Markus Weber
[Person] [Project]
Markus Weber, Dipl.-Psych.
Short Vita
- 1972
- Born in Neunkirchen/Saar (Germany)
- 1995-2000
- Study of Psychology at the University of Saarbrücken
- 2000
- Graduation in Psychology at the University of Saarbrücken. Thesis: "Evaluation eines Hypertext-Lernsystems mit adaptiver Glossar-Funktion"
- since 02/2001
- PhD-student of the VGK (without scholarship)
Contact
Phone:
FAX:
email: Markus.Weber@vgk.de
Ph.D. Project
Topic: Towards an interaction-centered perspective of multimedia learning - An analysis of learning efficiencies and research methodsSupervisors: Prof. W. Tack (Saarbrücken)
Start/End of the Ph.D. project: Feb 2001
Summary
There are basically two elements of current eLearning systems that justify regarding them as new forms of teaching different from previous approaches and methodologies. First, there is the possibility of using rich multimedia sources such as animations, video and sound to deliver information. Second there is the potential for direct interaction with the system - the user can influence the way information is selected and presented. The goals of the Ph.D. project are to find out more about the way interactive multimedia elements are used, how they contribute to learning and how procedural aspects of learning can be examined using eye-tracking methods. The project is grounded on Mayer's (2001) work on a cognitive model of multimedia learning. A key idea in Mayer's model is to design multi-media content in a way that burdens the user with as little cognitive load as possible to keep more resources available for the learning process itself. His "modality principle" states learning material should be designed in a way that makes optimal use of the "routes" to working memory by distributing information on the visual as well as on the auditory channel instead of conveying all information in one single modality. In the Ph.D. project the modality principle is examined from an interaction-centered perspective, i.e. in which way does user interaction interfere with modality effects. In a first study, participants are exposed to learning content from the domain of optics. The material is presented as a combination of images and text. The experimental manipulation ranges from no interactivity (static image and text) to high interactivity (keywords have to be dragged from text to correct position on an image to finish the lesson). Effects resulting from different degrees of interactivity are examined through retention and transfer tests. It hypothesized that results in learning tests will increase with the degree of interactivity. Behavioral data about the learning process is gathered through the use of an eye-tracking device. The goal is to find differences in the way participants process the material presented and to explore correlations of eye-tracking data with learning outcome. This independent data would help to avoid a circular argumentation in Mayer's work where results in the tests serve as a measure of learning outcome as well as evidence that an integration of the material has occurred. Integration processes would now be evidenced by eye-tracking data. In further studies, the complexity of the material will be increased, e.g. by also including animations.
Further questions that are addressed in the Ph.D. project are:
Does integration always have to take place at early stages in working memory to affect learning in a positive way? How do the effects identified depend upon the way knowledge is measured? (verbal vs. pictoral test) How do the effects of interactive learning differ from those of self-paced learning? References
Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia Learning. Cambridge: University Press
Publications
Presentations/Workshops/Conferences
[Top of Page] [Person] [Project] hier steht der Text, damit diese Seite auf auf Netscape nicht soooooooo schlecht aussieht, sondern irgendwie im Rahmen bleibt.... Markus Weber
Last update: 5 Dec 2002, Erik Ründal
URL: www.vgk.de/projects/weber/index.html