Michael J. Jacobson

Hypertext learning environments, cognitive flexibility, and the transfer of complex knowledge : an empirical investigation

Although the use of hypertext systems for learning complex knowledge has been attracting recent attention, we currently have poor theoretical and research perspectives from which to understand special characteristics associated with learning in nonlinear and multidimensional hypertext instructional systems. A study was conducted to investigate a theory-based hypertext learning environment that provided instruction in a complex and ill-structured domain. The experimental treatment incorporated several features derived from recent cognitive learning theory, in particular a hypertext procedure that presented the instructional material in multiple contexts to highlight different facets of the knowledge. The main results of the study revealed that although the control treatment led to higher performance on the measures of memory for factual knowledge, the more hypertext-like treatment promoted superior knowledge transfer. Overall, these findings suggest hypertext learning environments that present the instructed knowledge by explicitly demonstrating critical interrelationships between abstract and case-specific knowledge components in multiple contexts will help prepare students to use knowledge in new ways and in new situations.

Cognitive Flexibility, Constructivism, and Hypertext: Random Access Instruction for Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill-Structured Domains

Introduction: The Complex Context of Learning and The Design of Instruction A central argument of this paper is that there is a common basis for the failure of many instructional systems. The claim is that these deficiencies in the outcomes of learning, are strongly influenced by underlying biases and assumptions in the design of instruction which represent the instructional domain and its associated performance demands in an unrealistically simplified and well-structured manner. We offer a constructivist theory of learning and instruction that emphasizes the real world complexity and ill-structuredness of many knowledge domains. Any effective approach to instruction must simultaneously consider several highly intertwined topics, such as: • the constructive nature of understanding; • the complex and ill-structured features of many, if not most, knowledge domains; • patterns of learning failure; • a theory of learning that addresses known patterns of learning failure. Based on a consideration of the interrelationships between these topics, we have developed a set of principal recommendations for the development of instructional hypertext systems to promote successful learning of difficult subject matter (see Spiro, Coulson, Feltovich, and Anderson, 1988; Spiro and Jehng 1990). This systematic, theory-based approach avoids the ad hoc character of many recent hypertext-based instructional programs, which have too often been driven by intuition and the power of the technology

The Design of Hypermedia Tools for Learning: Fostering Conceptual Change and Transfer of Complex Scientific Knowledge

A central premise of this article is that hypermedia tools may be developed for case and problem-centered learning in order to achieve significant learning outcomes such as deep conceptual understanding, conceptual change, and knowledge transfer. An approach for developing hypermedia case and problem-centered knowledge resources is proposed-the knowledge mediator framework (KMF)-which consists of design elements and learning activities that have specific sociocognitive theoretical and research rationales. A proof-of-concept study is then discussed; it involved high school students using a hypermedia system based on the main features of the KMF to learn neo-Darwinian evolutionary biology. Students using the experimental hypermedia system were found to change their evolutionary biology problem-solving models, and to continue to use expert-like models even 1 year after using the system. The use of the KMF to develop hypermedia learning materials in other domains and for constructive student projects is also considered. Overall, it is hoped that the framework and research outlined in this article may contribute to design and pedagogical principles for hypermedia learning tools that help students construct rich and useful understandings of challenging knowledge.

A Framework for the Contextual Analysis of Technology-Based Learning Environments.

THE NEED FOR A FRAMEWORK to distinguish the conditions under which different types of educational computing environments are productive is addressed, and a cognitively based Contextual Analysis Framework is proposed that consists of two primary elements: (a)conceptual characteristics of the knowledge domain being learned, including thecomplexity of the concepts and tasks and the degree oforderly and regular conceptual structure of the knowledge domain; and (b)stage of learning (novice, advanced) of the learner within the knowledge domain. The characteristics of different types of technology-based learning environments (e.g., computer-based drill, intelligent tutoring systems, hypertext) are analyzed in terms of the Contextual Analysis Framework. It is argued that the failure to consider important contextual elements of learning related to conceptual characteristics of the domain and the stage of the learner could result in otherwise well-designed instructional computing technologies being used in inappropriate learning situations.

A Profile of Computer Use among the University of Illinois Humanities Faculty.

The faculty of the School of Humanities of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) were surveyed to assess their current use of and attitudes towards educational computing. The respondents were generally self-trained in computer use, indicated positive attitudes to, and made frequent use of computers. Frequency of computer use, level of general computing skills, computer interest, and anxiety were analyzed according to respondent rank, sex, and age. Faculty perceptions of obstacles to computer use in the humanities indicate a need to address issues of funding for hardware, quality of software, training, and technical support. The main faculty interests in applications software include word processing, desktop publishing, graphics, database management, communications, and computer-assisted instruction. While recognizing that humanities faculty do not have the same level of involvement in computing as faculty in more “technical” disciplines, UIUC humanists, as a group, are clearly not intimidated by computer technology.

