This paper examines the role of metacognition, particularly problem-solving strategies, in the way students learn in a multimedia environment. The author studies the problem-solving strategies used by students completing fill-in-the-blanks exercises in Mydlarski and Paramskas' programme, Vi-Conte. The paper concludes with recommendations for the training of teachers in the multimedia age. The author poses two questions at the beginning of the paper: how can the new technologies facilitate language learning? and how can the new technologies be used to promote independent learning in students? To answer these questions, the author first looks at some examples of mismatches between the practices of courseware developers and our knowledge of the way students learn. She finds, for example, that most reading courseware developers require the student to first listen to a new text while following along on the screen. She points out that this is contrary to research findings, which emphasize the need for an initial silent reading, especially for students who can already read in their L1. She concludes that multimedia courseware developers need to be aware of current research on learning and that multimedia courseware should be developed by multidisciplinary teams which include specialists in learning, second-language learning and educational technology. The paper then goes on to examine various aspects important to the development of multi-media materials. In particular, the author deals with the importance of interactions between the student and the computer and between students and the importance of metacognitive strategies. Here the author finds that it is necessary to find a balance between total control of the learning process by the computer and total freedom on the student's part. On the whole, greater structure and control are necessary in the early stages of learning a language, while greater freedom in the later stages encoura ges curiosity and experimentation. When pairing students for work at the computer, pairing students at different stages of learning or with different learning styles encourages interaction and collaboration. The richly cognitive nature of multimedia materials necessitates the use of metacognitive strategies. Students with poorly developed metacognitive strategies tend to be overwhelmed by the richness of the materials. This factor must be taken into account in developing multimedia learning materials and the instructor must develop appropriate strategies in his/her students. In studying the metacognitive strategies employed by students using Vi-Conte, the author and her collaborators applied the problem-solving method devised by Shoenfeld for mathematics and adapted to problems in biology and political science by Taylor and Dionne. This adapted method is particularly well suited to the study of problem-solving in language learning because it applies to poorly-defined problems such as one generally finds in language learning. The initial results of the study show that adults tend to be more persistent at solving a problem than post-secondary students. The author concludes that language teachers need more training in problem-solving so that they can, in turn, better train their students in these strategies. In conclusion, the author finds that the flexibility of the new multimedia technology must be tempered with a concern for individual learning styles and personal factors, such as motivation and attitude. Language teachers in the future must be familiar with the relationship between cognitive styles and classroom activities in the context of multimedia technology. She finds also that teachers must interact frequently with students using multimedia materials in order to help them learn most effectively. The challenge is to train effective teachers who can help their students learn independently as early as possible. These teachers will be specialists in problem solving who will pass on this expertise to their students. Herein lies the answer to the two questions posed at the beginning of the paper.
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Jan 1, 2006
Open Access