Multimedia authoring as an introduction to engineering and computer science principles

The paper describes an introductory course on multimedia authoring that has been taught at Washington State University. The interactive courseware developed for the course is being commercialized by Asymetrix Corporation for transportability beyond WSU into K-12, Community Colleges, and University audiences. The motivation for the course is simple, people are interested in multimedia. The course utilizes this natural interest in this burgeoning field to introduce concepts from electrical engineering and computer science to the often diverse student base enrolled in the course. Anecdotal evidence indicates that students from diverse backgrounds (including liberal arts) have a more thorough understanding of the role engineering plays in everyday life. At WSU, this has led to students changing majors into engineering from non-technical areas and also, to multidisciplinary design experiences for those involved