Still one size does not fit all: Even using a multimodal approach to teaching a core communications courseDr Michael Sankey Eleanor Kiernan Senior LecturerLecturerLTSU Faculty of Arts

5 July 2007

Transmodal delivery26,000 students 70 nationalities75% study off-campusPart of USQs answer has been a move to what it calls Transmodal Delivery Designed to complement the Universitys new directions for teaching and learning and its Leading Transnational University vision

Transmodal deliveryResource PackageIntro materials, study guide, readings, audio files, PowerPoint's, breeze, video, multimedia, software and web links Teaching Support USQConnect Study DeskOnline Discussion ForumField WorkF2F SessionsLaboratories & PracticumsVideoconferencingTeletutorials/ TelecordsToowoombaWide BaySpringfieldPartnersOS campuses

Multimodal designLearners use a variety of learning/cognitive styles to process informationHigher education has traditionally targeted read/write learners (Sarasin 1999), this may impede learning for some students (St Hill 2000), particularly for our internationals Multimodal representations gives students a greater level of control in terms of choice.

Multimodal designLearners build mental representations by using multiple sensory channels (Anderson, 2001), & compensate for any weakness associated in understanding one representation by switching to another (Ainsworth, 1999)

Pitching the course

CMS1000 Communication & ScholarshipCMS1000 is offered externally, on-campus, internationally, 3 times a year Course covers initiatives to assist first year students to engage with academic and psychological dimensions of communicationStudents often unfamiliar with discipline-specific literacies

Demonstration of design

The researchN = 113 Survey qual/quant and Focus Groups80% female 20% male53% off-campus 46% on-campus84% first year students63% under 25

Q18Did you like the CD based materials? 86%

Q17The study materials viewable on the CD, with links to other aspects of the course are more useful than printed materials

Q9 I preferred to use the CD materials rather than the printed materials

Q22Please choose your ideal combination of learning materials

Do students like the bells and whistles?The interactive multimedia features (such as diagrams with explanations) were more helpful to me than the static, print-based representations (Q7)catered for my approach to learning (Q10)

Q12The multimedia introductions (using PowerPoint and audio) used for each module; assessment and course overview really helped my understanding of the course content.

What CMS1000 students saidAs learning happens in many different ways I believe the visual and auditory representations added an extra dimension to learning, allowing access to learning styles previously hard to obtain by external students.

Presenting material in a variety of formats and ways facilitates and stimulated my learning.

Audio

http://www.usq.edu.au/users/sankey/CMS1000S12006/http://www.usq.edu.au/users/sankey/cms1000/ (2005)

The down sideTechnology hitchesOn-campus students could use the material and stop coming to classes. Some students, particularly ONC, dont use the technology much Lecturers need to encourage students to engage with materials (the dripping tap)Not everyone liked it - even with all this added stuff

ConclusionExternal students (particularly 1st year) felt a much closer link to the lecturer less isolatedOn-campus students now get access and many have found this extra resource valuable to complement their classesThe multimedia elements help to demystify and deconstruct the processes of studyStudent response, particularly external, has been extremely positiveAny questions?

CMS1000 VARK modalities

Providing course content through a resource-based learning package, supplemented by selected interactive teaching support activities using ICT and/or f2fThe core content supplied in a variety of formats (html, flash, audio, images etc.) is consolidated onto a CD or online. Augmented with specifically designed support activities relevant to the program, discipline, and delivery context (e.g. Wide Bay, Springfield, overseas campuses and partners)