Research
My research focuses on affective issues around instruction such as motivation, engagement, satisfaction, and anxiety in learners.
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Primarily, I have been applying Mayer's Multimedia Principles using H5P, images and audio to instruction in online courses and Open Education Resources (OER) like Pressbooks and then testing to see what effect it has on a learner's affect. ​
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Here you will find a short overview of my current and past research.
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Reducing Online Learner Anxiety by Design
Overview
This is the focus of my doctoral dissertation and my current research. Anxiety, particularly in college students, is on the rise. At the same time the new technologies and use of the online learning environment can potentially create more anxieties to these learners. While there is some research on anxiety in online learners in relation to feelings of belonging or issues with instructors and peers, very little research exists on the effect of course or course material design on the online learner's anxiety. This research explored how different multimedia designs in a digital textbook affect an online learner’s anxiety, and what other aspects of course material cause or relieve anxiety.
Research Questions
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How does applying four multimedia principles using H5P and images affect the anxiety of adult online learners?
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What other factors affect adult online learner anxiety?
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Method: I created six scenarios in a digital textbook (Pressbook). Each of the six scenarios offered two versions of the same content, one with one of four multimedia principles segmenting, generative activities, feedback, and emotional design) applied using H5P and images and one without multimedia principles applied. Fifty online college students age 18-65 completed a survey where they were given a link to each of the scenarios, one at a time, and then asked to choose which scenario reduced their anxiety and then, in an open-ended question, what it was specifically that caused or relived their anxiety.
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Findings
The study showed that some the segmenting principle had the greatest effect on learners' anxiety, that feedback had the next greatest effect, and that generative activities need to be carefully applied. The emotional design principle had the least effect overall, but seemed to affect some learners more than others. The overarching themes of what caused anxiety in participants that emerged from the open-ended answers were the amount of time the instruction would take to complete, whether or not the instruction would help them remember the content, and whether or not the instruction would keep their attention. ​​
Measuring Engagement and Motivation of H5P Users
Presentation Resources
Currently in publishing
Overview
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A fellow Instructional Designer and OER Coordinator and I conducted this study in November 2023, which seeks to address whether using H5P-rich Open Education Resources (OER) in an asynchronous, online environment increases learners' engagement with the content and their motivation to persevere.​​
Research Question
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Can using H5P-rich OER in an asynchronous, online environment increase learners' engagement with the content and their motivation to persevere?​
Method
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We created two versions of a digital textbook (Pressbook), one with H5P and one without H5P. We surveyed 292 U.S. college students, age 18-65. Participants completed a 5-question knowledge quiz and a motivational questionnaire (IMMS) after interacting with one of the two digital textbooks.​​
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Findings:
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The study showed that H5P can
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increase learner's motivation
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increase learner's satisfaction level
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increase the relevance of the content to the learner
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It may not have a significant effect on learner's attention or confidence levels. More study is needed to see if particular H5P affect learner's attention or confidence more than others.
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It may not have a significant effect on the improving learning. More study is needed to see if particular H5P types have a greater impact on learning than others.
Affective Domain Issues in a Gamified Statistics Course
Overview
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Statistics anxiety is real, and statistics courses are often a dreaded subject for many colleges students. My professor and I studied the effect of adding gamification elements and multimedia principles using H5P on the anxiety levels of learners in an online, college statistics course. ​
Research Question
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Can we lower a student's anxiety in an online statistics course by using gamification and multimedia principles?
Method
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The online statistics course was redesigned to add game mechanics around a Tai Kwon Do theme. The gamification included levels, a storyline, quests, missions, power ups, boss fights, and other game elements. We also applied multimedia principles like segmenting, personalization, and generative activities using H5P, videos, and other methods. Over two semesters, learners offered open-ended feedback at the end of each week of the course about particular aspects of the course that they found helpful or unhelpful and how they felt about the course. The over 1200 comments were analyzed to find what parts, if any, reduced anxiety.​​
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Findings
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Gamification
During the first two weeks, students reported their initial anxiety decreased due to the game elements in the course. While students continued to report enjoying the game elements intermittently over the rest of the course, in both semesters, gamification seemed to reduce their anxiety particularly at the beginning of the course.
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Multimedia Principles
The majority of comments around reduced anxiety were made in relation to the specific multimedia principles applied in the course. Specifically, students noted that the shorter videos (segmenting), repeated opportunities to learn and practice material (generative activities), and the use of visual elements (personalization, signaling) contributed the most to the reduction of their anxiety. This effect was seen throughout the entirety of the course in both semesters.