A while ago someone asked if there was any research to show that multimedia classes were more effective (especially with regard to the outcome that counts the most, student learning) when compared to traditional classes. There is a research report in the most recent Teaching of Psychology that shows significantly higher final exam performance in Developmental, Abnormal, and Statistics when they are taught in a multimedia classroom. As is so often the case in this kind of research, the design is not perfect, but the results do support the notion that these students learned more in the multimedia setting than in the traditional. The research was conducted at James Madison University. Their multimedia classroom has a unique attribute in that each desk has a hand held device that allows students to respond to questions that are posed to the class. I hope that some of you find this useful. Dennis Erwin, T. D. & Rieppi, R. (199) Comparing multimedia and traditional approaches in undergraduate psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 58-61. Dennis M. Goff Dept. of Psychology Randolph-Macon Woman's College Lynchburg, VA 24503
