Toh Seong Chong

An adaptive multimedia courseware for the students’ different cognitive styles: a pilot study for history subject

Abstract This article presents a study on the use of an adaptive multimedia technology for teaching the narrative subject in nature. This study is conducted to examine the effects of a Multimedia Segmental Instruction (M-B) and Multimedia Simultaneously Instruction (M-S) on students’ achievement and motivation in the learning of history subject.The M-B was assigned to 40 students whereas the M-S was assigned to 42 students. This quasi-experimental study employed a 2 × 2 factorial design. The independent variables were the multimedia approaches, i.e. the M-S and the M-B, whereas the dependent variables were the students’ achievement and motivation. Students’ cognitive styles (field-independent, FI or field-dependent, FD) and gender (male or female) were the moderator variables. Collection and analysis of data were carried out quantitatively. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to measure the effectiveness of instruction assisted with multimedia materials. The findings showed that all respondents unanimously agreed that; (i) the M-B students performed significantly better and were significantly more motivated than the M-S students, (ii) the FI students did not perform significantly better but were significantly more motivated than the FD students, (iii) the male students did not perform significantly better but were significantly more motivated than the female students.