Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Applying the Multimedia Learning Theory in the Primary
School: An Experimental Study About Learning Settings
Using Digital Science Contents
Fabio Serenelli 1 , Enrico Ruggeri 1 , Andrea Mangiatordi 2 and Paolo Ferri 2
1
CPM - Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Viale dell'Innovazione, Italy
2
nuMedia Bios – Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
fabio.serenelli@unimib.it
enrico.ruggeri@unimib.it
andrea.mangiatordi@unimib.it
paolo.ferri@unimib.it
Abstract: The introduction of digital technologies in educational contexts led to eLearning contents proliferation,
thanks to their cost-cutting production and to the social networks that are favoring their widespread circulation.
These objects are often the collaboration results between graphic designers and subject-matter experts
disregarding the empirical evidence of Instructional Design research. Moreover they are frequently introduced to
the classes without appropriate delivering strategies. The purpose of this paper is to describe an experimental
study we ran in 2010 in Uruguay to identify effective learning object formats and adequate conditions for using
multimedia contents with kids in “real world” learning contexts. Uruguay is part of the OLPC (One Laptop Per
Child) initiative that aims to distribute low cost laptop PCs (called XOs) in developing countries schools to foster
kids' learning according to the instructional principles of constructionism, learning-by-doing and social
constructivism theories. This country is the only one that reached the "saturation" goal, covering the entire
primary school population (teachers included). For this reason the capital Montevideo was an appropriate “en
plein air” research field because most of the students haven’t evident impairments using educational technologies
and digital learning contents. In order to find out how to reduce cognitive load and increase learning
performances using infographics, animations and interactivity, we arranged an experimental study that involved
360 early adolescents from 16 classes of critical context schools in Montevideo. We identified a scientific topic,
the food chain process, and presented it in 4 different ways. We modified supports and instructional formats
according to Mayer’s ‘Multimedia Learning Principles’ and the ‘First Principles of Instruction’ theory by Merrill. The
first part of the research focused on Self-Directed Learning in real contexts and investigated the use of different
instructional strategies (e.g. topic-centered vs. task-centered; linear vs game-based) handling the learner’s User
Experience in order to increase the engagement for the proposed formats. Considering the target of early
adolescents, we introduced a likeable virtual tutor to manage explanations, feedbacks, and focus on relevant
information. We used infographic techniques to combine analytical and synthetic schemas and to enhance the
aesthetic perception. The second part of the study aimed to identify the best use of multimedia contents in
classrooms comparing 3 learning settings: Self-Directed Learning, Cooperative Learning and Teacher-Directed
Learning. In order to measure the impact of content design format and learning setting we identified 5
instructional objectives using a Content/Performance Matrix, and evaluated the outcomes by 4 kinds of tests:
Retention, Comprehension, Problem Solving Transfer, Delayed Problem Solving Transfer (after one week). We
also used a qualitative tool: a self-administered questionnaire for the User Experience satisfaction, to discover
relationships between students performances and individual preferences matched with satisfactory learning
experiences.
Keywords: multimedia learning theory, critical context, learning settings, instructional content design, user
experience, graphic organizers
1. Introduction
eLearning vision is still focused on trainers' needs and e-teaching processes rather than on the
invoked learner centered approach. In the last decade, a lot of improvements have been implemented
in eLearning environments crossbreeding Learning Management System and Virtual Learning
Environment with Social Networks; they actually offer a rich range of features based on constructivist
and socio-constructionist principles. Unfortunately, teachers and trainers often rely only on the basic
functionalities of these complex tools in order to easily replicate the offline formal education
experience. Most of these environments give the opportunity to run and manage eLearning contents
as Learning Objects. Moreover these digital materials are often the collaboration results between
graphic designers and subject-matter experts disregarding the empirical evidence of Instructional
Design research so they are frequently introduced to the classes without appropriate delivering
strategies.This paper presents the experimental study we ran in 2010 in order to test learning object
formats with kids in “real world” learning contexts. The main goal of the study is to find out effective
ways to use infographics and interactivity for digital scientific contents to reduce cognitive load and
balance the learning performance levels with the quality of the studying experience. The second goal
943