Multimedia Research Article #3: Instructional Message Design
Sean McCarty
smccarty@ucsd.edu
12-10-08
Ed Tec 561 – Wed 7:00pm

35. Auditory Instruction: Media Comparison Studies

Summary
The first section of Chapter 35 details the history of audio technologies from phonographic recordings to web-based audio. The chapter discusses each technology in a linear fashion and clearly lays out a timeline of when each tool was invented, starting with the Phonoautograph in 1857 all the way up to the DVD in 1997. While there is a focus on the historical context of each technology, studies of the effectiveness of each tool are also described. For instance, the author briefly details the results of a series of 1943 studies on the use of phonographic recordings as well as a 1937 study of the comparative usefulness of loudspeakers. Regardless of the medium or technology used, none of the studies were able to establish audio education as significantly superior to other multimedia tools. In fact, one study showed that simply seeing an instructor as he gave a lecture yielded more effective results than strictly hearing the same lecture. The section concludes with a discussion of the debate over comparison studies. Though some researchers believe that legitimate conclusions can be gained by comparing different multimedia tools, many researchers argue there are too many compounding factors in such studies and encourages evaluating educational techniques on their own merits.

Reflection
I found the debate over comparing different types of multimedia to be fascinating. I have to agree with the final paragraph of the section when it concludes that simply because there are inherent problems with such comparative studies, those issues alone do not entirely negate their usefulness. In fact, I found some of the comparative studies to be quite intuitive and interesting. One study evaluated students’ retention of information by solely reading the material themselves versus having the same text read aloud. Neither method proved to be dramatically more valuable; however, I do think it is valuable for instructors to know either method is a viable option, particularly if one method is more practical in a given situation. Furthermore, the study of the loudspeaker stood out in relation to my particular field.  The study of the loudspeaker alone versus seeing the lecture may have a great deal of value, but perhaps what it truly proves is that human interaction with faculty is a powerful tool for increasing student engagement and not necessarily that a loudspeaker is a poor educational tool. Much of the research in student affairs stresses the need for mattering and perceived connections with campus and faculty, and I think the loudspeaker study could be used as evidence to support theories of student engagement. The point of the studies may not have intended to prove such things, but I think it certainly shows there are nonetheless elements of value to comparative research.

Barron, A. E. (2004).  Auditory instruction.  In D. Johassen, (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp. 949-955). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.