Volume 8, Number 1 1999
J.M. Ewing, J.D. Dowling, and N. Coutts
Department of Educational Studies Northern College, Dundee Campus, Gardyne Road Dundee, Scotlandj.m.ewing@norcol.ac.uk
In this paper the major focus is the place of learning theory in the planning,designing and implementation of learning tasks using Information and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT). The current interest in the constructivist approach is recognised andsome of the recent writing is summarised, looking at both the more general understandingof constructivism and at the attempts to relate it specifically to hypermedia applicationsof learning. A possible model for applying constructivist theory to learning (based on sixprincipal features) is proposed. An example of the application of this proposed model to alearning task involving the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) is described and somedirections for a wider applicability are identified.
Effects of Violating Screen Design Principles of Balance, Unity, and Focus onRecall Learning, Study Time, and Completion Rates
Michael Szabo
Department of Educational Psychology University of Alberta, 6-102 Education North Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaT6G 2G5mike.szabo@ualberta.ca
Heather Kanuka
Department of Educational Policy Studies University of Alberta, 7-104 Education North Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2G5Heather.kanuka@ualberta.ca
The purpose of this experimental research study was to determine if artistic screens(screens that employ accepted principles of visual design) influence the learning process.The independent variable was screen design; the dependent variables were recall learning,lesson completion time, and completion rate. Fifty-two adult subjects from a researchuniversity in Western Canada participated in this study. Comparisons of the two groupsshowed that there was no difference in achievement scores between subjects who used thelesson with good design principles and those who used the lesson with poor designprinciples. However, it was found that subjects who used the lesson with good designprinciples completed the lesson in less time (21%) and had a higher completion rate (74%vs. 45%) than those who used the lesson with poor design principles. Possible explanationsfocused on automaticity of control processes while learning and complexity of cognitiveprocessing as a function of complexity of visuals.
Spatial Versus Conceptual Maps as Learning Tools in Hypertext
Sharon McDonald
University of Sunderland St. Peter’s Campus, St. Peter’s Way Sunderland SR6 0DD, ENGLANDSharon.McDonald@Sunderland.ac.uk
Rosemary J. Stevenson
Department of Psychology, University of Durham Durham DH1 3LE, ENGLANDTwo studies are described that examined the effects of navigational aids on navigationand learning in hypertext. Experiment 1 examined the effects of localised spatial maps,textual contents lists and no aid on subjects’ ability to locate information inhypertext and answer questions about the subject matter of the text. The results showedthat a spatial map was better than a contents list at facilitating navigation but the twoaids did not differ in their ability to facilitate learning. The no aid conditionperformed worst on both navigation and learning. Experiment 2 compared a spatial map, aconceptual map and no aid on both navigation and learning. The results showed thatnavigation was best with a spatial map whereas learning was best with a conceptual map.Subjects with no aid also navigated poorly, but their learning was better than that of thespatial map subjects. These results are discussed in relation to the way in whichnavigational and learning aids facilitate different memory representations, a superficialand short lived structural representation of the text or a deeper and more durablesituation model of the information presented in the text.
The Effects of System Response Time on User Behavior in a HypermediaEnvironment
David Allen Child
Indiana University-Bloomington 201 North Rose Street Bloomington, IN 47405, USAdchild@indiana.edu
This study examined the information location strategies of users of a specializedhypermedia system when a five-second system response delay was introduced. Seventy-fourparticipants used Hypertext on Hypertext to complete three information location tasks. AMultivariate Analysis of Variance with independent variables of Group and General ComputerExperience indicated significant main effects of Group for all dependent variables withone exception. There were no significant main effects of General Computer Experience, norwere there any significant interactions.
Analyses of user behavior support the notion that a short delay produces two distinctstrategies. Delays resulted in a “locate-in-depth” strategy: users viewed longerstrings of consecutive screens in the same section (i.e., “page-turning”), andaccessed reference areas such as the Index more often. When no delay was present, usersemployed a “locate-in-breadth” strategy: they frequently switched sections,viewed more screens of information, took longer to complete the tasks, and tended tobacktrack more often.
One unexpected result of the study was that regardless of the strategy employed, oraffective factors such as frustration, all users were able to complete at least one of theassigned tasks, and 71 of the 74 participants were able to complete all tasks to somedegree.
CD/Web Hybrids: Delivering Multimedia to the Online Learner
David P. Diaz
Cuesta Community College P.O. Box 8106 San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8106, USAZaiddave@thegrid.net
The World Wide Web (WWW) represents an exciting and potent force for educationalcontent delivery. There are numerous multimedia technologies that can facilitateself-directed, practice-centered learning and meet the challenges of educational deliveryto the adult learner. However, delivering content via the WWW has been plagued byunreliability and inconsistency of information transfer, resulting in unacceptable delaysand the inability to effectively deliver complex multimedia elements including audio,video, and animation. This article describes how a CD/Web hybrid, essentially a web siteon a compact disc (CD), combines the strengths of the CD-ROM and the WWW, and facilitatesthe delivery of multimedia elements while preserving connectivity. Pressing a web siteonto a CD-ROM can reduce the amount of time that students spend interacting with a giventechnology, and can increase the amount of time they spend learning.
Ernestine Enomoto
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USAenomotoe@hawaii.edu
Victor Nolet
Western Washington University Ballingham, WA 98225-9009, USAGary Marchionini
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USAIn 1995, the Baltimore Learning Community (BLC) project established a networkedelectronic learning community through the use of high quality digital science and socialstudies resources and high-speed networking. When fully implemented, the project willenable middle school teachers to access images, text, Web sites and full motion video viahigh speed Internet connections. Extending such multimedia configurations into urbanmiddle schools has fostered a rethinking of teaching and learning in content classes aswell as a reconsideration of how media and method are integrated. BLC facilitates teacherengagement in designing authentic classroom instruction framed by performance assessments.It links project teachers and school site coordinators through a client server, enhancinglearning across schools. However, such a project is not without its challenges, human aswell as technological.