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Varied Practices: Multimedia Learning
In the Varied teaching practice group, educators engage students in active-learning in a rich, multimedia environment. They provide context in the real world for theoretical material and design group projects that require collaboration. Each section of this course exhibits these principles by providing learning materials in various media before asking students to assess their own understanding via embedded questions and feedback. Video, text, interactive questions, discussions, and working groups combine to provide multiple points of multimedia learning that students can access in a way that best helps them to succeed.
The What to Know preview assignments in this course include perspectives and worked examples for challenging concepts and difficult techniques. Students are invited to view them all or choose the instructor that helps them best to understand. Other demonstration videos and written examples are provided for each learning objective on the page. Just-in-time recall for skills and concepts considered prior knowledge are embedded in the course as they are needed. Group activities requiring collaborative effort fill the class time as students work together to actively form connections and populate mental landscapes with the skills and concepts of the course. These multimedia learning experiences are available in any delivery of the course including face-to-face, hybrid, synchronous online learning, and asynchronous online learning.
How to use Multimedia Learning
Since the multimedia is embedded in the structure of the course, teachers should encourage students to try different media as they complete sections 2A and 2B. Some of the following tips may help you direct students to locations in the materials where they can find these media.
Teach in synchronous spaces
- Section [2A]
- A perspective video helps students to find ways to associate parameter with population and statistic with sample and helps them think about how to view a representative sample with respect to a population parameter.
- A worked example video permitting students to choose their favorite tutor is available to demonstrate how to identify a population and parameter and determine whether the a sampling method is biased.
- A text-based example and demonstration problem is also available.
- Each question in the text contains a hint and immediate feedback for right and wrong answers.
- Data Analysis tools are available in the text to perform statistical analysis. This section includes the random number generator associated with a simple random sample.
- The in-class activity takes student data generated in class to create a distribution of sample means. Later, a sampling distribution of the sample mean is generated using 1000 randomly-generated sample means.
- Section [2B]
- Embedded questions contain hints and feedback, one for each learning objective on the page.
- Video demonstrations of the definition and perspective of four common sampling methods are presented in addition to traditional text and image descriptions.
- A worked example choice-of-tutor video also demonstrates how to identify which sampling method is being used in a given scenario.
- Students extend the concepts presented in the What to Know page in Forming Connections by answering questions with hints and feedback to learn about four common types of sampling bias.
- Generally (these tips work great for asynchronous learning as well)
- Enrich the multimedia in your course by providing additional links to your own videos, tools, and interactive demonstrations.
- Record videos that show students where to located various media within the course.
Instructor guides for in-class delivery [link to these in pdf form]
- 2A Corequisite Activity Instructional Guide
- 2B Corequisite Activity Instructional Guide
- 2A Forming Connections Instructional Guide
- 2B Forming Connections Instructional Guide
Asynchronous Delivery
See the synchronous delivery options above and tips below for including them in your digital spaces.
teaching asynchronously online
- Support asynchronous discussion by providing a chat area or discussion board in the LMS where students can ask and answer questions about the multimedia (e.g. “What works best for you?” of “I found this and want to share.”).
- Make announcements from time to time directing students to certain multimedia that you think will be of particular help to them.
- Enrich the multimedia in your course by providing additional links to your own videos, tools, and interactive demonstrations.
- Record videos that show students where to located various media within the course.
Micro-Reflection: Multimedia Learning
Since Multimedia Learning is embedded in this course to increase engagement, interest, and to accomodate a broad range of learning preferences, there isn’t much more for you to do to practice it. Do point out to students often during the first few sections of the course how to get help and access resources within the text. For the most part, the features of the material will appear precisely in the material where the student needs it. The multimedia embedded in this course is just one of the helpful evidence-based teaching practices of the Varied group, which includes:
- Engagement: engaging students in activities that require them to do more than passively listen.
- Multimedia Learning: presenting the same information in a variety of media.
- Contextualization: making sense of theoretical material by demonstrating how it applies to the real world
- Collaboration: designing group projects that require students to work together.
- Adaptability: reflecting regularly on how well the teaching practices are meeting students’ needs.
Multimedia Learning was introduced in the Teaching Tips page prior to [Section 2A] with specific examples for performing the practice to facilitate student learning during the Forming Connections activity. Hopefully, you had a chance to practice them in your class. If so, please use the questions below for a brief, honest, and compassionate reflection on your teaching practice.
Reflection Questions
- What multimedia did you notice your students particularly liked? What did you find especially helpful in demonstrating challenging concepts or ideas that students typically struggle with while learning?
- What multimedia did you feel was missing? Did you try to provide it? If so, what was that like? Would you be inclined to add other media in the future? If you didn’t try it, what prevented you? Was it time, financial restrictions, or something else?
