rate
of 96%. Of the 41 students in the multimedia group, 87.8% either agreed or strongly agreed, while 2.4% either
disagreed or strongly disagreed that the "method of learning was interesting". Within the live demonstration
group, 87.5% either agreed or strongly agreed that the "method of learning was interesting", while 4.2% either
disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remaining students were neutral. When asked if the "method of learning
was a waste of time", 87.8% of the students in the multimedia group either disagreed or strongly disagreed,
while 2.4% agreed or strongly agreed, and 91.6% of the students in the live demonstration group disagreed or
strongly disagreed, while 0% agreed or strongly agreed. Of the subjects in the multimedia group 78.1% of the
students agreed or strongly agreed they "learned a lot from this method of learning", while 9.8% either agreed
or disagreed. Within the live demonstration group, 85.4% agreed or strongly agreed they "learned a lot from the
method of learning" and 6.3% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. When asked if they would "use the
method again", 87.8% of the multimedia group agreed or strongly agreed, and 83.3% of the live demonstration
group agreed or strongly agreed. Only 7.3% of the multimedia group and 4.2% of the live demonstration group
disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Table 3
Mann-Whitney Test for Likert scale statements

Figure 2
Student responses to Likert scale statements. Results of students' responses to several statements.
Qualitative Results

The open-ended questions on the survey allowed students to discuss, in their own words, their opinions on
various aspects of the teaching methods employed in this study. Tables Tables44 and and55 list the questions
and a summary of the responses students provided. Table Table66 displays results of open-ended questions
instructors answered at the end of the study.

Table 4
Open-ended responses for students receiving CD instruction

Table 5
Open-ended Responses for Students Receiving Live Demonstration Instruction

Table 6
Instructors' Evaluation of Instructional Method
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Discussion
This study compared the effects of instructional multimedia and live demonstration of psychomotor skills on
student study behavior and student/teacher attitudes. The first guiding research question was: "What are the
attitudes of students and instructors using instructional multimedia as an instructional strategy?"
Attitudes were measured by a modified questionnaire used in Toth-Cohen's (1995) investigation of the effects of
instructional multimedia on occupational therapy student understanding of anatomy and kinesiology. TothCohen found more positive attitudes in quantitative and qualitative responses from students receiving
instructional multimedia as compared to students receiving traditional self-study with textbooks [38]. In the
present study, responses by students were similar regardless of method of instruction. The differences in results
noted between the Toth-Cohen study and this study may relate to sample characteristics, differences in the type
of skills taught, access to the instructional strategy, and/or differences between the instructional methods in the
present study versus Toth-Cohen's study. Participants in Toth-Cohen's study were undergraduate occupational
therapy students as compared to graduate physical therapy students in this study. Additionally, Toth-Cohen
limited content to cognitive skills related to the elbow as compared to this study's emphasis on cognitive and
psychomotor skills.
Student responses to the open-ended questions in this study were consistent with Toth-Cohen [38]. Strengths of
the instructional multimedia presentation reported by students in the present study included greater opportunity
to view and/or review content and control of the pacing and content quantity. Instructors also identified greater
opportunity for review of the content as a major strength of CD presentation and highlighted the facilitation of
self-directed learning and increased efficiency. Instructors reported observing higher cognitive level interactions
during lab time with students in the interactive multimedia group. The students in our study identified
weaknesses of instructional multimedia as including the lack of direct human contact and visual limitations of
the CD. Instructors reported decreased student participation and decreased preparation by some participants in
the instructional multimedia groups.

