Developing and using multimedia effectively for undergraduate teacher education

Abstract

Members of the Department of Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Melbourne have developed a range of multimedia resources for undergraduate education students, that allow the students to participate in authentic tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to arrange for large numbers of students. The multimedia resources have been carefully designed to project students into their future role as classroom teachers, as it has been observed that those students who do this tend to perform better, as they can see the relevance of learning opportunities presented in their studies. Observation of student work using these resources shows deeper thinking and enhanced reflective practices in considering how children think.