A study of learning strategies used by students with the Oz Soils Interactive Multimedia Program Ross McLeod, Heiko Daniel and Peter Lockwood Division of Agronomy and Soil Science University of New England

A study of student learning strategies used in relation to the Oz Soils interactive multimedia program was conducted at the University of New England during second semester 1997, with second year students studying introductory soil science by either internal or external modes. The aim of the research was to determine whether or not students were using a variety of learning strategies during their use of the Oz Soils program. It was found that many students made good use of higher order learning strategies but failed to use deliberating strategies involving social, professional, or electronic discussions of subject matter. A lack of awareness about the extent of learning opportunities provided via Oz Soils was also evident. The results have provided some useful insights into the role of Oz Soils as a teaching tool and formed a basis for further development of learning strategy surveys as a means of evaluating educational multimedia.

Introduction

Oz Soils introduces the core concepts of soil science. The major topics covered include nutrient cycles, the hydrological cycle, soil structure, and soils and the landscape. Students can learn about micro-scale processes and their place in natural cycles. Other notable features include animations, Australian examples, and revision exercises.

The aim of introducing IMM as part of soil science teaching is to improve the quality of learning (Lockwood & Daniel 1997). High quality learning refers to the construction of knowledge which is useful for new events and problems (Reeves 1993). Low quality, superficial learning refers to the construction of knowledge which consists of isolated facts/skills which are not useful and are more readily forgotten. It is intended that through the use of Oz Soils students will take a less superficial approach to the subject matter. The desired outcome is that students will develop understanding of basic concepts that will enable them to apply their knowledge to environmental systems, problems, and laboratory procedures. In order to achieve this outcome, the Oz Soils program design and interface must facilitate the use of higher order learning strategies. Formative evaluation, looking at whether or not students are using the strategies necessary for high quality learning, needs to be conducted and the results considered in the development of Oz Soils, version 3.0. The benefits gained by using IMM such as Oz Soils depend on the processes that mediate between the program's instructional stimuli and the learning outcomes.

Engaging students in instructional activities activates mental processes and behaviours (learning strategies) that contribute to learning outcomes. In IMM, different ways of combining text, graphics, sound, colour, animation, video, questions and feedback, and learner control, allow for a wide variety of instructional stimuli. Research into the impact of this multisensory environment on the processes and strategies used by students to learn will help to inform future instructional design and modification of the IMM product in question. Putt et al. (1994) identified 13 different mediating processes used by students when studying from IMM Social Justice courseware. The processes were: metacognition, evaluation, affective, linking, generating, anticipation, recalling, comparing, analysis, strategy planning, deliberation, confirming, imaging. These categories were obtained from group (stimulated recall) interviews.

Mediating processes such as those identified by Putt et al. (1994) are part of a wider strategy that learners use to make sense of the IMM program and its content. This is the strategy of mental modelling. Jih & Reeves (1992) identify mental models research as an important emphasis needed in IMM research. They stress that additional research is needed on the interactions between learners and the program interface. Neuman (1990) also highlights the fact that little is known about the nature of cognitive interactions which occur between the computer and the learner.

Weinstein & Mayer (1986) define learning strategies as "behaviours and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning, and that are intended to influence the learner's encoding process". According to Dansereau (1978), a learning strategy is a mental construction that involves a situationally relevant metastrategy containing various substrategies. When using Oz Soils, students construct an individual mental model (metastrategy) for the purpose of making sense of the program and digesting its content. The sub-components of this mental model include the thoughts and behaviours that the student uses while using Oz Soils. The type of thoughts and behaviours used is thought to be influenced in part by the structure of the Oz Soils IMM program and other instructional stimuli contained within that structure.

In summary, previous research indicates that the learning strategies that students adopt when they are using an IMM program are important precursors to learning outcomes. Higher order learning strategies are seen as precursors to higher quality learning. Research into learning strategies should assist in developing more effective IMM products. This study aimed to identify whether or not students were using a variety of learning strategies that could encourage different qualities of learning during their use of the Oz Soils IMM program.

