Online multimedia learning with mobile devices and desktop computers: An experimental test of Clark's methods-not-media hypothesis

  • Authors:
  • Eunmo Sung;Richard E. Mayer

  • Affiliations:
  • Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States

  • Venue:
  • Computers in Human Behavior
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

Students received an online multimedia lesson on how a solar cell works that consisted of 11 narrated slides with a script of 800 words. Concerning instructional media, students received the lesson on a desktop computer (i.e., iMac) in a lab or on a mobile device (i.e., iPad) in a courtyard. Concerning instructional method, students received a continuous lesson with no headings (standard method) or a segmented lesson in which the learner clicked on a button to go onto the next slide with each slide having a heading corresponding to the key idea in the script for the slide (enhanced method). Across both media, the enhanced group outperformed the standard group on a transfer test (d=.67), yielding a method effect on learning outcomes for both desktop and mobile media. Across both methods, the mobile group produced stronger ratings than the desktop group on self-reported willingness to continue learning (d=.60), yielding a media effect on motivational ratings for both standard and enhanced methods. Effective instructional methods can improve learning outcomes across different media, whereas using hand-held instructional media may increase students' willingness to continue to engage in learning.