My senior year I completed an honors thesis for the Hussman School of Journalism and Media on the best practices for multimedia use in distance learning classrooms. On April 13, 2021 I successfully defended my thesis with Highest Honors.
Abstract:
Distance learning is becoming increasingly common in college education, as nearly every higher education institution had to pivot to this instruction style in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In order for distance learning to provide the same quality of instruction as in-person learning, educators will need to utilize modalities best suited for online teaching environments. This pilot study seeks to understand both the information recall and learning perception experienced by college students in three different, digital, learning materials. Drawing upon Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of MultimediaLearning and personalization principle, three conditions were created for participants to learn about skin cancer in young adults. During the pilot, 25 college-aged students received one of the three conditions and immediately answered a set of comprehension questions. Then the participants received the other two conditions and answered a set of qualitative questions asking them to compare and contrast their experience with all three modalities. The animation yielded the highest information recall level sas well as highest favorability among students. Using descriptive statistics, the data from the pilot led to three main recommendations for educatorsto consider. First, instructional materialsshould include visual representations concurrent toan explanatory narration. Additionally, micro visual aids such as color should be included when ever text is present to reiterate the information.Lastly, conversational language and relatable examples should be used whenever possible.