Teacher-oriented journals provide many ideas for practical use of
multimedia in physics teaching and learning. However, they are
often written in their respective native languages. Moreover,
having 24 official languages in the European Union is a huge
barrier to the exchange of teaching and learning material.
Knowledge about what is discussed in neighbouring countries is
rare. Hence, in this article scientific members of the MPTL group
(Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning) present a review
on multimedia applications and the corresponding concepts that
are discussed in non-English language journals. 491 articles in 34
teacher-oriented journals from 10 countries are reviewed, using a
list of 81 categories, to characterise addressed topics, teaching
strategies, technology and multimedia features. Log-linear
multiway frequency and cluster analysis were used to get more
insights about preferred combinations of content and teaching
strategies, differences between countries, changes between
periods and patterns of articles. There is a divergence in the main
topics focused on between countries and some changes within
the periods 2006–2010 and 2011–2015. Such a large diversity of
ideas and concepts covered throughout the EU highlights the
potential benefits of more international exchange. However,
findings also point to additional requirements, concerning
theoretical background, ideas for implementations of modern
features like augmented reality, and the use of internet-based
sources and modern devices. Thus this article is also calling for
more exchange and discussions concerning topics to be
addressed in teacher-oriented journals.
