Students\u27 Perceptions of Multimedia Classrooms at East Tennessee State University.

The purpose of this study was to investigate students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms at East Tennessee State University regarding technologies in multimedia classrooms, students\u27 learning achievements, instructors\u27 instructional methods, and students\u27 learning styles. Two surveys in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms were designed to measure and compare students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms. The VARK (Fleming, 2002b) learning style survey was used to calculate the students\u27 learning styles. The research was conducted during spring semester, 2002. Participants in this study included 187 students in multimedia classrooms and 110 students in traditional classrooms at East Tennessee State University. The majority of students were from the School of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology. The results of data analysis showed that there were no significant differences in students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding technologies, learning achievements, and learning styles. However, there were significant differences in students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding instructors\u27 instructional methods. Students in multimedia classrooms had better perceptions of instructors\u27 instructional methods than students in traditional classrooms. Furthermore, the majority of students in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms had positive attitudes towards multimedia classrooms. Several recommendations for future research, VARK learning styles, and administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University resulted from this study. A future study with a larger and more diverse population using both quantitative and qualitative methodology is recommended to further explore the effectiveness of multimedia classrooms in higher education. Reinforcement of training, technical support, and classroom maintenance are recommended to administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University in order to use multimedia classrooms more effectively