Conversely, students appreciated the hands-on aspect of live presentation but disliked the lack of detail,
excessive speed of presentation, memory overload, and lack of resources for continued study of live
presentation. Instructors perceived having greater control of the teaching-learning interaction and greater
participant attention to the details of the techniques during live presentation. Predictably, students reported a
greater sense of autonomy with the instructional multimedia presentation and the instructors reported a greater
sense of autonomy with live presentation. Another contrasting view related to the detail of the instruction.
Instructors reported greater detail with live presentation, however the students reported less detail with live
presentation.
The degree of control that students are able to exercise in a course activity depends on the structure and
flexibility designed into the activity by the instructor. Instructor satisfaction derives from congruence between
the instructor's beliefs about learning and the methods the instructor uses to bring about learning, and most adult
educators value high levels of student control and involvement [29]. If this tendency extends to physical therapy
educators, then instructors should realize increased satisfaction when teaching a course in which students have
opportunities to control their learning, as with instructional multimedia for practicing skills.
Benefits of instructional multimedia for self-directed learning include flexibility in time and place of learning
and continual access to the learning materials. Technology used in support of unlimited student practice can be a
central strategy for the type of mastery learning that supports adult learners' self-efficacy and persistence in
education [39]. However, these benefits can be neutralized if students do not find the technology easy to use.
Student attitudes toward using the technology and toward the value of learning new technology will impact their
motivation and satisfaction to learn [40]. If students believe that their professional value is enhanced by
acquiring technology skills, their motivation and satisfaction will increase.
The performance-driven benefit of student satisfaction is of particular importance because of its task, course,
and program level implications. Students who are satisfied with their own performance and with their progress
are more likely to persist in their educational endeavor [35]. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the student
and instructor to reach a motivating level of satisfaction in their courses. In the case of the physical therapy
courses investigated in this study, students were asked to use instructional multimedia for self-directed learning,
a method for which students vary in their readiness and need for support [36]. When teaching a varying group
of students, the instructor should expect a range of satisfaction outcomes unless differential amounts of selfdirection are afforded, as is the case with interactive media. The continual need for learning within individuals
and the need to explore and to develop responsibility among younger adult learners are well satisfied with
multimedia tools that students can control and use as their abilities dictate [37].
The second guiding research question was "Does instructional multimedia affect student study behavior?" This
study demonstrated no significant differences in study time with classmates, study time alone, or total study
time between the instructional strategies for the knee. However, participants receiving instructional multimedia
of ankle skills reported significantly less study time with classmates than participants receiving live presentation
of the ankle content. No difference was observed for study time alone or group study time between the
instructional strategies for the ankle. The decreased study time found with total study time with the ankle
instructional multimedia group was consistent with the decrease in study time noted in physical therapy students
using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in the study by Kinney et al. (1997). The CAI group in the Kinney
study completed a lesson related to examination and treatment of a patient with carpal tunnel syndrome in
approximately 83 minutes as compared to 125 minutes for the lecture group [19]. The difference between the
results of Kinney et al. and this study maybe related to student level and the operational definition of study
time. The students participating in Kinney's study were undergraduate students. Kinney included class time as a
component of study time as compared to only out-of-class study time measured in this study. The improved
classroom efficiency of approximately 25% noted by the teachers in this study was consistent with the 24%
efficiency reported by Kinney et al. (1997) [19].
Future directions and limitations
Interestingly, while students reported an appreciation of the autonomy received with the use of the instructional
multimedia, instructors reported an appreciation of the autonomy that they received from live presentation. This
conflicting view of autonomy raises several pedagogical issues for future researchers. The level of perceived
autonomy, not measured in this study, and the effect of this autonomy on student performance is of significant
interest, particularly to educators of adult learners. The conflicting views between students and instructors of the

