rules of engagement proceed with caution when integrating….pdf

Dawson et al. Electronic Journal of Science Education Vol. 7, No. 4, June 2003 Rules of Engagement: Proceed with Caution when Integrating Multimedia Learning Tools into Existing Course Formats by Mary Elizabeth Dawson,. Steven Skinner, ., and Arthur Zeitlin, . Department of Biological Sciences munity College of The City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, 11235 Phone: (718)368-5740 E-mail: ******@. INTRODUCTION Research indicates that humans have the capability to integrate information from different sensory modalities into a single meaningful experience- such as the way they associate the sound of thunder with the visual image of lightning in the sky. They can also integrate information from verbal and iconic sources into a mental model, such as viewing a video of a process, while listening to a verbal explanation of that process. It therefore es the challenge of a essful instructor to choose between different modalities to promote meaningful learning (Moreno & Mayer, 2000). It has been shown that working memory includes independent auditory and visual working memories (Baddeley, 1986). Furthermore, humans have separate systems for representing verbal and non-verbal information (Paivio, 1986). Finally, meaningful learning occurs when the learner selects relevant information in each memory system,