Interaction of Hypertext Forms and Global versus Sequential Learning Styles

Abstract

In this study, the relevance of the distinction between sequential and global learners in the context of learning with hypertext was investigated. Learners with global learning style were expected to produce better results when learning with hypertext, whereas learners with sequential learning style should profit from a structural aid in form of a suggested path through the document. In a learning experiment the influence of learning style (global versus sequential) and an additional suggested path through the document on learning achievement with hypertext was empirically tested. The main result was that sequential learners showed poorer results when learning without suggested path, global learners achieved the same results in both text conditions. When learning with a suggested path, both learning styles achieved equal results. We conclude that students with sequential learning style are at no disadvantage when learning with hypertext as long as they can rely on an additional path. USING HYPERTEXT FOR LEARNINGEven before hypertext was realized, visionaries like Vanevar Bush (1945) had the idea of linking information in non-linear fashion to provide new possibilities for the presentation of knowledge. In contrast to traditional written media like books, in which the chapters and information are presented in fixed sequence, hypertexts offer many different methods of presenting and assimilating information. Instead of a linear sequence the reader gets a linked, non-linear organization of knowledge. Single information units or knots are connected through 79 Ó 2005, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

Paging and scrolling: Cognitive styles in learning from hypermedia

“…Similarly, Calcaterra et al (2005) found out that learning outcomes were not affected by the cognitive style in their study using a relatively sample of 40 students and dividing them into four groups; low and high computer experience and holistic and sequential styles. However, unlike these and unlike the present study, Dunser and Jirasko (2005), who used ILS (Index of Learning Styles) to distinguish the styles, concluded that cognitive styles created difference in learning; in their study on 84 subjects, they found out that sequential learners showed lower performance than globals in hypermedia learning.…”

“…For example, Ford, Wilson, Foster, Ellis and Spink (2002)—using CSA—found that FDs navigated sequentially or linearly, whereas FIs navigated more freely using home pages, maps, and so on. Dunser and Jirasko (2005) found—using ILS—that sequential learners used forward and back more than global learners did. Ford and Chen (2000) concluded that FIs made less use of maps and indexes than FDs, so FIs navigated more linearly than FDs.…”

“…A recent study (Atasoy, Güyer & Atasoy, 2008) found no significant effect of cognitive style on navigation pattern. Also, studies on learning in hypermedia and cognitive style reached different conclusions; some found a significant effect of cognitive styles on learning (Dunser & Jirasko, 2005; Graff, 2003), but others found no effect (Calcaterra, Antoniettia & Underwood, 2005; Ford & Chen, 2000).…”

How Has the Internet Reshaped Human Cognition?

“…However, researchers also highlighted the role of the learner characteristics in mediating the effects of cognitive load in hypertexts (Niederhauser and others 2000; Shapiro and Niederhauser 2004). Factors including having prior knowledge about the subject (Dillon and Gabbard 1998; Gall and Hannafin 1994), a global cognitive style (Dünser and Jirasko 2005), increased motivation and interest (Moos and Marroquin 2010), and better meta-cognitive abilities (Verezub and Wang 2008) contribute to better learning from hypertexts. Including elements that supported navigation can also reduce the cognitive load effects in hypertext environments (Antonenko and Niederhauser 2010; Brusilovsky 2004; Van Oostendorp and Juvina 2007).…”

Digital Generation: Between Myth and Reality

“…Тем не менее исследователи подчеркивают факт существенной зависимости результатов обучения от индивидуальных особенностей самого ученика [Shapiro & Niederhauser 2004], стиля учения [Dünser & Jirasko 2005], мотивации и интереса [Moos & Marroquin 2010], метакогнитивных способностей [Verezub & Wang 2008]. Снижать когнитивную перегрузку в гипертекстовых средах позволяет включение элементов, поддерживающих навигацию по тексту [Antonenko & Niederhauser 2010].…”