Cognitively adapted multimedia educational instructions for teaching information technologies in a multilingual university environment

Abstract

Students studying at Russian universities in a non-native language in mixed language groups experience a significant cognitive load in the process of completing practical tasks in the disciplines of the information direction using traditional teaching materials. The article analyzes important aspects of cognitive and multimedia learning theories in the context of developing learning instructions, as well as specific problems of pedagogical design of multimedia materials for the use in mixed language groups in teaching computer science. As a result of the study, generalized recommendations were formulated for the development of educational multimedia materials on a cognitive basis for teaching in a non-native language, related to the semantic-contextual formalization of the structure (formulation of SMART goals; logical and semantic text structuring; presentation of content at several levels of collapse; organization of educational material in sequence from declarative to procedural knowledge; systematization and generalization of significant information at intermediate stages of reasoning; providing support for individual educational needs) and cognitive-semantic adaptation of multimedia content (consistent presentation of meaning; presentation of samples of assignments; graphical presentation of significant relevant information; video / audio dubbing of difficult to understand fragments of educational material through dynamic graphics; audio dubbing of difficult to understand fragments of educational material in the intermediate language; design of educational material using thoughtful sets of styles, pictograms, colors). The results of the study are of high practical importance: the development of multimedia educational materials adapted for teaching in a foreign language in a multilingual educational environment based on a cognitive approach can significantly reduce cognitive load, improve understanding and memorization of material, and facilitate language and academic adaptation.