STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS IN DEVELOPING A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WITHIN A CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: A MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a research study that was conducted in the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Malaysia, to investigate students’ perceptions in developing a multimedia project within a constructivist-based learning environment. Students worked in groups to create an interactive multimedia application using an authoring tool, and were solely responsible for every project development decision. They were then given a survey and asked for their comments and feedback to elicit their perceptions and attitudes towards this learning environment. A factorial analysis was performed on the survey and results showed that 5 factors influenced students’ perceptions in developing a multimedia project within a constructivist learning environment. Multiple regression analysis further showed that motivation played a significant role in students’ perception towards developing a multimedia project in this learning environment. These results were further supported by their survey comments and feedback.
Results of the study showed that by setting an authentic task, via a multimedia project, into a constructivist learning environment, students became highly motivated learners and active in their learning process and provided strong support and encouragement for Malaysian educators to incorporate multimedia technology and constructivist learning into their classrooms.