Navigation in hypermedia learning systems: experts vs. novices

With the advancement of Web technology, hypermedia learning systems are becoming more widespread in educational settings. Hypermedia learning systems present course content with non-sequential formats, so students are required to develop learning paths by themselves. Yet, empirical evidence indicates that not all students can benefit from hypermedia learning. Research into individual differences suggests that prior knowledge has significant effects on student learning in hypermedia systems, with experts and novices showing different preferences to the use of hypermedia learning systems and requiring different levels of navigation support. It is therefore essential to develop a mechanism to help designers understand the needs of experts and novices. To address this issue, this paper presents a framework to illustrate the needs of students with different levels of prior knowledge by analyzing the findings of previous research. The overall aim of this framework is to integrate students’ prior knowledge into the design of hypermedia learning systems. Finally, implications for the design of hypermedia learning systems are discussed.     

Semantic scaffolds in hypermedia learning environments

In knowledge acquisition from hypermedia, learners have to orient themselves in a non-linear information space, navigate in this space and build a knowledge structure from the information there. Research on learning from hypermedia has focused primarily on enhancing orientation and navigation, with only minor attention on possibilities for supporting semantic processing. In a first experiment, 98 students from senior high school and university undergraduates learned about a complex subject matter either without or with semantic scaffolds, which were presented either in an obligatory (non-removable) or in an optional mode. High prior knowledge learners profited from adequately used semantic scaffolds, whereas low prior knowledge learners did not. In a second experiment, 53 senior high school students and university undergraduates received the learning material with semantic scaffolds presented either in an obligatory mode (but removable on demand) or in an optional mode. Learners with low prior knowledge performed better with optional presentation. Learners with high prior knowledge performed better with obligatory presentation, which allowed removing scaffolds on demand. Learners generally preferred the optional presentation of learning scaffolds.     

Exploring relations among college students’ prior knowledge,implicit theories of intelligence,and self-regulated learning in a hypermedia environment

Researchers and educators continue to explore how to assist students in the acquisition of conceptual understanding of complex science topics. While hypermedia learning environments (HLEs) afford unique opportunities to display multiple representations of these often abstract topics, students who do not engage in self-regulated learning (SRL) with HLEs often fail to achieve conceptual understanding. There is a lack of research regarding how student characteristics, such as prior knowledge and students’ implicit theory of intelligence (ITI), interact with SRL to influence academic performance. In this study, structural equation modeling was used to investigate these issues. It was found that prior knowledge and ITI were related to SRL and performance, and that SRL acted as a benevolent moderator, enhancing the positive effects of prior knowledge upon learning, and diminishing the negative effects of having a maladaptive ITI.     

Harnessing collective knowledge inherent in tag clouds

Tagging systems represent the conceptual knowledge of a community. We experimentally tested whether people harness this collective knowledge when navigating through the Web. As a within‐factor we manipulated people's prior knowledge (no knowledge vs. prior knowledge that was congruent/incongruent to the collective knowledge inherent in the tags). As between‐factor we manipulated whether people had tag clouds available or not. In line with the Information Foraging Theory and with the Co‐Evolution Model of individual learning and collective knowledge building, we found that people's prior knowledge and tag clouds influenced their navigation. Tags which were congruent with people's prior knowledge had a higher probability of being selected. A knowledge test showed that participants adapted their individual conceptual knowledge to the collective knowledge. This incidental learning shows that people harness collective knowledge just by navigation with tag clouds.     

Thinking style,browsing primes and hypermedia navigation

There is a common assumption that hypermedia navigation is influenced by a learner’s style of thinking, so people who are inclined to apply sequential and analytical strategies (left-thinkers) are thought to browse hypermedia in a linear way, whereas those who prefer holistic and intuitive strategies (right-thinkers) tend towards non-linear paths. An experiment was conducted to study both the effects of students’ style of thinking on hypermedia navigation and the effects of primes aimed at inducing them to browse the hypermedia according to a given strategy. Two hundred undergraduates in different faculties were asked to visit a website. Navigation was preceded by some initial tasks (primes) that activated either the left- or the right-thinking style; 50 men and 50 women were randomly assigned to each of the two kinds of primes. Then participants were free to browse the hypermedia and navigational paths were tracked down. When navigation had been completed, a questionnaire measuring a preference for either the left- or the right-thinking style was filled out by participants. Analyses showed that primes influenced hypermedia navigation, leading participants to apply strategies consistent with the initial tasks. The participants’ age and faculty did not influence their behaviour in navigation. Gender and frequency of computer use determined some minor differences in hypermedia browsing, whereas there was no evidence of any relationship between thinking style and behaviour in navigation.     

