The acid test: five years of multimedia chemistry (1991)

The promise and potential of multimedia instruction is a reality at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. The chemistry interactive videodisc laboratory, in continuous use since 1986, now has 54 student workstations and is used by 2,000 students per semester in introductory chemistry classes as part of their required course work. Interactive video lessons have expanded and enhanced the content of the introductory course by allowing students to study reactions that are too hazardous, too expensive or too time consuming to study in the wet lab; have reduced the costs and problem of disposing hazardous and heavy metal wastes; and have allowed for better use of wet lab space and more effective use of teachers' time. Most important, student interest and learning have increased. A previous article outlined the design and production of the multimedia software. [1] This article presents recent changes in the technology, expansion of the courseware and distribution to other institutions. Interactive Videodisc Courseware Exploring Chemistry is a set of four videodiscs containing 39 lessons that not only demonstrate laboratory simulations and techniques, but are also totally interactive, that is, they require extensive student response. These lessons expand course content, reinforce learning and allow students to perform procedures and make decisions about laboratory experiments that would be difficult with traditional instructional techniques. The lessons are used to replace, not just supplement, up to half of the wet lab experience, depending on the course. For example, students find that salts ionize in water by performing experiments then testing for the presence of ions. They generate hypotheses about the ionization of salts and can perform any of several tests to check their ideas, trying experiments again, if necessary, until they feel comfortable with the concepts. Freedom to try new strategies and to experiment is greater with the videodisc-based lessons than in the wet lab, which is strictly limited by time, equipment and the availability of chemicals. Lessons are used to replace, not just supplement, up to half of the wet lab experience. These lessons are expand the content of chemistry courses by allowing students to interact with experiments that can't be done in a traditional wet lab or even demonstrated in lecture. Just as with a book, students can work at their own rate and, unlike the situation in many wet labs, they may repeat experiments as often as they want. The process of science, which is often overlooked, is emphasized in these lessons along with the facts and principles. Impact of Technological Advances The first lessons, written in 1984, used IBM PC/XT computers with a MicroKey overlay board from Video Associates Labs in Austin, Texas, and a monitor that allowed the video and computer graphics to be displayed on one screen in CGA mode. In 1986 IBM announced the InfoWindow display, which mixed video and computer graphics on a touch-sensitive screen; and in 1989 they announced the M-Motion adapter, which eliminated the need for a special monitor and replaced touch with a mouse interface. Because our budget situation is fairly typical, we were unable to convert the facility to all new technology, but instead have simply added new technologies when money for additional workstations became available. As a result, three different technologies are used in the classroom. The M-Motion adapter has been a significant advance because it not only lowers the cost of the multimedia delivery system, it offers features with important pedagogical advantages. For example, it digitizes video in real time, giving us more programming flexibility than before. Video images can be resized and repositioned on the screen, making it possible to optimize the relationship between computer graphics and the video image. …