level of detail provided by the instructional strategies in this study are of interest as well. Students attributed
greater detail to the instructional multimedia as opposed to instructor perception of greater detail from their own
presentations. These conflicts raise questions related to instructor pedagogy not assessed in this study. Future
research of the role of instructor pedagogy in the application of interactive multimedia is indicated. The findings
of this study are limited to written answers from students and teachers without follow-up clarification of their
answers. Future investigations into these conflicting views and their effects are indicated and may include
interview and other methods to clarify. Conflicting views between instructors and students of the benefits of
instructional multimedia and live presentation were identified by the results of this study.
A limitation of this study is the inclusion of only two physical therapy programs. Future multi-site
investigations are needed with attention to curricular implications. The use of a non-validated survey tool limits
the generalizability of the findings. While used previously in the literature, the survey from Toth-Cohen (1995)
has not been extensively examined for reliability and validity. Other limitations include student self-reporting of
the study time.
Since the conclusion of the study the authors have started to distribute video using a university owned media
server and through Apple's iTunes. Video being distributed now is in MPEG-4 format.
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Conclusions
This study investigated the effects of instructional multimedia on student/teacher attitudes and student study
behavior. No practical differences between the instructional groups were noted between student attitudes toward
the instructional method as measured by seven statements with Likert scales. Responses to five open-ended
questions relative to instructional multimedia emphasized efficiency, processing level, autonomy, and detail of
instruction of instructional multimedia. This study suggests that instructional multimedia may improve
efficiency and may promote higher level processing during practice of the techniques in a supervised setting.
Go to:
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Go to:
Authors' contributions
ARS and CC conceived and designed the study. All authors collected and/or analyzed data. All authors were
involved in writing and revising the original manuscript. WAM and ARS designed the tables and prepared the
paper for submission. All authors read and approved the manuscript prior to submission.
Go to:
Acknowledgements
Publication of this article was funded in part by the University of Florida Open-Access Publishing Fund.
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Appendix 1 - Student Experience Questionnaire
EVALUATION OF EXPERIENCE WITH METHOD OF LEARNING
I. Please check the appropriate box below:
CD Group Classroom Presentation
II. Please circle the correct answer below:
1. The instructions for using this method were clear.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree

0 1 2 3 4
2. This program served as a useful review of material I previously learned.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
3. This method of learning was interesting.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
4. This method of learning was a waste of time.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
5. I learned a lot from this method of learning.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
6. This method of learning was helpful to me because I am a visual learner.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
7. I would use this method again, if available.
Strongly disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Strongly agree
0 1 2 3 4
III. Please answer the following questions.
8. What did you like best about the method of learning?
9. What did you like least about this method of learning?
10. What are the strengths of this method of learning?
11. What are the weaknesses of this method of learning?
12. Compared to other ways of learning, was this method of learning useful? Why or why not?
13. Any other comments?
14. Please estimate below the total number of minutes you studied this content outside of the classroom:
alone___________________ minutes
with classmates___________________ minutes

Appendix 2 - Instructor Experience Questionnaire

TEACHER EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD
I. Please check the appropriate box below:
CD Group Classroom Presentation
II. Please answer the following questions relative to the method checked above.
1. What did you like best about this method of instruction?
2. What did you like least about this method of instruction?
3. What are the strengths of this method of instruction?
4. What are the weaknesses of this method of instruction?
5. Compared to other ways of instruction, was this method instruction useful? Why or why not?
6. Any other comments?
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multimedia for teaching, learning and presentations

Khoo Cheng Choo, National University of Singapore
As the world hurtles towards the 21st Century, it is necessary that educators should pause to evaluate the
development of new technologies like interactive multimedia and understand its impact on education. This
paper will discuss the rationale for interactive multimedia use and examine its ability to enhance instruction,
learning and presentations through interactive, hypertexting and linkage techniques Through this innovative
approach, users are stimulated via their multisensory modalities to better focus on and retain the messages sent
to them. Learners benefit from multimedia because they can now enjoy learning intuitively, independently or
socially. Proper integration and use of interactive multimedia in education can help smooth the path to
instructional enlightenment because it can, among other things, provide effective communication, clarify,