Effect of Web navigation style in elderly users

The population is gradually aging, but only 4% of elderly people are Internet users. These data indicate the need to take action to bridge this digital divide.Several studies show that learning and memory processes are faster when there is familiarity with the learning object, and the user finds a clear internal correspondence between the previous experience and the current experience. The elderly make up one of the groups most affected by the digital divide, with less Internet access, knowledge, and use. The Internet is by definition an almost infinite structure of hypertext, where the user navigates by using information in an active way, and where the elderly lack previous experience with hypertextual applications. The aim of this study is to test the navigation variable by comparing two designs of the same email Web application with different navigation styles: linear vs hypertextual navigation.The study consisted of usability testing, employing the method of task analysis. Other assessment tools were also used, such as the eye tracker and post-session self-report questionnaires designed ad hoc for this study.A sample of 34 users from 60 to 83 years old and with heterogeneous previous experience with new technologies participated in the study. They performed A/B testing with a counterbalanced within-subject design. The linear navigation condition, compared to the hypertextual condition, obtained a higher success rate, lower performance time, better satisfaction ratings and greater user preference.The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate the relevance of navigation in systems oriented toward the elderly, indicating that linear navigation is more suitable for these users.     

The effects of learning style and hypermedia prior experience on behavioral disorders knowledge and time on task: a case-based hypermedia environment

This study involved 17 graduate students enrolled in a Behavioral Disorders course. As a part of the course, they engaged in an extensive case-based hypermedia program designed to enhance their ability to solve student emotional and behavioral problems. Results include: (1) students increased their knowledge about behavioral disorders; (2) those students with more hypermedia experience spent more time using the hypermedia program; (3) those students who acquired greater knowledge also wrote better student reports; and (4) students, regardless of learning style (as measured by Kolb's Learning Style Inventory), benefited equally from using the hypermedia program.     

Towards new forms of knowledge communication: the adaptive dimension of a web-based learning environment

Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems aim to increase the functionality of hypermedia by making it personalised to individual learners. The adaptive dimension of these systems mainly supports knowledge communication between the system and the learner by adapting the content or the appearance of hypermedia to the knowledge level, goals and other characteristics of each learner. The main objectives are to protect learners from cognitive overload and disorientation by supporting them to find the most relevant content and path in the hyperspace. In the approach presented in this paper, learners' knowledge level and individual traits are used as valuable information to represent learners' current state and personalise the educational system accordingly, in order to facilitate learners to achieve their personal learning goals and objectives. Learners' knowledge level is approached through a qualitative model of the level of performance that learners exhibit with respect to the concepts they study and is used to adapt the lesson contents and the navigation support. Learners' individual traits and especially their learning style represent the way learners perceive and process information, and are exploited to adapt the presentation of the educational material of a lesson. The proposed approach has been implemented through various adaptation technologies and incorporated into a prototype hypermedia system. Finally, a pilot study has been conducted to investigate system's educational effectiveness.     

Design of adaptive hypermedia learning systems: A cognitive style approach

In the past decade, a number of adaptive hypermedia learning systems have been developed. However, most of these systems tailor presentation content and navigational support solely according to students’ prior knowledge. On the other hand, previous research suggested that cognitive styles significantly affect student learning because they refer to how learners process and organize information. To this end, the study presented in this paper developed an adaptive hypermedia learning system tailored to students’ cognitive styles, with an emphasis on Pask’s Holist–Serialist dimension. How students react to this adaptive hypermedia learning system, including both learning performance and perceptions, was examined in this study. Forty-four undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in the study. The findings indicated that, in general, adapting to cognitive styles improves student learning. The results also showed that the adaptive hypermedia learning system have more effects on students’ perceptions than performance. The implications of these results for the design of adaptive hypermedia learning systems are discussed.     

