Throughout this course, I have learned several
key points about designing instruction from a multimedia perspective. First, I
discovered that instruction using text and images in isolation is much more
difficult than designing instructions that combined the two together. Combining
the two enabled me to give more detail that would enable the student to
visualize the expected outcome for each step. Combining the two will enhance
student memory (Hede, 2002). Next we were introduced to the use of audio in the
design of instruction. After
reading the research by Barron (2004), I realized that listening to audio files
left a more lasting impression on the students than reading textual
instructions or looking at images in instructions. By using audio files, the teacher
was able to give a personal touch to the instruction. This led right into the
next week where we learned about the impact of combining audio and visual
together. As I read through the research of Lang (1995), I found it interesting
that the use of visuals along with text and audio has an even greater impact on
student learning. Finally, we looked at how to create video and then add it to
a multimedia instruction set. During these final weeks, I learned that
designing instruction from a multimedia perspective does enhance learning and
is well worth the extra time required to design such instruction.
Based on what I read by Duffy and Cunningham (1996),
there are key components included in the design of instruction from a
constructivist perspective. A constructivist design takes on a problem-based
instruction set. Initially, desired outcomes of what is to be learned must be
identified. An initial problem or question is given to the student that drives
the project. Students generate answers to this problem through collaboration
and self-directed learning. The instructor for the course acts as a facilitator
of learning, guiding the students with extending questions, eluding the supply
of information or personal opinions. From their findings, students create meaning
through a project. Students evaluate each other and through these peer
evaluations, they construct their own answers to the initial problem.
The design of my project would have been different if I
had designed it from a constructivist perspective. Although there was an
initial problem, the students were guided through a series of steps to
understand how to overcome the problem instead of leading the students with
questions. The instructor took a more active role in the instruction by
providing audio and video files to teach the steps. In a constructivist
environment, the students might have created these resources themselves. In the
end, the assessment was performed by the instructor through the use of a
rubric. There was not a peer evaluation piece to my instruction set. The design
of my instruction set was from a cognitive perspective, and although the two
theories have some similarities, there would be differences in the design if a
pure constructivist perspective had been taken.
References
Barron, A. E. (2004). Auditory
Instructions. In D. H. Jonassen (ed.), Handbook
of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (2nd ed., pp. 949
- 978). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J.
(1996). Constructivism: Implications for the Design and Delivery of Instruction.
In D. H. Jonassen (ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications
and technology (pp. 170--198). Simon & Schuster Macmillan.
Hede, A. (2002). An integrated model
of multimedia effects on learning. Journal
Of Educational Multimedia & Hypermedia, 11(2), 177-191.
Lang, A. (1995). Defining Audio/Video
Redundancy from a Limited- Capacity Information Processing Perspective. Communication Research, 22, 86-115.
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