Abstract
The creation of multimedia assets for online courses is a time intensive endeavor. Faculty have limited access to instructional designers for this and other course design functions. This study sought to determine if multimedia use in course design contributes positively to student performance or their perception of the online learning experience, after controlling for faculty course design expertise. Students totaling 142 were enrolled in an Introductory Educational Computing Course between 2016 and 2018 designed according to Quality Matters standards based on an informal internal review as well as a course designed according to instructor preferences. Eighty-four students, who participated in the courses designed according to Quality Matters standards based on an informal internal review were surveyed about their perceptions. While it may be of no surprise that multimedia use did not impact student performance directly, based on end-of-point course totals, it did positively influence student perceptions of the online learning experience. A performance gap between ethnicities in this study was not observed, as evidence through end-of-course total points. This may be salient given the prevalence of such performance gaps in most educational settings. Course policies and instructional strategies perceived by students as helpful may be one contributing factor to this lack of performance gap. Furthermore, the use of multimedia in course design was found to reduce cognitive load, as shown by the amount of time spent inside the learning management system. What this means for multimedia use in course design and the student online learning experience concludes this paper.
Highlights
The creation of multimedia assets for online courses is a time-intensive endeavor
This study proposes to add to the growing body of literature by assessing the impact of multimedia in well-designed online courses delivered through a learning management system
The study one design compared two course sections of an informally and internally evaluated course designed according to Quality Matters standards to two course sections that were designed according to instructor preferences to determine if course design expertise improved student performance based on end-of-course total points
Summary
The creation of multimedia assets for online courses is a time-intensive endeavor. Faculty have limited access to instructional designers for this and other course design functions. Aside from multimedia production, the overall process of developing a learning solution or an academic course includes conducting a needs assessment, developing a course outline, working with subject matter experts, designing the course in a learning management system or course authoring tool, identifying appropriate approaches, and collaborating with a variety of stakeholders (Association of Talent Development, 2015) This process is in addition to the managing, training, and support functions that instructional designers undertake daily. The institutions that had instructional designers on staff were from small, medium, and large enrollments and the range of instructional designers on staff was the same Given this context, the need to measure the impact of multimedia in course design on student performance and their perception of the online learning experience is relevant to the time allocated for the various functions of instructional designers and to faculty who develop and design online content in learning management systems. The author’s concluded that the multimedia environment enhanced their understanding of the course content
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