Cognitive style, hypermedia navigation and learning

This study examined the influence of cognitive style, spatial orientation and computer expertise on hypertext navigation patterns and learning outcomes when participants interacted with a hypermedia presentation. A sample of 306 undergraduates was pre-tested both on their cognitive style and on their self-reported frequency and ability in using computers. From the initial sample, 40 students were selected to form four groups with the following characteristics: (a) 10 high computer users – sequential thinkers, (b) 10 high computer users – holistic thinkers, (c) 10 low computer users – sequential thinkers and (d) 10 low computer users – holistic thinkers. All participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring spatial orientation and were then requested to browse freely a hypermedia presentation on the ancient Mayan civilisation. Finally, the students completed a post-test to assess the recall of the hypermedia presentation and the cognitive organisation of the acquired knowledge. The results indicated that hypermedia navigation behaviour was linked to computer skills rather than to cognitive style and that learning outcomes were unaffected by cognitive style or by computer skills. However, learning outcomes were positively affected by specific search patterns, that is by re-visiting hypermedia sections and visiting overview sections in the early stages of hypermedia browsing. Further, navigating overview sections and holistic processing fostered knowledge representation in the form of maps. These findings suggest that individual differences can affect hypermedia navigation even though their role in learning is complex and the impact of cognitive style on learning outcomes was proved to be less important than initially predicted.     

基于图自编码器模型的学生成绩预测

传统对学生成绩进行预测的方案往往需要手动筛选特征或需要大量的先验知识和专家知识。因此提出使用深度学习的基于图自编码器模型（Graph-AE）的学生成绩预测方案,该模型可以不经人工干预自动提取特征,且不需要大量的先验知识。将Graph-AE模型与13种经典推荐算法进行对比,实验结果表明,Graph-AE模型在学生成绩数据集上的效果比传统解决方法准确度更高,能够更好地刻画学生与课程之间的相关性和差异性。     

Reading skills and children’s navigation strategies in hypertext

Prior research has identified two important navigation strategies that have a clear impact on hypertext comprehension: link selection and overview processing strategies. The first relate to the order in which students select hyperlinks while trying to comprehend a hypertext, whereas the second relate to when and for how long students process navigation overviews, a text device that conveys the text structure by displaying sections, titles and their relations. Most prior research in navigation strategies has been conducted with undergraduate students. We extend prior research by exploring the navigation strategies used by sixth-graders while reading a hypermedia system. We also investigate how reading skills relate to the use of navigation strategies, and how both shape students’ comprehension in hypertext. Results from an electronic reading study replicated in sixth-graders the results on navigation strategies previously found in undergraduate samples. In addition, the results revealed that reading skills predicted the use of link selection but not of overview processing strategies. We discuss our results in light of new models of electronic reading proficiency, and propose some instructional guidelines to improve children’ electronic reading proficiency.     

Monitoring, planning, and self-efficacy during learning with hypermedia: The impact of conceptual scaffolds

Self-report data and think-aloud data from 37 undergraduates were used to examine the impact of conceptual scaffolds on self-efficacy, monitoring, and planning during learning with a commercial hypermedia environment. Participants, randomly assigned to either the No Scaffolding (NS) or Conceptual Scaffolding (CS) condition, used a hypermedia environment for 30 min to learn about the circulatory system. Think-aloud data collected during this learning task was used to measure participants’ self-regulated learning (SRL) with hypermedia. Additionally, participants completed a self-efficacy questionnaire at three points during the learning task (immediately prior to the 30-min hypermedia learning task, 10 min into the learning task, and 20 min into the learning task). Results indicated that participants from both conditions reported higher levels of self-efficacy immediately before the hypermedia learning task, and that they decreased their use of SRL processes related to monitoring as they progressed through the hypermedia learning task. In addition, results also indicated that participants in the CS condition used, on average, more SRL processes related to planning during the hypermedia learning task than participants in the NS condition.     

Learning with hypermedia: The influence of representational formats and different levels of learner control on performance and learning behavior

In this paper, two experiments on the use of hypermedia environments for learning about probability theory are reported. In Experiment 1a it was tested whether multimedia design principles (multimedia principle, modality principle, redundancy principle) are valid in hypermedia environments, despite the fact that hypermedia offers more learner control than multimedia. The results showed only little evidence for this validity, although the hypermedia environment entailed only a rather low level of learner control. In Experiment 1b it was investigated how learner control affects performance and how its possible impact is moderated by learners’ prior knowledge. A high level of learner control positively affected the effectiveness of instruction only with regard to intuitive knowledge, but was at the same time accompanied by large increases in learning time, thereby rendering the instruction inefficient. Unexpectedly, effects of learner control were not moderated by students’ prior knowledge. The results imply that the idea to use multimedia design principles for hypermedia learning is too simple and that the benefits and drawbacks of learner control depend heavily on learning objectives and time constraints.     

