ABSTRACT

Although the application of multimedia systems in digital learning materials in university classrooms is not a new innovation, existing research on the implementation and effectiveness of these systems in history and heritage of civil engineering has been limited. This study discusses the creation and potential of multimedia systems focussed on ancient structures, such as the Lalibela church in Ethiopia, China's Grand Canal, and the Great Wall of China. The discussion concerns how the creation of multimedia systems has been used in a graduate course taught by the second author of this study, as well as in graduate students' research. The study then considers the potential uses of such systems in undergraduate courses, such as in the history of engineering and of construction engineering, for which few textbooks are available. The overall feedback for these systems from graduate students and other audiences has been positive; the graduate students who created the multimedia systems acquired C# and/or Java programming language skills, and were able to use the systems in their research to complete their degrees. The methodologies and discussion of the tools in this chapter may be useful in any academic subject where new information is available for teaching.