Using multimodal and hyperlinked representations of knowledge as academic writing AIDS

Abstract

Representing knowledge in written papers may be one of the biggest challenges that students face in higher education. This study analyzes how hypermedia structures can facilitate students' critical reflection on their papers by using multimodal resources. By converging academic writing, knowledge representation, and multimedia resources, we designed a hypermedia system that enables the visualization and representation of students' papers using text, images, audio, hyperlinks, and videos. To test the system, we conducted a pilot study in which we instructed 160 undergraduate students to write a paper in the following three-step exercise: First, students submitted an initial draft of their papers. Then, they used the system to translate the papers' content into different multimodal resources. Finally, they rewrote their papers with insights gained from the process. In a concluding survey, students reported that translating text to multimodal resources deepened their understanding of their papers' content and improved their topic organization.