A Comparative Study of A Mandarin Module: Web-based Learning Versus Conventional Instruction

Abstract

This article compared a web-based Mandarin module and a conventional Mandarin module that had the same content. The Macromedia Director 7 software was customized 10 design the web-based Mandarin module. A conventional module taught by a teacher served as a control. Participants were randomly assigned 10 either a web-based group or a conventional group. Transfer performance indicates that the conventional group outperformed web-based group. Learning efficiency measurement also indicates that the conventional group exerted less mental effort and learned more efficiently than the web-based group. Subjective data reveals that there is a need to further improve the user interface design: to include the social interactivity aspect of the design. It is concluded that the inferior performance of the web-based group may due to a higher cognitive load required to handle the web learning environment as well as the Mandarin content as compared to a conventional means of delivering the same Mandarin content.