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From the arcade to the classroom: capitalizing on students' sensory rich media preferences in disciplined-based learning.

Article Excerpt
The world of contemporary students is bombarded with noise, color, and action; even their entertainment is interactive and high tech. This new environment has impacted all levels of education; however, discipline-based studies capitalizing on this multimedia rich environment have been limited. Researchers have claimed that hypermedia as a learning methodology is in its infancy and called for additional study on its efficacy. This study explored if hypermedia can effectively capitalize on this contemporary sensory rich media environment and effectively employ multimedia effects to discipline-based learning. A pre-test, post-test case law study (n=183) was conducted using a modified hierarchical structure. Findings indicate that significant learning occurred among all class levels of students and for each of the learning styles defined by Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. Student attitudes toward the learning experience were universally positive. Providing some learner control with structure seemed to accommodate the needs of varied learning styles in terms of achievement and interest.

Educators are confronted by a dilemma: Students have become so accustomed to technology that new means must be employed to retain their interest during the educational process. Even their toys and games involve interactive technology. In an environment of colorful 3-D graphics with elaborate lighting and music soundtracks, students role play on split screens designed for cooperative play. Sitting in front of televisions and computer monitors for hours, they create 3-D characters and settings, solve virtual mysteries, resolve virtual puzzles, or accomplish some virtual global phenomena. They travel through epochs of time making real-time tactical decisions about many events occurring simultaneously. Their virtual players even learn by experience, and their choices create reputations. The games come with tutorials and practice drills to enhance their characters' skills. Contemporary students are bombarded by noise, color, and fast action in virtually every aspect of their lives.

This technological environment has saturated our communities. No longer is the world of interactive technology solely child's play or the domain of teenage boys. Every demographic group has been impacted. A recent national survey found that the average age of video garners is now 29, and 64% of them are 18 years of age or older. Actually both men (38%) and women (26%) over 18 years outnumber boys (21%) 6 to 17 years of age (www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/08 /27/games.women.reut/index.html). What has been considered teenage boys' dominion now includes a blend of every segment of society.

Thus has the influx of media in our society impacted students' everyday lives and, therefore, learning. Because their surroundings and experiences are inundated with sights and sounds, contemporary students very quickly can become bored by slow-moving, traditional lectures and static textbooks; and effecting learning has become even more difficult. Educators, then, must find ways to exploit these "toys" and capitalize on technology in teaching.

Increasingly, educators search for new ways to accommodate today's interactive, sensory world and to enhance the learning experience. With the increased use of computers in education and training, hypermedia has emerged as a delivery system which has the potential to meet these demands.

Stemler (1997) and Yang (1996) are two of many authors who proclaim the potential of hypermedia in learning environments--a potential, in fact, to revolutionize the way learning occurs. Hypermedia, a technology that is increasingly being used in the contemporary university, is a computer representation of information which may include text, graphics, sound, and video (Merrill, Hammon, Vincent, Reynolds, Christiansen, & Tolman, 1996). Kovalchick, Hrabe, Julian, and Kinzie (2003) cite that these features allow the ability to create real-world complexities and present simulated and authentic case evidence. Using hypermedia, instructors can tailor instruction to meet individual student needs and promote instructional effectiveness for a wide...