A socio-cognitive framework for researching learning with IMM

Abstract

Interactive Multimedia (IMM), with its rich blend of graphics, sound and movies, is often difficult to conceptualise by researchers. In order to study IMM either in its own right or to examine the effects of the use of IMM in fields like education, researchers need to choose a well described theoretical framework to guide their study. A choice often facing researchers is whether to view IMM as a new media in its own right? requiring its own unique underlying theoretical framework or to rely on existing frameworks from other fields to underpin their studies.

In this paper, Gardner's (1993) idea of multiple intelligences is proposed as a suitable candidate for consideration as at least part of a theoretical framework. Initially the role of a theoretical framework in research is described and this is followed by a brief description of Gardner's ideas. The paper concludes with an example of the utility of using multiple intelligences in a theoretical framework to underpin the study of learning with IMM.