Abstract

This paper describes a study undertaken to examine how four variables (domain knowledge, topic knowledge, individual interest, and situational interest) impact recall of information from a hypertext environment. Participants in the study were 107 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the School of Education at a large northeastern university. Materials for this investigation included: (1) an open-ended assessment of domain knowledge; (2) an assessment of individual interest; (3) an assessment of situational interest; (4) a 150 card hypertext document; (5) a structured recall assessment; and (6) an unstructured recall assessment. Students were first administered the knowledge and interest assessments. Next, students were given an overview and tutorial on the hypertext environment. Students studied the text, then were administered the recall assessments. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the relationships among variables and results. Findings indicated that domain knowledge significantly predicts reading recall. The influence of topic knowledge on reading recall, however, highlighted differential prediction patterns based on the amount of prior topic knowledge the individuals possessed. Neither interest measure significantly predicted reading recall. Hypertext navigation, in conjunction with varying levels of topic knowledge, appeared to impact the amount and type of information recalled. (DLS)

Citation

Lawless, K.A., Brown, S.W. & Mills, R. (1998). Knowledge, Interest, Recall and Navigation: A Look at Hypertext Processing. Presented at Selected Research and Development Presentations at the National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Sponsored by the Research and Theory Division 1998. Retrieved August 14, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/86954/.

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Keywords

• Computer Assisted Instruction
• EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
• Electronic Text
• higher education
• hypermedia
• Interest Inventories
• Interest Research
• Knowledge Level
• Navigation (Information Systems)
• Predictor Variables
• Reader Text Relationship
• reading comprehension
• Reading Research
• Recall (Psychology)
• Retention (Psychology)
• Student Interests