Development of a diagnostic system using a testing-based approach for strengthening student prior knowledge

Students learn new instructions well by building on relevant prior knowledge, as it affects how instructors and students interact with the learning materials. Moreover, studies have found that good prior knowledge can enable students to attain better learning motivation, comprehension, and performance. This suggests it is important to assist students in obtaining the relevant prior knowledge, as this can enable them to engage meaningfully with the learning materials. Tests are often used to help instructors assess students’ prior knowledge. Nevertheless, conventional testing approaches usually assign only a score to each student, and this may mean that students are unable to realize their own individual weaknesses. To address this problem, instructors can diagnose the test results to provide more detailed information to each student, but this is obviously a time-consuming process. Therefore, this study proposes a testing-based diagnosis system to assist instructors and students in diagnosing and strengthening prior knowledge before new instruction is undertaken. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in an interdisciplinary course, since several studies have indicated that students learn more and better in such courses when applying relevant prior knowledge to what they are learning. The experimental results show that the developed system is able to effectively diagnose students’ prior knowledge and enhance their learning motivation and performance on an interdisciplinary course. In addition, two diagnostic evaluations were also conducted to assess whether the diagnoses given by the system were consistent with the decisions of experts. The results demonstrate that the proposed system can effectively assist instructors and students in diagnosing and strengthening prior knowledge before new instruction is undertaken, since the diagnoses produced by the system were broadly consistent with those of experts.     

Hypermedia learning and prior knowledge: domain expertise vs. system expertise

Abstract Prior knowledge is often argued to be an important determinant in hypermedia learning, and may be thought of as including two important elements: domain expertise and system expertise. However, there has been a lack of research considering these issues together. In an attempt to address this shortcoming, this paper presents a study that examines how domain expertise and system expertise influence students' learning performance in, and perceptions of, a hypermedia system. The results indicate that participants with lower domain knowledge show a greater improvement in their learning performance than those with higher domain knowledge. Furthermore, those who enjoy using the Web more are likely to have positive perceptions of non-linear interaction. Discussions on how to accommodate the different needs of students with varying levels of prior knowledge are provided based on the results.     

The measures weighted stratum and weighted compactness on the weighted digraph-based models of the hypermedia and navigation

This study focuses on carrying out weighted digraph-based mathematical construction of hypermedia and user navigation on hypermedia and making a presentation of “weighted” forms of known stratum and compactness. In the instructional Web design researches, the structural analysis of navigation on the hypermedia is important in modeling the behaviors that the learners perform while using this kind of media. Therefore, new conceptions of the presented usage of new measures towards this goal are also discussed within the scope of our study.     

What Approach for Searching Spatial Information?

This paper presents a survey of different approaches for searching information from geographic information systems (GISs) and spatial databases. The existing dichotomy between querying and navigation is highlighted and we emphasize the need to overcome it. Five categories of query languages can be identified: (1) natural languages, (2) artificial languages (e.g. extensions of SQL), (3) tabular languages: use of skeletons or forms, (4) graphical languages: use of symbols, which are only graphical conventions (like in the entity-relationship diagrams) and (5) visual languages: use of visual metaphors (e.g. icons, blackboard metaphor and map-overlay metaphor). The principles of each of them are presented. Respective strengths and weaknesses are pointed out, based on a predefined query. The last part of this paper is devoted to the hypermedia approach and describes the navigation in a hyperbase.     

Metro navigation for the blind

This study evaluates the impact of using the software program AudioMetro, a tool that supports the orientation and mobility of people who are blind in the Metro system of Santiago de Chile. A quasi-experimental study considering experimental and control groups and using the paired Student’s t in a two sample test analysis (pretest-posttest) was carried out to measure the learner’s performance and progress in the navigation through the Metro. Participants completed a number of cognitive tasks related to their navigation through the metro system using the tool designed. Results indicate that AudioMetro could be an adequate and complementary tool for the development of cognitive and sensory skills, which are fundamental axes for orientation and mobility.     

Evaluation of hypertext in an activity learning environment

Abstract This paper presents a study which evaluates the use and efficiency of two computer learning tools for basic virology. The first, VIROLAB, is a simulation of a biology laboratory in which the learner uses virtual lab facilities to help defective viruses to multiply. The system also includes a hypertext that provides learners with some knowledge on virology. The second tool is the hypertext which has been extracted from VIROLAB and which is now considered as an independent learning environment. This study addressed two specific questions: (1) which of the two tools was the most efficient for knowledge acquisition, and (2) were there any differences in the use of the two hypertexts? Comparison of pre‐ and post‐test scores showed that neither of the two learning tools is better than the other. However, analysis of the navigation paths showed that VIROLAB users dissociated the reading of the integrated hypertext from the problem resolution activities. The implications of this finding for the design of the learning environment are discussed.