Flow experience and positive affect during hypermedia learning

Abstract

In this study positive affective states, experienced by users of a one-hour learning program, in a hypermedia learning environment were assessed. It was expected that a positive mood would occur during learning that would be correlated with high training/learning success. Furthermore, the experience of flow was used to indicate whether the challenges and skills were balanced. The results showed that the users of the training program were put into a positive mood. About a quarter of the users experienced flow. Positive moods were associated with higher training success and positive affect was correlated with total knowledge and content knowledge. An association between flow and training success was not observed. The perceived probability of success did not influence learning but a high perceived probability of success was considered as comparably more pleasant than a low perceived probability of success. The results are discussed in the context of self-directed learning.A central task of educational research is to describe and explain how learning technologies can be successfully used in school, university and business. So far the focus has been predominantly on cognitive aspects. Motivational aspects such as learning motivation, mood and other positive states that occur during hypermedia learning have only recently been considered (eg, Chan and Ahern, 1999;Konradt and Sulz, 2001). This study concentrates on positive states occurring during hypermedia learning, how anticipation of success affects the actual learning success, and whether the challenges of the learning system correspond with the skills of the user. Learning with hypermediaIn recent years, it has been repeatedly emphasised that hypermedia systems can deliver and provide information more efficiently than traditional media. Hypermedia allow depicting complex and not clearly defined domains, integrating information with the aid of varying ways of coding, re-conceiving issues in the context of different disciplines

Learning as a Shared Peak Experience: Interactive Flow in Higher Education

“…In terms of outcomes, flow has been linked to academic achievement and learning success in a number of studies (Csikszentmihalyi 1997;Custodero 2002;Ghani 1995;Konradt et al 2001Konradt et al , 2003Rea 2000), covering age groups from elementary school children (Marks 2000;Skinner et al 1990) over secondary schoolers (Goos et al 2002;Shernoff et al 2003) to university students (Guo and Ro 2008;Joo et al 2015;Kiili 2005;Webster et al 1993) and including such diverse settings as foreign language classrooms (Egbert 2003), searching for information on websites (Skadberg and Kimmel 2004) and playing educational computer games (Kiili 2005). Note, however, that in some cases, the association between flow and (apparent) learning success has been shown to be due to the subjective (mis)perception of increased learning rather than actually increased learning (Rossin et al 2009).…”

Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives

“…The survey is usually qualified as a regular method of measuring the optimal forms of experience. Surveys are administered within particular populations, for example, the subscribers to a special group of online services, visitors of some website(s), learners of a certain software product (Ghani & Deshpande, 1994;Harvey, Loomis, & Bell, 1998;Konradt, Filip, & Hoffmann, 2003;Koufaris, 2002;Skadberg & Kimmel, 2004;Trevino & Webster, 1992;Webster, Trevino, & Ryan, 1993). This style of surveying can be called retrospective because it refers to a habitual behavior, related to the cyberspace, to a favorite type of web source, or to a known software product (Huang, 2006;Korzaan, 2003;Montgomery, Sharafi, & Heidman, 2004;Sharafi, Heidman, & Montgomery, 2006).…”

“…The currently available experience leads to useful recommendations aimed at avoiding some possibly restrictive decisions as well as lessening the negative influences on the visitors and customers of the existing e-shops and at perfecting the design and the usability of the would-be e-marketing sites (Pace, 2004;Rettie, 2001;Siekpe, 2005). The educational applications of the optimal experience methodology have always been thoroughly investigated, and the cyberspace field is not an exception (Chan & Ahem, 1999;Konradt & Sulz, 2001;Konradt et al, 2003;Pearce et al, 2005;Shin, 2006). A flow experience is a significant predictor of the learners' satisfaction with the teaching courses (Shin, 2006).…”

“…O'Broin and Clarke (2006) developed a mobile teaching assistant tool that helps plan learning sessions for individual students: when one or more conditions of flow are absent, the tool can suggest modifications to the session so that the conditions may once again be present. More and more advanced applications of the optimal experience theory in the educational practice of the hypermedia use can be expected to follow (Konradt & Sulz, 2001;Konradt et al, 2003).…”

“…Rather little can be said about the populations of the habitual cyberspace visitors speaking languages other than English or Chinese (particular research has been done mostly in Taiwan). Some investigations have also been carried out within populations of German-speaking students (Konradt & Sulz, 2001;Konradt et al, 2003;Tzanetakis & Vitouch, 2002;Vollmeyer & Rheinberg, 2006), within Russian gamers Voiskounsky et al, 2005) and hackers (Voiskounsky & Smyslova, 2003a, 2003b within Korean online gamers (Choi & Kim, 2004), and within all the Scandinavian populations of information technologies users -the speakers of Norwegian , Swedish (Montgomery at al., 2004;Sharafi et al, 2006), and Finnish (Pilke, 2004). Pioneer studies have also been carried out in Israel within the groups chatting in Hebrew (Shoham, 2004), within a population of Brazilian journalists actively using information technologies (Manssour, 2003), and within the Turkish children playing social games (Inal & Cagiltay, 2007).…”