Using student-created multimedia programs to teach design and communications

The authors describe a visit by elementary school children to a computer laboratory at Binghampton University where freshmen engineering students in the Design, Technology, and Communications Program (DTeC) use multimedia programs to teach the children. The focus of DTeC, an introductory course sequence, is the integration of instruction in the basic skills used by the practicing engineer: graphical representation, computer usage, communication, and design. Since multimedia programs utilize all of these skills, the creation of multimedia programs by the students is a logical activity to incorporate into the program.