concepts and enhance teaching and learning via the natural multisensory and intuitive approach. Therefore, our
task as instructors and trainers, is to sort, absorb, understand and utilise these new technologies to optimise
teaching, training and learning.
IT and interactive multimedia
The past three decades have seen vast changes in the world of information technology (IT). The growth of IT
has nurtured the acceleration of multimedia in its various forms and phases. Compared to the personal computer
revolution of the 80s, the multimedia revolution has escalated to the extent that it will transform computing and
create a colossal impact on those who depend on information for survival. Basically, the essence of multimedia
is that it is composed of integrated digital media with the capability of creating desktop videos, incorporating
narration and other audio effects, visual simulations and animations to enhance a users' learning experience.
IBM's Vice president, Mike Braun aptly describes multimedia as "a revolution in personalisation that combines
the audio visual power of television, the publishing power of the printing press and the interactive power of the
computer."
Since the 1960s, the use of CBT, CMI, CAI and CAL were established norms for training in industry, medicine,
the military and for. instruction in education. Although they have shown great promise, they've been rather
disappointing as they tend to be largely verbal, textual and linear in structure and still employ limited sequential
'page turning' techniques. Also, the older CBT, CMI, CAL packages lost impact simply because they were not
tailored to meet the needs of the users.
Nevertheless, some CAI programs tried 'marrying' Artificial Intelligence with computer assisted instruction
which resulted in ICAI or 'Intelligent CAI' (Wyer, 1987). This was the predecessor of attempts to "approach the
learning situation from a less controlled, less technology driven and more student driven perspective" (Sleeman
& Brown, 1981). Attempts by Colby to develop a program which attempted to simulate the exchange between a
psychotherapist and a patient proved to be rather 'primitive'. Authoring of such ICAI was very complex and the
constraint of limited computing power at that time made such projects problematic.
Thus, the multimedia revolution of the 1990s is not entirely new. The computer theorist, Dough Engelbart,
initially expressed the idea in the 1960s and the concept was later refined by Ted Nelson in his book Computer
Lib. It was Nelson who coined the terms hypertext and hypermedia to refer to "non-sequential documents"
made up of text, audio, and visual information. This concept of accessing different levels of information of the
various formats (text, graphics, audio, animation) grew with the increasing power of computers.
Why use interactive multimedia?
Today, users require access to or communication of information in the most speedy and efficient manner as
possible. With multimedia, navigational and participatory features provide more flexibility and control to the
users. These unique features allow them to quickly access information when they need it and how they want it.
With multimedia, users become participants in an exciting experience involving the sensory modalities of sight,
sound and touch, all of which naturally facilitate learning.
The 90s is an age where the learner environment is more learner oriented when compared with the teacher
oriented emphasis of the past. The following is a summary of some advantages that can be gained by utilising
multimedia in the modem smart classroom:
1. Reduced learning time: According to some research, interactive multimedia/ videodisc training can
reduce training time up to 60% over traditional classroom methods. This can be attributed to the
immediate interaction and constant feedback which provides excellent reinforcement of concepts and
content. Also, self paced instruction which allows students to control the pace and content of their
learning ie, more difficult concepts can be repeated or familiar content can be skipped.
2. Reduced Cost: The cost of interactive multimedia lie in the design and production. When the same
program is used by more students, the cost per student is reduced, unlike the traditional instructional
system which needs to cater to teacher salaries and overheads regardless of the number of students.
3. Instructional Consistency and Fairness: Instructional quality and quantity are not compromised as
technology based interactive instruction is consistent and reliable.
4. Increased Retention: The interactive approach provides a strong learning reinforcement and therefore
boosts content retention over time.

5. Mastery of Learning: A good interactive system can ensure the learning of the prerequisites by learners
before proceeding to new content. This provides a strong foundation for continued learning and
therefore helps to achieve mastery learning.
6. Increased Motivation: Immediate feedback and personal control over the content provided by an
interactive multimedia system has proven to be highly motivating to learners.
7. More Interactive Learning: Interactive systems enable learners to have more responsibility and better
control over their learning and this generates a greater interest to actively seek new knowledge rather
than passively accept instruction.
8. Increased Safety: Interactive multimedia and the simulations they provide, allow the safe study of
hazardous phenomena such as dangerous scientific experiments on harmful substances or natural
disasters like volcanic eruptions or earthquakes by the learners.
9. Privacy/ accommodates Individual Learning Styles: This system allows for one to one learning and
caters to the different learning styles of individuals. The freedom to ask questions repeatedly without
embarrassment and the involvement of each individual learner motivates them and reduces the potential
for distraction.
10. Flexibility: The flexibility comes from the ability to navigate, by using a keyboard, mouse or touch
screen, through an interactive program and to choose what and how much information we want and
when we want it.
Interactive multimedia and teaching
We are all aware that in the traditional teaching model, the teacher holds on to the knowledge base and delivers
that knowledge base directly to the student as is shown in Fig. 1. The use of innovative multimedia practices,
however, allows for a change in the role of the teacher in education.
Figure 1: Traditional role of the teacher (N. Paine)
With this change in role, the teacher becomes a true facilitator, a manager of
the learning process rather than the source of all knowledge. The teacher still
remains in control but steps to one side to allow the student a more direct
access to knowledge (as shown in Fig. 2), with the teacher facilitating and
organising the learning process.

