Research done by Richard Mayer is commonly cited to show that learning from multimedia results in better and longer learning retention rates. I believe that retention is the key to developing a successful disciplined and synthesizing mind. Students are able assimilate new information with old information and develop a deeper synthesis if they have retained the information. Students are able to better able to process and evaluate the content when they have better retention of the content.
Decision based learning, such as a non-linear learning centre, allows student to make their own decisions and learn from these. They can go through the content at their own pace, and synthesize the content based on the decisions they have made, not based on the order or the decisions the teacher makes. Not everyone is able to synthesis and make relations in the same way. Allowing students to develops learning connections through their decisions results in stronger synthesis.
One of the highest level skills of a synthesizing mind, is the ability to create connections between different disciplines. I do not believe that media-infused learning always leads to an interdisciplinary approach. If the text, audio, visual, or video is artistically polished, presenting these media pieces to students, is sharing an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the content. If the method of using the media requires technical skills, such as a video game, website or Web 2.0 tools, this can also present an interdisciplinary learning opportunity for students and require them to develop these skills.
In using multimodal approach, (text, audio, visual, and video with audio) students are able to access both, a verbal working memory, and a visual working memory. Consequently, students are better equipped to think, integrate, organize, analyze, and develop schema with the content. These are skills that students to develop their disciplined and synthesizing mind.
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