Methods

The questionnaires required students to indicate their level of agreement with statements about their learning strategies in relation to Oz Soils. The strategies covered by the questionnaire statements included:

Higher Order Strategies
Planning Strategies	The use of Oz Soils in personal study programs
Linking Strategies	The linking of concepts to other concepts and to practical situations
Generating Strategies	Reorganising information for understanding and completing assignments
Deliberating Strategies	Participation in social, professional, and electronic discussions of subject matter
Medium Order Strategies
Searching Strategies	Searching out answers to questions
Reproducing Strategies	Copying or printing information directly from the screen
Simple Examination	Reading screen text, and observing pictures and animations
Extensive Examination	Awareness of program details and opportunities for extra learning
Lower Order (negative) Strategies
Guessing Strategies	Careless calculations and random choices
Opting out Strategies	Giving up prior to understanding or running out of time

The responses from the questionnaire were coded and entered into a spreadsheet. Six possible agreement levels, between strongly agree and strongly disagree, were provided for each statement on the questionnaire. The level of a studentÕs use of the learning strategies was categorised as low, medium or high according to their level of agreement with each statement on the questionnaire. The percentage of students in each category was calculated.

Results

Sample group description

Most students were in the 20 to 25 years age group (50.0 %) with the remainder aged either less than 20 years (29.2%), 25 to 30 years (6.3%) or greater than 30 years (14.6%). The gender mix was 54.2% males and 45.8% females. Computer skills were reported as mainly average (60.4%) and above average (29.2%) while some reported excellent computer skills (4.2%) or below average computer skills (6.3%). The vast majority of students (97.9%) in the sample believed that using the Oz Soils program would benefit them while studying introductory soil science. Because 47 of the 48 students in the sample indicated a positive belief in the potential benefit of Oz Soils, the influence of poor motivation on learning strategies used by the students in sample can be assumed to be minimal.

Use of learning strategies within the sample group

It appears that more female students than male students reported a high level of use of higher order learning strategies. More male students than female students make use of the lower order strategies of guessing and opting out.

Discussion

Participation in social, professional, and electronic discussions of subject matter (deliberating strategy) was poor. The poor use of the socially orientated strategy of deliberating indicates that Oz Soils is only a part of a wider instructional program for introductory soil science. The instructional program needs to provide opportunities for the social dimension of learning. Oz Soils could play a greater role in this area by providing more direct links to 'seeded' discussion groups or forum web pages. The role of electronic interaction could be particularly important for external students. The fact that external students reported better computer skills also supports the need for further development in this area.

The number of students making careless calculations and random choices (guessing strategy) with Oz Soils is of concern. Even though the number of students involved is small, it suggests that some further improvement in the cognitive support provided by Oz Soils could occur. The general lack of awareness of program details and the available opportunities for extra learning (extensive examination) supports this idea. Effort in this area would need to be weighed up against the need to keep some backward compatibility with older computers that students may own.

Conclusion

References

Dansereau, D.F. (1978). The development of a learning strategy curriculum. In H. F. O'Neil (Ed), Learning Strategies, 1-29. New York: Academic Press.

Jih, H.J. & Reeves, T.C. (1992). Mental models: A research focus for interactive learning systems. Educational Technology Research and Development, 40(3), 39-53.

Lockwood, P.V. & Daniel, H. (1997). Computer-assisted teaching in soil science. Sciences of Soils [On-line serial], 2. http://www.hintze-online.com/sos/1997/Articles/Art5

Neuman, D. (1990). Naturalistic inquiry and computer-based instruction: Rationale, procedures, and potential. Educational Technology Research and Development, 37(3), 39-51.

Putt, I., Henderson, L. & Patching, B. (1994). Learning through interactive multimedia: A study of teachers' mediating processes. In Open Learning '94, 212-218. Proceedings of the 1st international conference on open learning. Brisbane, Australia.

Reeves, T.C. (1993). Evaluating interactive multimedia. In D.M. Gayeski (Ed), Multimedia for learning: Development, application, evaluation. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.

Weinstein, C.E. & Mayer, R.E. (1986). The teaching of learning strategies. In M.C. Wittrock (Ed), Handbook of Research on Teaching. New York: Macmillan.

Authors: Ross McLeod Technical Assistant, Division of Environmental Engineering Division of Agronomy and Soil Science University of New England Armidale NSW 2351, Australia Phone: (02) 6773 3437 Fax: (02) 6773 3084 rmcleod@metz.une.edu.au Heiko Daniel and Peter Lockwood Division of Agronomy and Soil Science University of New England Armidale NSW 2351, Australia hdaniel@metz.une.edu.au plockwoo@metz.une.edu.au Please cite as: McLeod, R. J., Daniel, H. and Lockwood, P. V. (1998). A study of learning strategies used by students with the Oz Soils Interactive Multimedia Program. In C. McBeath and R. Atkinson (Eds), Planning for Progress, Partnership and Profit. Proceedings EdTech'98. Perth: Australian Society for Educational Technology. http://www.aset.org.au/confs/edtech98/pubs/articles/mcleod.html