The Physical World: Multimedia physics at a distance

Jon Rosewell, Fiona Thomson - CES

Canan Tosunoglu Blake - IET

The Open University

A mixed media course

BooksVideoComputingTutorialsResidential schoolAssignments, exam

Software components

Multimedia packagesInteractive questions packagesPhysicaGuide, glossary, extras, ...FirstClass conferences

Demo

Waves

Evaluation Study

Developmental testing– observations– mini questionnaires and informal interviews

Summative evaluation– questionnaires– residential school interviews– end of year survey

Developmental testing

at the residential school of a Physics coursecovered eight multimedia packagesobservationmini questionnaireinformal interviews afterwards

Observations

17 hours in totalrecorded students’ input to the computer,

calculations and notes, verbatim commentsmainly individual usevideo recording of a few sessions

Findings - Use of audio

many comments about audio/texthard to listen and read at same time need ability to pause, repeat and switch offwhere should attention be focused -

simulation or text?bullet points synchronized with audio

worked best

More Findings...

buttons and controls must be clearprogress report: where am I?typing in answers – in what form?comments and suggestions were used to

improve the programs

Findings from the questionnaire

What did you learn from the program?“What an electron scatter image actually looks like. Reinforced reason why photons (light) is not used to detect electrons”

Best thing about the program as a learning tool:“The freedom of selection of the changing parameters of the diffraction and the display of the effects of these changes”

Least helpful aspect of the program:“Layout of formulae on screen line after line and narrative talks about one that isn’t clearly obvious. ”

Open ended comment

“…[the program] was very clear, and explained what the experiments were attempting to clarify. There is no other way that I could have seen an interference pattern building up and have the chance to examine how altering variables will affect the outcome… Thanks very much. An almost reformed computer-phobe.”

Summative Evaluation

2 questionnaires sent to 2 different groups of 100 students– general questions and program specific

questions about 6 of the packages

interviews in the courses residential schoolend of year survey

Selected Findings - Summative

71 percent had previous experience of CAL and/or CD-ROMs (mostly in other OU courses)

navigation found easy by 92 percent of students

audio in the programs was found to be OK by almost 100 percent and controlling audio was found easy by 92 percent of students

Was time doing the package well spent?

Was time well spent?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SHM

Newton

Fields

Gas

Huygens

Schrodinger

pro

gra

ms

percentage

yes no don't know

Feedback useful?

0

20

40

60

80

100

SH

M

New

ton

FFP

Gas

Huygens

Schro

agree undecided disagree

Effective to learn?

0

20

40

60

80

100

SH

M

New

ton

FFP

Gas

Huygens

Schro

agree undecided disagree

Helped understanding?

0

20

40

60

80

100

SH

M

New

ton

FFP

Gas

Huygens

Schro

agree undecided disagree

Clear what to do?

0

20

40

60

80

100

SH

M

New

ton

FFP

Gas

Huygens

Schro

agree undecided disagree

Percentage of students carrying out their own investigations N=62

26.2

49.2

18

1.6 4.9

0

20

40

60

alw

ays

mo

st o

f the

time

so

me

time

s

rare

ly

ne

ver

Open ended comments

38 students made general comments17 positive comments, 8 negative

comments about CD-ROMs, and lots of comments on other components

negative comments mostly time related, significant figures, too much computing, wants different style of CD-ROMs, could not find some extra programs

Open ended comments

“I have really enjoyed the CD ROMs as a way to consolidate what I have learned from the text and to iron out any problems of grasping the concepts of the material. They will be enjoyable and essential when revision time arrives.”

“It has been very useful to visualise scientific phenomenon such as waves, fields, forces etc. which one obviously cannot see in real life.”

Conclusions

programs were well used and perceived as helpful learning tools

visual aspects and experiment/simulation facilities valuable

the programs provide experiences that could not be achieved through other medium

students think the time is well spentstyle of audio seemed to work wellwell integrated with the course