SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY (1900-1999): INTERACTIVE eMODULES A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Education By Walter Gary Shu 2018 SIGNATURE PAGE PROJECT: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY 1900-1999: INTERACTIVE eMODULES AUTHOR: Walter Gary Shu DATE SUBMITTED: Fall 2018 Department of Education Dr. Shahnaz Lotfipour Project Committee Chair _________________________________ Department of Education Cal Poly Pomona Dr. Eileen V. Wallis _________________________________ Chair Department of History Cal Poly Pomona ii ABSTRACT History is an important subject that all students must take to meet graduation requirements, yet most college students take this subject for granted. Previous studies have proven that many could not remember a single major event in American history. For years, educators have been trying to find new ways to make students more interested in history, due to its irreplaceable value and that educators complain that students were often too passive in the learning process. There are various methods that educators can use to give students a more active role in learning history, including interactive modules, knowledge maps and graphic organizers, which have been proven to be very effective in past studies. This project, which focused on the history and development of the Los Angeles region in the 20th century was an attempt to address the shortcomings of students not having an active role in the learning process by providing them with an immersive, hands-on experience that will encourage more involvement and interest in learning this topic. The goals of the project were: how the events of the past have shaped the region that Californians live in today, the importance of preserving the region’s past for future generations, and building connections between the past, present, and future. This project consisted of two five-chapter eModules, that covered the development and evaluation of the Southern California region during the 20th century. The eModules were created and produced with Adobe Flash CS6, while the video segments were compiled from various sources and edited with Adobe Premiere CS6 and the rest of the components were produced with Adobe Dreamweaver CS6. The student surveys about the project were posted on an external website, SurveyMonkey. The field iii testing of this project was done at a four-year university in the greater Los Angeles area. The designer invited students from all history classes at the university to field test this project. Ten students participated in this project by clicking the link to the modules. The students who accessed the modules had a positive reception to this project because they liked the many features that made the modules come to life and the information presented in this project were in-depth and well-organized. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ……………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………..iii Chapter One: Introduction Background of the Project …………………………………………….…...……..1 Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………...……....3 Purpose of the Project ………………………………………………….…..…….4 Assumptions ……………………………………………………….….…………5 Limitations ……………………………………………………………....………5 Definition of the Terms ………………………………………………….………6 Chapter Two: Literature Review The Growth of Educational Technology and eLearning ……………….………..8 eLearning and Teaching Social Sciences ………………………………………12 Best Practices in Teaching College-Level Social Science ……………………..14 Summary ……………………………………………………………………….16 Chapter Three: Methodogy Instructional Design …………………………………………………………….18 Content Development …………………………………………………………..20 v Program Development …………………………………………………………..24 Field Testing Procedure …………………………………………………………26 Chapter Four: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations Summary ………………………………………………………………………. 30 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………..33 Recommendations …………………………………………………………........41 References ………………………………………………………………………………45 Appendices Appendix A - Screenshots Title Page …………………………………………………...………….……….52 eModule - Part 1 …………………………………………………..……………54 eModule - Part 2 ……………………………………………………..………....64 Questionnaire ……………………….…………………………………………..77 Appendix B - Forms Consent Form ………………………………….……….……………….…….…80 E-mail Flyer …………………………………….…………....…….…….…..….82 IRB Approval ……………………………….…………………………….…..…83 IRB Amendment …………………………………………………….…….….....85 vi E-Mails to the History Department ……………………………………….……..87 First Update …………………………………………………………….………..89 Second Update …………………………………………………………………..90 Last Update ……………………………………………………………………...91 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Different Types of Learning Environments ……………….…..….…13 Table 2.2: Types of eLearning Methods in College-level Social Science ....…...16 Table 3.1: Time Period and Chapter Assignments for the eModules ……….….22 Table 4.1: Student Experiences of the Project …………………………….……34 Table 4.2: The Parts of the eModule that Participants Like the Most ……….…35 Table 4.3: How do Participants Think of the Online Presentation? ………...….39 Table 4.4: What Parts of the eModule would you like to Change or Improve in the future? ……………………….…………………………………………..40 Table 4.5: Has Student Perception of Southern California History Changed? ...41 Table 4.6: Average Participant Scores for Questions #3-5 ………….…...…….43 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: How the ADDIE Model Works ………….…………………….……19 Figure 3.2: Adobe Flash Professional CS6 screenshot .…………………………24 Figure 3.3: Adobe Premire Pro CS6 screenshot .………………………..………25 Figure 3.4: Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 screenshot .…………...…………………26 Figure 4.1: Effectiveness of the Video Segements……….…………..…...……..36 Figure 4.2: Effectivness of the Music Segements …………….….……......…….37 Figure 4.3: Effectivenss of the Sildeshows …………….………………...…..….38 ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Before the advent of computer-based training (CBT) in the 1970’s and e(electronic)Learning in the 1990’s, the primary source of the content came from physical textbooks, though some (starting in the 1990’s) did come with a CD or DVD- ROM disc of supplemental material. Huang (2005) mentions that traditional print textbooks have been the standard reference and learning tool for students for generations. Textbooks are thorough and well-organized but cannot be customized to different students and classes and fail to adequately highlight the intersections between different disciplines (Huang, 2005). Additionally, the main activity in traditional learning environments are still lectures. According to Grasso, Smith and Grosso (2012), in classroom lectures, the students are in passive learning roles and then after a few minutes, they lose interest in the subject because of this (Grosso, Smith & Grosso, 2012). Background of the Project Since then, interactive educational technologies or eLearning has created new ways to make students more interested in core subjects, such as history. Interactive educational technologies engage students to learn in ways that are not possible with textbooks. One such example is Interactive Learning Modules (ILMs). According to Kim, Williams and Dattilo (2002), ILMs are self-contained learning modules that offer experimental learning opportunities. The modules are characterized as being functional and meaningful and can include games, simulations and drills (Kim, Williams & Dattilo, 2002). According to Adcock, Duggan and Perry (2010), ILMs are designed by content 1 experts and instructional designers to act as supplemental, self-contained instructional modules that provide experimental learning opportunities. ILMs act as supplemental instruction presenting scenarios and demonstrating best practices response to client behaviors (Adcock, Duggan & Perry, 2010). ILMs already have an impact in encouraging students to be engaged and connected to the subject that they intend to learn. Previous research about ILMs have proven its effectiveness, when it is well-designed and properly implemented. According to Kim, et al. (2002), well-designed, task-relevant and experimental learning environments have the potential to support learners in transferring their knowledge into real-world problem solving (Kim, et al., 2002). eLearning advocates often stress on engaging learners in meaningful and purposeful activities and relating what is learned in instructional settings with what is needed in real-world situations. Additionally, according to Arenas-Marquez, Machuca and Medina-Lopez (2012), the inclusion of students in the evaluation process is essential for the real success of the project to be measured (Arenas-Marquez, Machuca & Medina-Lopez, 2012). This suggests that students’ involvement and performance also played a major role in the quality of delivering meaningful learning. Another popular example is knowledge maps, where the automatic linking and filtering of related concepts reduces the difficulty of translating textbook content to e- learning material. According to Lee and Segev (2012), on knowledge maps, key concepts and relationships can be recognized directly from the map, so learners can identify the terms with minimum effort. Time can also be saved when the amount of text is reduced (Lee & Segev, 2012). Knowledge maps allow students to comprehend the material 2 without having to read text material repeatedly and/or looking at indexes at the back of the book, which can be time-consuming. Statement of the Problem History is an important subject that all students must take before they enter