Figure 2: Desirable new teaching model (N. Paine)

This can be achieved because the state of the art of interactive multimedia
has opened up new possibilities of knowledge engineering and knowledge
linkage. The layers of information can be made intuitively available to the
learners, without the learners having to understand the complexity of
knowledge engineering and linkages that went behind its creation.

Learning and interactive multimedia

Generally, multimedia caters to individuals with different learning styles and allows the application of
knowledge engineering to learning through the building of a cohesive web of cross references and keyword
searches of databases. Through this knowledge engineering, interactive multimedia is also ideal for self testing,
allowing students to challenge themselves and evaluate their own level of content knowledge before the actual
classroom examination. Thus far, the long history of education has been dominated by the spoken and written
words. Generally, learning in schools, colleges and universities, is extremely verbal. It is a recognised fact that a
large part of the human brain tends to be visual. The brain readily perceives still or moving images and many
learners prefer processing and interpreting raw sound rather than cope with the verbal description of sound.
Many learning tasks can therefore be more efficiently catered to by interactive multimedia methods rather than
the traditional verbal ones. If conventional verbal information presentation is replaced by interactive multimedia
which appeal to the learner's multiple modalities, increased learning will invariably result.

The learner is given more control over what and how he/she wants to learn. This transmission of information is
done via the different modalities like sight, sound and touch, that is it allows learning through the most natural
means - the senses. The more user friendly and intuitive an interactive multimedia program becomes, the more
likely the learners will become motivated and benefit from the interactive learning experience. A recent study
on the effectiveness of multimedia use in teacher training conducted on sixty-six trainee teachers by Lou C. T.
of the National Institute of Education, Singapore, revealed that there is significant gain in learning for trainee
teachers after using the prototype multimedia program. The post-test scores based. on a 20-item questionnaire,
registered a positive average gain of 1.09 points over the pre-test scores.
Interactive multimedia has helped learners break away from perceiving information in a linear or 'page turning'
fashion. Hypermedia allows users to combine, edit and orchestrate a database of sound, graphics, moving
pictures, text and computer software, at the click of a mouse. In addition, hypermedia lets a learner choose from
a variety of suggested paths through databases, and/or forge new paths for themselves by creating new links or
oven extend the materials that they are studying.
Interactive multimedia can also be made into a very personal, private, and non-judgmental learning by allowing
the learners repeated individual access to information and explanations. Learners decide how much they need to
learn about a topic. They are therefore spared the frustration of information overload. The more adventurous
and gifted are challenged to insert links, delete and even amend sections. (However, it must be pointed out that
for more sophisticated usage like editing or programming, the learners need to become fairly well acquainted
with the software and should be conversant with programming practices). Thus the beauty of interactive
multimedia lie in the options and control it offers learners. The table below illustrates how such options (not
necessarily in such sequential order can be integrated into a well designed multimedia program.
However, there is always the danger of overdoing a multimedia presentation/ program with too much colour,
gimmicky animation and transitions so that the learners are dazzled by the medium and forget the message.
Therefore, we need to guard against the tendency to over draw and over illustrate in order to ensure the
maintenance of graphic consistency and relevant colour use. Also, as presenters and instructors, we have to be
cognisant of the fact that some learners may suffer from cyberphobia or fear of computers and this may, in fact,
hinder their acquisition of knowledge through the interactive multimedia approach.

