Learning with multimedia-based learning environments is becoming increasingly important in school since these types of environments are offering teachers new possibilities of conveying learning contents in their classes.

Consequently, teachers are confronted with more and further developed programmes for multimedia-based learning environments, which can however only be compromise solutions, due to the multiple factors, depending on subject matter and group of learners that have to bear in mind. Ideally, teachers should generate their own multimedia-based learning environments adjusted to the specific subject matter and the particular group of learners, but teachers usually do not possess the required knowledge necessary to edit multimedia-based learning environments.

Due to this problem, in this still ongoing study a didactical tool, based on the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning by R.E. Mayer, has been developed. Depending on the nature of information that is to be conveyed, it makes recommendations which multimedia possibilities one could use in order to support the learning process through the presentation of the subject matters in the best possible way.

The central question within the scope of reference of this investigation concerning the application of a didactical tool when generating multimedia-based learning environments is whether or not, the use of such a didactical tool has an influence on the quality of multimedia-based learning environments created by teachers.

In order to answer this question, the generated multimedia-based learning environments developed by the test persons are examined with regard to their quality in the scope of a quasi-experimental research. The treatment group receives assistance from the didactical tool when editing the learning environments, whereas the control group has to work without the didactical tool.

In the poster-presentation, the theoretical approach of this study, the didactical tool, first results of the ongoing study and its practical and educational relevance will be presented and discussed.

Learning with multimedia-based learning environments is becoming increasingly important in school since these types of environments are offering teachers new possibilities of conveying learning contents in their classes (Lowe & Schnotz, 2003).

Consequently, teachers are confronted with more and further developed programmes for multimedia-based learning environments suited for various subject matters. The problem is, however, that there is no well-conceived commercial learning environment that meets the necessary requirements, i.e. to offer the best support possible for any learning process, any group of learners and any subject matter addressed, since there are multiple factors to bear in mind.

Teachers are often able to find learning environments that, more or less, meet the demands imposed by the specific situation of the group of learners and the learning contents addressed but usually some shortcoming remain. A possible solution for this difficulty is that teachers generate their own multimedia-based learning environments that meet the requirements of learners and subjects addressed in class, but teachers do not very often possess the knowledge required to edit the content in a multimedia-based way, so that the illustration of these contents supports the learning process of the specific learners optimally. This lack of knowledge, which is amongst others caused by the fact that studies in this area of research are not yet completed (Chandler, 2004), leads to the problem that in school very often texts from textbooks together with the appropriate graphics are simply presented digitally. In doing that, the possibilities of multimedia presentation of learning contents are far from being exploited.

Due to this problem, in this still ongoing study a didactical tool has been developed that makes recommendations which multimedia possibilities one could use when generating multimedia-based learning environments depending on the nature of the information that is to be conveyed (differentiation through the following criteria: static vs. dynamic, concrete vs. abstract, degree of complexity, spatial dimension), in order to support the learning process through the presentation of the subject matters in the best possible way.

The central question within the scope of reference of this investigation concerning the application of a didactical tool when generating multimedia-based learning environments is whether or not, the use of such a didactical tool has an influence on the quality of the multimedia-based learning environments created by teachers.

In order to answer this question the following quasi-experimental design is used: First, the group of test persons (N=40 students becoming teachers and studying physics as a school subject) receive an introductory course concerned with general didactic instructions, which are helpful for generating multimedia-based learning environments. The contents of this training are theories underlying the didactical tool like the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning by R.E. Mayer (Mayer, 2003) and the resulting consequences for the design of multimedia-based learning environments (Mayer, 2003; Clark & Mayer, 2003), the Cognitive Load Theory by Sweller and Chandler (Sweller, 1994; Sweller & Chandler, 1994; Sweller, 1999), the findings of R.K. Lowe concerning the design of multimedia-based presented contents (e.g. Lowe, 1998; Lowe, 2003; Ploetzner & Lowe 2004) and further general recommendations for the design of multimedia-based learning screens (Thissen, 2001; Boehringer, Buehler, Schlaich & Ziegler, 2003).

After the training, a test is conducted to examine which contents of the training are available to the test persons. Directly after the pre-test, the whole group is split up into a treatment group (N_T=20) and a control group (N_C=20). Both groups are confronted with the task of generating a multimedia-based learning environment for a specific group of learners and a given subject matter deriving from the area of physics. For the creation of these learning environments the test persons are provided with a pool of material containing texts, pictures, animations, etc. with different compositions and different degrees of complexity from which they can chose and edit the appropriate materials for the presentation of the learning content. The treatment group receives assistance from the didactical tool when choosing, editing and combining the materials on the screens, whereas the control group has to rely on the knowledge acquired during schooling.

At the end of the study, the quality of the generated learning environments is examined on the basis of the choice and edition of the material and further quality criteria still to be defined in the course of this research, so that the central question of this study, as mentioned above, can be answered appropriately.

In the poster-presentation, the theoretical approach of this study, the didactical tool, first results of the ongoing study and its practical and educational relevance will be presented and discussed.



Literature:

Boehringer, J., Buehler, P., Schlaich, P. & Ziegler, H.-J. (2003). Kompendium der Mediengestaltung fuer Digital- und Printmedien. Berlin: Springer.

Chandler, P. (2004). The crucial role of cognitive processes in the design of dynamic visualizations. Learning and Instruction. 14(3), pp. 353–357.

Clark, R.C. & Mayer, R.E. (2003). E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. San Francisco, Calif.: Pfeiffer.

Lowe, R.K. (1998). Verarbeitungsanforderungen beim Verstehen komplexer animierter Bilder. Zeitschrift fuer Paedagogische Psychologie, 12(2/3), pp. 125–134.

Lowe, R.K. (2003). Animation and learning: selective processing of information in dynamic graphics. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), pp. 157–176.

Lowe, R.K. & Schnotz, W. (2003). External and internal representations in multimedia learning. Learning an Instruction, 13(2), pp. 117–123.

Mayer, R.E. (2003). Multimedia learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ploetzner, R. & Lowe, R.K. (2004). Dynamic visualisation and learning. Learning and Instruction, 14(3), 235–240.

Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4(4), pp. 295–312.

Sweller, J. (1999). Instructional design in technical areas. Camberwell, Australia: ACER Press.

Sweller, J. & Chandler, P. (1994). Why some material is difficult to learn. Cognition and Instruction, 12(3), pp. 185–233.

Thissen, F. (2001). Screen-Design-Handbuch: Effektiv informieren und kommunizieren mit Multimedia. Berlin: Springer.