A MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION FOR THE TEACHING OF THE MODULE "WATER" Anna Thysiadou 1, Sofoklis Christoforidis 2, Panagiotis Jannakoudakis 1 1 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Thessaloniki, Greece 2 Manager of Department ICT of library of Technological Education Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece

This research describes a multimedia application which refers to the water. Includes all the necessary information and the educational videos which describe the whole process for the analysis method of all parameters. The individual sections are the following: ph, hardness, conductivity, alkalinity, sodium, calcium, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and chlorides. At the end of the software there are questions, on the basis of which the control of learning outcome can be carried out. The multimedia material was applied to students and the results from the evaluation of data seem to be highly encouraging regarding the contribution of the dynamic visualizations in the performance and interpretation of the experimental procedures.

INTRODUCTION The combination of text with sound, image, videos and photos makes it more appealing to learners. The combination of all those factors was allowed due to the ‘multimedia’ technology development. To achieve a better learning outcome an educational software was created according to Mayer’s principles:  Multimedia Principle  Contiguity Principle  Coherence Principle  Modality Principle  Redundancy Principle  Interactivity Principle  Personalisation Principle  Signaling Principle

The educational software has been designed in such a way, that it contributes to the formation of newly cognitive structures using a chemistry dictionary, video-taped experimental procedures and any type of questions. The control of the learning outcome is carried out by the learners themselves through suitable activities. The main purpose of the specific educational software is the development of an interactive multimedia application, which can be used as a teaching tool in the module “Water’’.

DESCRIPTION / PRESENTATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE In the context of the PhD Thesis entitled: “Environmental Education: A chemical – pedagogical approach of water through the chemical sample analysis in Kavala Prefecture’’, an educational software was created aiming at enhancing reflective learning. Fig. 1 : Screen shot – Alkalinity section enabled

Fig. 2 : Screen shot – Alkalinity section Fig. 3 : Screen shot – Experimental procedure section.

Fig. 4 : Screen shot – Glossary. Fig. 5 : Screen shot – List of Chemistry Nobelists.

The next section refers to the comprehension questions. These questions aim at assessing the new knowledge acquired using the specific application. There are 15 questions, six of which should be answered by the learner. The large number of questions intends to eliminate the possibility of the memorization of questions. The questions are categorized into three groups according to the levels of difficulty (easy, medium, and hard). In the six questions in total, two of them come from each group, the easy question corresponds to 8 points, while the medium and hard questions correspond to 17 and 25, respectively. The maximum score is 100 points (16, 34, and 50, respectively. The learner can pass this test achieving at least 60 points.

In case of three successive failures, the system will display a special message for the tutor who shall decide whether or not the learner shall proceed to the following section. This section is considered to be not only the basis for the assessment of the educational material, but also the further development of the specific application introducing special artificial intelligence programs. In the sub-section entitled ‘project’ there is an announcement to prepare an educational project. Apart from this announcement, the learner is allowed to study sample project. The tutor will be granted access to the statistical data of the application.

The access to the application is carried out using codes. There are three types of codes:  The first type is the learners’ code.  The second type includes the tutors.  The third type includes the codes which belong to the administrators. It is also their responsibility to administer the codes for the types mentioned above. The statistical data coming from the application are as follows: 1. The number of times the learners downloaded the files of the presentations in their computer. 2. The time spent in the sections entitled ‘theory’ and ‘video’. 3. Results of the assessment test.

DATA PRESENTATION AND STATISTICAL PROCESSING To compare the effectiveness of the educational software for the academic year , two groups. The first group (group A) answered the questions of the test without using the application, while the second (group B) answered the same questions using username and password. It took two weeks for the second group to complete the test for the alkalinity section. Group A completed the test two days after having been given the questions, while group B completed the test two weeks later.

Fig. 6 : Results of group Α. Fig. 7 : Results of group Β

Table 1 : Aggregated results of both groups. Table 2: Analytical results of both groups.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned results, it is clearly concluded that dealing with this application results in increasing the possibility of giving correct answers and enriching the knowledge. During results analysis, special reference was made to the learners’ attitude while using the application. Table 3: Average values

The video displayed in this chapter lasts minutes. Table 4 : ANOVA analysis. Table 5 : Coefficient between the dependent variable and the independent variables

CONCLUSIONS The theory-based part, as a form of a typical text belongs to the past, because the average time spent on the section entitled ‘theory’ is very limited. The time required for reading without analyzing the text of the theory is almost double the average time the learners spent on this section. This indicates that the focus of the educational tools should be at first on the ‘video’, because the majority of learners watched the video 1.5 times, which proves their great interest. The comparison of the results leads to the conclusion that the advanced technology and the motivation of learners significantly improve their performance. It is generally concluded that this software involving modern computer technology as well as the zeal of those who created the multimedia material has achieved remarkable results.

Development is under progress and the next step is the introduction of a virtual assistant on the website, which shall observe and monitor the progress of each learner, providing the necessary advice for the best possible performance. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION