Learning tools with hypertext: An experiment

Abstract

The objectives were to create a prototype of an interactive textbook and to make a preliminary exploration of relationships between learners' performance and the way they use available learning tools: a glossary and a navigation map. The prototype was programmed to log everything that a learner did during the learning process. It was also programmed to generate a graph of the path followed. 70 college students participated in the experiment over a 3-week period. The results show that the three best predictors of posttest results are frequency and duration of consultation of the glossary, and time spent studying the subject matter. There is practically no relationship between the time learners considered to be weak spent examining the subject matter and their results on the posttest but this relationship is significant for learners considered average or strong.