Designs for Learning Environments of the Future

3, 9, 24, 28, 120, 126, 127, 135, 151, 173, 174, 189, 193, 194, 240, 252, 256, 279 Affordances infrastructural, 238 representational, 8–9 technological, 7, 233 Agent-based modeling, 3, 17–56 Aggregation, 23, 207, 208 Allele, 62, 67, 69, 76, 78, 84, 85 Analysis, 5, 18, 25, 36–51, 53, 72, 78, 81, 85, 94, 98, 101, 115, 128, 147, 150–153, 155, 157, 162, 173–176, 178, 180–182, 184, 197–199, 211, 215, 218–220, 224–227, 242, 277–279 Animation. See Representation, animation Annotations, 151, 152 Argumentation, 3, 149, 150, 153, 215, 240, 247, 249–251, 258 Artifact creation, 1, 92, 144–146, 148, 150, 153, 207, 213, 272 Artificial intelligence, 3, 119 Assessment. See also Evaluation embedded, 61, 63, 76, 80 paper-and-pencil test, 283 Authenticity, 89, 93, 95, 104, 115, 147, 158, 218, 283 Authoring, 6, 30, 44, 82, 83, 91, 121, 132, 149, 150, 153, 170, 171, 173–175, 192, 207, 208, 215, 224, 227 Automap, 174–175, 178, 180

Learning the Physics of Electricity: A Qualitative Analysis of Collaborative Processes Involved in Productive Failure.

Earlier quantitative studies in computer-supported collaborative learning identified ‘Productive Failure’ (Kapur, Cognition and Instruction 26(3):379–424, 2008) as a phenomenon in which students experiencing relative failures in their initial problem-solving efforts subsequently performed better than others who were in a condition not involving an initial failure. In this qualitative study, we examine the problem-solving dynamics of two dyads: a Productive Failure (PF) dyad who initially received a low-structured activity and a Non-Productive Failure (N-PF) dyad who initially received a high-structured activity. Both dyads then received an identical high-structured problem-solving activity. This process was repeated using multiple sets of problems, and this paper will discuss two sets. Interactions of the two dyads were logged. Data for this study included video conversations of the dyads, screen captures of their use of a computer model, and their submitted answers. Results indicated that initial struggle and failed attempts provided an opportunity to the PF dyad to expand their observation space and thus engage deeply with the computer model. Over-scripting proved to be detrimental in creation of a mutual meaning-making space for the N-PF dyad. This paper suggests that the relative success of the PF dyad might be viewed in terms of induction of reflective reasoning practices.

Design Perspectives for Learning in Virtual Worlds

This chapter describes a program of research that is exploring pedagogical, technological, and aesthetic dimensions for designing virtual worlds for learning. The design and research work involving Virtual Singapura is discussed, which is a virtual world for learning science inquiry skills. The chapter first discusses issues in the literature related to learning content-specific knowledge in immersive virtual worlds and game environments, and pedagogical design approaches for learning in virtual worlds. Next, the design of Virtual Singapura is described in terms of its scenario for science inquiry learning, graphic design, behaviors of the intelligent agents representing nineteenth-century characters, and the associated guided inquiry curriculum materials and research materials. The research findings from two studies involving Virtual Singapura are reported. The chapter concludes with consideration of future research that will explore learning with different pedagogical trajectories for providing structured versus unstructured virtual learning experiences as well as activities “outside” of the virtual worlds that might consolidate or enhance understandings students construct “inside” such environments.

Conceptualizing Debates in Learning and Educational Research: Toward a Complex Systems Conceptual Framework of Learning

This article proposes a conceptual framework of learning based on perspectives and methodologies being employed in the study of complex physical and social systems to inform educational research. We argue that the contexts in which learning occurs are complex systems with elements or agents at different levels—including neuronal, cognitive, intrapersonal, interpersonal, cultural—in which there are feedback interactions within and across levels of the systems so that collective properties arise (i.e., emerge) from the behaviors of the parts, often with properties that are not individually exhibited by those parts. We analyze the long-running cognitive versus situative learning debate and propose that a complex systems conceptual framework of learning (CSCFL) provides a principled way to achieve a theoretical rapprochement. We conclude with a consideration of more general implications of the CSCFL for educational research.

Research into Learning in an Intelligent Agent Augmented Multi-user Virtual Environment

This paper describes ongoing learning and intelligent agent research involving a new class of educational Interactive and Digital Media (IDM) that integrates computational intelligent agents with the functionality and affordances of 3D Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE). This research builds upon a proof-of-concept VIRTUAL SINGAPURA immersive learning environment project. Ongoing technical development work and planned learning research are described.