Implementing Multi-Media Resources to Supplement Lectures, Tutorials and Assessments: A Report on Action Research.

This paper details and evaluates an action research project which investigated the implementation of a suite of rich, multi media and on line subject management technologies into a second year undergraduate hospitality management subject over a two semester period. The aim of the research was to evaluate, from a number of different perspectives (student acceptance, satisfaction and academic performance, as well as the academic’s acceptance of the technologies). The authors developed a teaching model to fully utilise the potential of the available technology whilst recognising the obvious workload impositions placed on academics and students. The evaluation of the project consisted of six activities over one academic year and included; open ended questionnaires administered in class and online to the students’ in which they assessed both the subject and the lecturer, a comparison of student performance in the subject over time, and an assessment academic perceptions of the workload involved. Critical student feedback provided grounds for improvement, much of which has since been implemented.There was and is a high level of confidence that the project enhanced the student experience and improved the teaching process. Furthermore, from a pedagogical point of view, this teaching model appears to hold potential for many critical issues confronting higher education, including dealing with a diverse cohort of students, enhancing the students’ maturation, ensuring consistency of teaching across multi-campus institutions and minimising academic time spent in marking assessments and ongoing subject administration.