Arizona State University

Effectiveness of Communicating Abstract Metaphors Through a Multi-Sensory, Multi-Metaphorical Music Video to Enhance Learning

Students need a visual, creative presentation to most effectively capture their attention, engage their interest, and initiate an understanding of the nature of the creative design process of the industry they are being trained to enter. Thus, a music video utilizing visual metaphors to convey the design process of the IDeaLaboratory will be developed. The purpose of this applied project is to develop a music video that uses metaphors in the form of video footage to visually communicate the steps involved in the ASU Polytechnic campus IDeaLaboratory creative design cycle (creative design process). Such a product will focus on visual learning by helping students to sharpen their visualization and cognitive thinking skills as they apply to the graphics industry.

The research instrument will be based on a pilot study in which the researcher recently participated. Research was conducted on a similar graphics-based educational tool to this applied project. That study served as a pilot test for this project in that similar cognitive measures for an educational multimedia presentation were being examined. The student sample will be divided into two groups: a control group that will receive a written explanation of the design process steps, and an experimental treatment group that will view the music video that implements the written explanation. The study will be conducted first by administering a chronological ordering-based pre-test to participants before receive any content. The control group will then review a handout of the creative design cycle, and the experimental group will view the multimedia piece (video). The participants in each group will then take the same post-test, which will consist of numerical ordering questions and multiple choice questions to assess the cognitive learning and learning approach. An open question will also be on the post-test, recording the participants� perspective on the method of learning they were given.