In order to educate a skilled work force able to compete in the world market it is necessary to teach in ways vastly different from heretofore. Increasingly complex technology requires a multidimensional understanding of physical processes, algorithms and systems. The linear approach of conventional media is poorly adapted to this purpose. A multimedia and hypermedia environment which can employ animation, interactive graphics and sound annotation embedded in interactive courseware, and compression of the time scale is needed for understanding complex systems. Given the heterogeneous population of students now educated in institutions of higher learning, teaching methods must respond to a variety of backgrounds and needs. Although individual classroom instruction is not feasible with conventional media it is fundamental to a multimedia and hypermedia environment. This project will develop a computer laboratory based multimedia environment (MLUI) for teaching undergraduate courses in multimedia technology, science, engineering, and mathematics, and for undergraduate research. The project consists of installing a multimedia laboratory, offering new courses in multimedia technology, developing multimedia courseware and using it as well as other multimedia courseware to teach interactive courses in the MLUI. Special provisions for the use of the multimedia technology for the disabled are a high priority, for example, touch displays and speech synthesizers for the visually impaired.
