Hypermedia and learning: Contrasting interfaces to hypermedia systems

This study explores selected theoretical and design issues associated with the use of hypermedia learning environments to promote the recall, synthesis, integration and retention of information. The study contrasts two different hypermedia systems that contain resources on a complex historical domain. The experimental condition incorporates design features related to complexity, context-dependency and interconnectedness in order to highlight different aspects of its instructional content. The experimental condition was hypothesized to foster greater achievement on tests for synthesis, integration and retention of knowledge and to be more favorably rated by users. The control condition incorporates simple linear design features including several features that are antithetical to those of the experimental condition. The control condition presents the same instructional content in a more rigid and decontextualized manner and was hypothesized to foster greater mastery of factual recall but less synthesis, integration and retention of knowledge. Results however demonstrated that participants in the control condition were able to recall more facts, make more connections between themes in the test for synthesis and retain more facts than participants in the experimental condition. However, differences in overall performance for both hypermedia systems were not statistically significant: neither system had a different effect on learning.