Provided by Cognitive Sciences ePrint Archive
Educational Technology & Society 5(4) 2002
ISSN 1436-4522
Multimedia as a Cognitive Tool
Fawzi Albalooshi
Department of Computer Science
College of Science, University of Bahrain
P. O. Box 32038, Isa Town, Bahrain
[email protected]
Eshaa M. Alkhalifa
Department of Computer Science
College of Science, University of Bahrain
P. O. Box 32038, Isa Town, Bahrain
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Two of the modalities used to present information to students, namely, animation and verbal representation
are in a constant competition in effectiveness, without any persistent winner, except when it comes to
conceptual versus procedural knowledge. Here, we present an architecture that combines the two into a
multimedia tutoring system. This system is tested and results indicate that combining the two media leads
to a cognitive interaction that promotes student learning with no less than 40% from their post classical-
classroom session levels. A test for individual differences indicates that this group is almost equally
divided between those described as “spatially oriented” and those described as “verbally oriented”.
Learning across the two types of learners does not show any significant differences, except with respect to
one question. This implies that perhaps, the two media may have ambiguous internal factors that support
each other. Additionally, individual learning styles does not seem to be a clear-cut division, and is instead a
“preference” of one modality as a primary source of learning, not an only one.
Keywords
Multimedia, Cognition, Modalities, Animations, Verbal representations, tutoring systems
1. Introduction
Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), offers a great deal of flexibility in control, making them highly adaptable to
individual student progress. This makes them excellent candidates to play the role of “Cognitive Tools” (van
Jooligen, 1999). These tools are capable of supporting learners by explicitly representing information. They
allow learners to see the structure of the cognitive process by externalizing it and freeing memory for the more
important learning task at hand. The simplest form of a tool is a pen and paper, where students can write notes
to remind them of the numbers involved when performing addition. Therefore it should not be surprising that
computer based educational systems impose themselves at the top of the list of Cognitive Tools.
However, the sudden growth of multimedia computer systems necessitated the need for a deeper understanding
of the characteristics of each of the different media. Norman (1988) indicates that each media has “affordances”
and “constraints” that would be either beneficial or counter-active to educational goals. Complexity grows
exponentially when the aim of the selection is to include these media into a shell representing an adaptable ITS
system. The shell itself would be flexible to individual student needs. Therefore, it should not be surprising to
see research start off in highly controlled specific cases.
For instance, Sharples and du Boulay (1988) argue that learning medical concepts is normally acquired through
induction. This is done by showing students several scenarios and allowing them to generalize their own models
over the possible cases. The problem with this approach is that it leads students to over generalization because
they are not always exposed to the extreme possibilities. However, when students are exposed to a controlled set
of images through a computer-based tutor then highlighting the extreme cases becomes possible and the problem
is alleviated.
Another experiment tested if individual differences have any effect on solving syllogistic reasoning problems.
These are usually in the format, A is related to B with a premise, B and C are related with a second premise, then
the subject’s task is to say what, if anything, follows from the given information. These problems can be solved
either through drawing a diagram, Euler’s circles or through natural deduction using symbols. Monaghan and
Stenning (1998) categorized subjects according to their performance in the paper-folding test (PFT) as designed
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