Increasing students’ interest and motivation through effective design of online learning environments

The literature on the use of information and communications technology over recent years has been concerned with best practices for the design of multimedia instructional materials. A range of tools and teaching materials are used to develop students’ understanding in different domains. However, evidence addressing the effectiveness of using multimedia, especially interactive elements, remains limited. The present study investigates how the graphics interface of an online environment can be used to effectively present first year chemistry material. In order to conduct this research we developed an online chemistry module with three different versions. Students’ performance associated with using these different versions was examined. The information gained from this study will help to improve the graphics interface of online learning environments and is likely to have a significant impact on improving student learning