Design, Development And Evaluation Of A Web Courseware With A Pedagogical Agent
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Date
2006-06
Authors
Mohd Feham Md. Ghalib @ Md. Zal
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
This study examined the effects of a pedagogical agent (PA) with different levels of
personalization in a web courseware on the learning of thematic materials. These
effects were studied based on the Strategy Inventory in Language Learning (SILL).
Two modes of an interactive multimedia web courseware on the theme of the holy city
of AI-Quds were systematically designed and developed. While the first mode used a
personalized version of the pedagogical agent (PPA), the second mode used a nonpersonalized
PA (NPPA). The personalization elements include an integration of social
cues, dialogue conversations, and indirect feedback. The courseware was developed
based on Alessi and Trollip's (2001) Model of Design and Development of Multimedia
Learning. The rationale of adopting pedagogical agents in a web learning environment
is based on Vygotsky's social learning theory (1978) , communication theory (Reeves &
Nass, 1996), cognitive multimedia learning theory (Mayer, 2001), and cognitive
flexibility theory (Spiro et al., 1992).
A 2 x 3 quasl-experimental factorial design was used in this study. The independent
variables were the two modes of presentation (PPA and NPPA). The dependent
variables were the learning gains and the program rating score. The moderator
variable was the SILL score. 96 students studying the Arabic language at an advanced
level at the International Islamic University Malaysia participated in the study. The
students were divided into three groups using the PPA mode and four groups using the
NPPA mode. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected
data. Two-way and One-way ANOVA procedures were used to examine the main and
interaction effects between the independent variable and the dependent variables.The results showed that the mean score of the students presented with the PPA mode
is significantly higher compared to students presented with the NPPA mode related
only to the open-ended question component of the learning gains. The mean score of
the program rating sheet demonstrated no significant differences between the PPA and
NPPA groups. Further analysis based on each of the SilL groups (high, medium, and
low) revealed advantages for the students classified as high by SILL compared to
students achieving a lower SILL score. The high SILL group obtained significantly
higher mean score of the program rating sheet when compared to the medium and low
SILL groups.
The study found that PPA mode was more effective in increasing learning engagement
and interest for the overall understanding and comprehension of the Islamic culture and
civilization information integrated in the web courseware. Analysis on the SILL groups
indicated that the effects of software preferences were stronger for the high SILL
groups as compared to the medium and low SILL group.
Description
Keywords
Learning , Web courseware