At the University of Delaware there has been growth in the use of multimedia technologies to facilitate the process of learning. However, many students entering higher educational institutions today, despite growing up with access to these tools, do not use them in interesting and meaningful ways. When given the opportunity to create multimedia projects, students tend to spend too much time on content or learning a specific technology, and not enough time on structure and design. Instead of a dynamic interactive presentation of content that aids cognition, students tend to produce a recitation of facts. The need for good multimedia skills is paramount not just in education, but in a world where technology and communication rely heavily on sound multimedia practices. The purposes of this study were to identify the foundational skills associated with best practices in multimedia, and to design a curriculum that enables students to communicate effectively through visual interactive media. Interviews were conducted with faculty at the University of Delaware who use multimedia in their courses and represent a range of departments. The interviews revealed how faculty use multimedia and what they consider to be the skills needed to be proficient with multimedia tools. These skills included data filtering, information retrieval, use of tools in a variety of multimedia formats, communication, aesthetics, and storytelling. On the basis of the interview data, a syllabus was designed to empower students with the resources and skills to produce high-quality multimedia content. This "micro-syllabus" was determined to be the most reasonable and feasible means to integrate multimedia skills within academic content areas. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]