Using Cognitive Principles to Design Multimedia Training Environments to Support Learning

摘要

During this project we examined factors that influence how well people learn from multimedia systems. Our project focused on developing multimedia systems to support human learning, based on cognitive principles and guidelines from cognitive science. The question was not so much whether multimedia makes a difference, but rather how can it best be deployed to make a difference. Specifically, what combinations of media and methods of interaction are most effective for learning, and why. Multimedia modules are frequently organized along physical media (e.g., text, graphics, video). Our work has been based on another way of thinking about the problem of how to organize the content. Thus, a learner at a given moment may want to see an example as opposed to a definition. The example might be text, graphics, video, etc. Thus, the physical media (text, graphics, etc.) can be largely divorced from the cognitive media (example, definition, etc). Finally, our work is also significant in that it provides the beginnings of an adaptable multimedia presentation system that can adjust its content according to the learning needs of the user.