Does media influence learning

Does media influence learning?

The new wave in learning theory to improve classroom learning, in 1990s, is coming from the constructivist paradigm. Proponents of this new branch of psychology again echo what previous new wave paradigm proponents offered: “a systematic change to learning environment. They rely on an approach to science promotion that concentrates on defining their proposed solutions by attacking the failures of the ‘established’ paradigm” (Tennyson, 1994p.,16). Tennyson says in his article” The Big Wrench vs. Integrated Approaches” ETR&D 1994 “ that unfortunately, learning is a complex phenomena, and thus far , the available theories offer explanations of only restricted situations” and he call this situation, the big-wrench approach.

These new situations have caused a debate amongst educationalist. Richard E. Clark has said that media are “mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition”(Clark, 1983,p.,445). He presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that instructional methods had been confused with media and that it is methods which influence learning. He also says that any needed teaching method can be designed into variety of media presentations. He questions the unique improvement of media attributes which Gaveriel Salomon and others have argued for. They said that it was not the medium which affected learning but instead certain attributes of media that can be modelled by learners and can shape the development of unique ‘cognitive processes’. The examples of media attributes are the potential of television and movies to ‘zoom’ into detail or to ‘unwrap’ three-dimensional objects into two dimensions. Clark says “that the problem with the media attribute argument is that there is strong evidence that many very different media attributes accomplish the same learning goal (for example, there are a variety of equally effective ways to highlight details other than zooming)” (Clark,1994,p.,22).

In his article “ Will Media Influence Learning” in ETR&D 1994 Robert B. Kozma challenge the position taken by Clark that media do not influence learning under any conditions. He claims that so far there has not been established a relationship between media and learning and “If we do not understand the potential relationship......quite likely one will not be made” (Kozma,1994,p.,7). He says that there is a certain urgency about revisiting the question about if media does influence learning.

“In the not-too-distant future, we will be faced with a situation where telephone, cable television, and digital computer technologies will merge. This capability presents the prospect of interactive video integrated with access to large multimedia data bases distributed among people in offices, classrooms, and living rooms all over the world. If by then we have not come to understand the relationship between media and learning- this capability may be used primarily for interactive soap operas and on-line purchasing of merchandise with automatic funds transfer (Kozma,1994,p.,8).

Kozma affirms that the source of the failure to find the relationship between media and learning has do to with the fact, that the theories, research, and designs have been constrained by the vestiges of the behavioural roots from which the discipline sprang. He claims that missing in previous studies are any mentalist notions or descriptions of the cognitive, affective, or social process by which learning occurs. Also missing are descriptions of the underlying structure and functions of media which might serve as the causal mechanisms, that influence these process. (p.,8)

Kozma define learning as an

“active, constructive, cognitive and social process by which the learner strategically manages available cognitive, physical, and social resources to create new knowledge by interacting with information in the environment and integrating it with information already stored in memory.....Consequently, we will understand the potential for a relationship between media and learning when we consider it as an interaction between cognitive process and characteristics of the environment” (p.,8).

As an example of learning package Kozma describes the computer based learning environment, called Thinker-Tools . The curriculum for this microworld consists of four modules that present progressively sophisticated models of force and motion. As an other example is the Jasper Woodbury Series which is a videodisk that provides teachers and middleschool students with real -world contexts for learning complex mathematics problems to be solved. Kozma says that in schools students have problem drawing on the knowledge that they have of situations in real world. On the contrary, the knowledge of solution strategies that they acquire in school is frequently stored in ways that are not evoked by problem situations that they come across outside school. Thinker Tools and Jasper Woodbury Series are examples where these problems are faced, where the students can use their cognitive resources to learn the target problem-solving strategies.

Kozma beliefs that if they move from the question ‘Do media influence learning?’ to ‘In what ways can we use the capabilities of media to influence learning for particular students, tasks, and situations?’ They will both advance the development of their field and contribute to the restructuring of schools and the improvement of education and training(Kozma,1994,p,.18).

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