Table 1: Options that hypertext systems might offer the learner (Weyer 1988, p92)
Request

System's Interpretation

Tell me

Give me the facts, no embellishments

Inform me

Give me the facts plus background and other viewpoints

Amuse me

Find interesting connections or perspectives

Challenge me

Make me find or create connections or insights

Guide me

Suggest pathways but let me browse

Teach me

Provide step by step guidance

For such learners more training and familiarisation with computers is necessary before they can comfortably
benefit from an interactive multimedia program.

Multimedia for presentations

Conventional presentations techniques are fine and they suffice in most instructional or training situations.
However, an interactive multimedia presentation provides the possibility of a more personal computing. Given
the choice of integrating graphics, audio and video and the cross referencing of spreadsheet figures and charts
with voice annotations our presentations become 'sensory rich rather than mere passive conveyors of objective
data' (Floyd, 1991).

Efficient multimedia presentations provide presenters with greater interactive styles of presentation today. By
using hypertexting techniques, like branching and linkage,
information can be concept mapped, layered and networked so
that access can be, to a large extent, random and speedy. Starting
from a main menu as the home base, a presenter can access any
nodes or subunits of information which are further linked to other
layers and nodes of related information. Thus, a presenter has the
option of selecting basic level information or delving deeper for
more complex or cross referenced explanations. For example, The
Main Menu may consist of five or six icons/buttons like in Figure
3.

Figure 3: Diagram of the Main Menu of a presentation

If you are creating your own multimedia presentation, planning a good screen design to provide for an efficient
and friendly user interface is critical. For example, decisions will have to be made regarding the hypertext
design that allows for navigation. Hypertexting design can be varied and may be hierarchical in structure, or it
can have a simple to complex structure. For example, the concept mapping and linking of information in this
simple to complex hypertext design of the Main Menu is illustrated in Figure 4. Different types of links like
main menu link, replacement links and command links have to be programmed or scripted into the presentation
to allow for navigation of the database. These commands can be built under the screen buttons and graphics
which then become navigation hot spots. Activating these hot spots by touch screen, mouse or keyboard will
bring forth new windows on the screen, return users to main menu and so on.

The integrative and interactive qualities of multimedia technology make it possible to extend the power of a
presentation. Hooked up with a liquid crystal display panel and an overhead projector or with a video projector,
a presenter has the ability to project on the large screen, his/her multimedia presentation complete with text,
sound, animation and video, to explain more graphically, abstract concepts to the audience.

A brief look at interactive multimedia design and development

Too often multimedia productions are done without any thought to pedagogic theories, simply because few
methodologies exist. In fact, many multimedia programs today are designed on an ad hoc basis. It is therefore
crucial to note that for any instructional interactive multimedia program to be effective, meticulous planning of
the design and content are prerequisites.
Therefore, before embarking on an interactive multimedia project a potential interactive multimedia
designer/developer may need to ask some/all of the following questions pertaining to planning and design.
o Have suitable collaborators been identified?
o Have the target audience been clearly identified?
o Are the goals set clearly and realistically?
o Have all the possibilities of interactive multimedia linkages been explored?
o How do we test and re-design the product based on student experience in using the product?
o Is there a sufficient budget/resources?
Multidisciplinary collaboration is the best way to develop interactive multimedia. Here, the content and
instructional design specialist may also take on the role of writer, designer and also overall producer. In addition
a graphic artist may take charge of the graphic design, illustration and also audiovisual production. A computer
programmer will take on the role as authoring expert for the system. However, in the absence of a collaborative
team, the effort of developing interactive multimedia program can also be carried forward except that the size of
the project has to be substantially scaled down to make the project much more manageable.

