Effects of secondary students\u27 creation of hypermedia units on mathematical achievement and attitudes toward mathematics and computers

New advances in computer technology, such as hypermedia, hold great promise for education. Hypermiedia authoring tools make it possible for individuals to create computer presentations without having to know a computer programming language. Teachers can create hypermedia programs that are used by students to gain information. A new direction in hypermedia development involves having students create their own hypermedia projects as part of the learning process. Although much has been written about the use of preconstructed hypermedia in virtually every subject in education, there is a need to explore the benefits of students creating their own hypermedia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of students\u27 creation of hypermedia on their mathematical achievement and on their attitudes toward mathematics and technology. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group design was implemented. Students in experimental groups created hypermedia units to review mathematics concepts, while students in comparison groups received traditional instruction. All were exposed to the same mathematics content. This study involved students in four Geometry Tech Prep classes (approximately 13 students per class) at an urban midwestern high school. Two high school mathematics teachers, each with one experimental and one comparison group, were the instructors for these classes. The study covered four units of instruction, approximately fourteen weeks of class time. The study began at the start of the fall semester (the end of August) of 1997, and concluded the first week of December. Semester exams were administered mid-January of 1998. The results of this study suggest that student creation of hypermedia, tutorials may provide some learning benefits for students. Although statistical comparisons of mathematics achievement as measured by a mathematics content pre/post test, unit tests and a semester exam failed to distinguish between the experimental and comparison conditions, qualitative data provided evidence that many students were more actively engaged in the learning process when involved in creating their own hypermedia stacks. Further studies of student-created hypermedia should include different subjects at a variety of grade levels. This will provide the educational and research communities with valuable information concerning the effectiveness of student creation of hypermedia in educational settings