Abstract

This study examines how multimedia affects student engagement in an English for academic purpose class. The study was conducted at an international college in Thailand with a freshman cohort. The focus was from a student perspective of how three widely used multimedia tools—video, blog writing, and PowerPoint—help create a more engaging learning environment. A 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire was administered to all participating students to investigate their overall view toward using the above three multimedia tools and see if these multimedia tools helped them become engaged learners. The study used the SPSS program for quantitative data analysis of responses and asked three open-ended qualitative questions for in-depth feedback. The results of this study found that when the use of all three multimedia tools are applied, the students reported higher engagement and active learning. Both learning aspects were evident in the peer collaboration that increased discussion and opinion sharing. From student feedback, the three tools also made the lesson more fun and exciting. However, responses of effectiveness are recorded depending on if the multimedia tools are applied separately or as a combination.