When designing interactive multimedia programs for any instructional situation there is a need to carefully
evaluate the characteristics of the target population who will be using the product. In addition it is essential to
know the environment under which the product will be used. All the friendly user interfaces must be built in so
that the system can be very transparent and the users can start straight away using them instead of being bogged
down from the start up.
At the start of the project, it is crucial for designer to keep in sight always the goal of the project. It would be
helpful to a list all the critical things the designer hopes to accomplish. Here it will be better to be realistic than
idealistic. Only attempt those that can be achieved, never be afraid to omit or revise the list of things. It is
always a good practice to keep the message design simple.
Do not attempt to use interactive multimedia to represent information on every aspect of teaching. Rather, it
should only be applied to content material where traditional audio visual media techniques have failed to
communicate the complexity or richness of the materials, or give students precise, personal control over audio
visual examples that can help them understand more lucidly, the difficult or abstract concepts that are being
taught.
Flow charts can help in the visualisation of the levels of linkages and the flow of information in a complex
interactive multimedia program.
A designer should consciously build in formative evaluation on different segments of the project. Periodic
testing for validity should be applied to small segments of the product as this will alleviate major revision that
could prove costly for the whole finished product. While testing pay special attention to the feedback given by
both the experienced users as well as novices and consider ways of improving the design of the interactive
multimedia product.
In a sense, designing and developing an interactive multimedia system is analogous to a systems engineering
activity involving three basic steps: design, development and testing. The design phase will be aided by the
knowledge of the audience characteristics as this will facilitate the design of friendly human-computer
interfaces. The development phase involves the production of courseware that are based on previously specified
pedagogic objectives and the assembly of hardware that will run the courseware. And finally the testing that will
ensure that the system actually fulfils its pedagogic requirements.
Simulation has been successfully incorporated in teaching and learning under the auspices of innovative
multimedia. The nearer a simulation approaches reality the more effective it is, as a pedagogical tool.
Interactive multimedia simulations can help students overcome the limitations of space, time and structural
complexity like simulating writing the strokes of a Chinese character, or explaining a cell or a DNA structure
which is too minute to see. Sound simulation can help students understand the physics of sound and if sound is
incorporated into a multimedia demonstration of an erupting volcano, the whole learning experience is
enhanced. Current experiments with simulations ranging from economic trends to psychological behaviour,
rendered in extremely precise real time 'what if' and virtual reality situations, will add new and even more
meaningful enhancement to learning, within this decade.

Summary
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the more significant points concerning interactive multimedia for
teaching, learning and presentations.
Many advantages can be gained in the utilisation of interactive multimedia in instruction as this approach suits
the learner oriented classroom of the nineties. Distinctive elements of interactive multimedia therefore serves to
enhance learning through direct access and instant feedback (interactivity), cohesive linkages, knowledge
engineering, simulations, reduction of textual and verbal information and increase in elements that appeal to our
multiple. modalities. Furthermore, it caters to different learning styles of individuals.

However, it is vital to emphasise that properly designed and used, the potential of interactive multimedia is
undeniable. If abused, multimedia could end up like other 'flash in the pan' technologies and will be at best
ineffective, and at worst, useless.
Nevertheless, potential designers of interactive multimedia systems need to be realistic about their goals and
budget constraints and need to pay heed to good design principles. It is also important to stress that such
innovative interactive multimedia usage should only be applied to content material whom traditional
audiovisual media techniques have failed to communicate the complexity or richness of the materials in a
teaching-learning environment. Thus if potential interactive multimedia developers follow these guidelines,
there will be better and more relevant interactive multimedia programs in future.
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Author: Khoo Cheng Choo, Assistant Director, Centre for Educational Technology, National
University of Singapore, Singapore 0511. Tel: 772-2474 Fax: 777 0342 Email:
cetkcc@leonis.nus.sg

Please cite as: Khoo C. C. (1994). Interactive multimedia for teaching, learning and presentations.
In C. McBeath and R. Atkinson (Eds), Proceedings of the Second International Interactive
Multimedia Symposium, 230-236. Perth, Western Australia, 23-28 January. Promaco Conventions.
http://www.aset.org.au/confs/iims/1994/km/khoo.html