Lecturing with multimedia tools

This paper describes the enhancement of a lecturing environment through the development of a set of multimedia software tools. The course to which this approach is being applied is a first course in fluid mechanics for Civil Engineering students. The motivation for introducing multimedia into the lecture theatre was driven by a set of educational initiatives, which are the result of an ongoing reflective process aimed at continuously improving the quality of the course. The key components of the resulting multimedia software are described, as is the system employed to monitor the impact of changes made to the course. Student responses and performance in the course indicate that the implementation of these educational initiatives, through the multimedia enhanced lecturing environment, has been effective. The future plans for the development of these software tools and corresponding changes to the way the course will be implemented are outlined. Finally, the role that small-scale developments of this nature will play in bringing about the more widespread application of multimedia in the tertiary education sector education is discussed