Academic tasks frequently require students to effectively process multiple sources across print and digital mediums. Yet, studies of multiple source use have almost exclusively confined examinations to a single medium. In the present study, undergraduate students (n = 50) wore a head-mounted video camera while developing a PowerPoint presentation…

This study examined the role of relevance determinations within the context of undergraduates' multiple text reading and writing. In this study, undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (i.e., to compose a research report about either the causes of or the solutions to the urban housing crisis), using a…

Many researchers have proposed a causal link between low domain knowledge and disorientation in hypertext. Our objective was to challenge this hypothesis, examining other variables that might have an influence, such as design, reading instructions, or working memory capacity. We analysed navigation patterns and comprehension scores in a sample of…

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine how skilled adolescent readers draw on their prior knowledge of multimodality and narrative text structure when navigating an intentionally designed digital narrative text. We know that skilled middle-school readers have been taught narrative text structure and that adolescents who use the…

This study explored relationships between Internet-specific justification beliefs and source evaluation and corroboration during Web search. Fifty university students completed the Internet-Specific Epistemic Justification Inventory (ISEJ), which targeted beliefs concerning the justification of Internet-based knowledge claims about natural science…

In the present study, we investigated whether online learning behaviours (navigation and writing activities) mediated the relation between learner characteristics (prior knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, working memory, and motivation) and declarative knowledge. Specifically, we investigated whether the quality of participants' written assignments…

This study aims to investigate secondary school students' reading comprehension and navigation of networked hypertexts with and without a graphic overview compared to linear digital texts. Additionally, it was studied whether prior knowledge, vocabulary, verbal, and visual working memory moderated the relation between text design and…

In the past decade, a number of personalized learning systems have been developed and they mainly focus on learners' prior knowledge. On the other hand, previous research suggested that gender differences and cognitive styles have great effects on student learning. To this end, this study examines how human factors, especially gender differences…

Introduction: In contemporary information societies, reading digital text has become pervasive. One of the most distinctive features of digital texts is their internal connections via hyperlinks, resulting in non-linear hypertexts. Hypertext structure and previous knowledge affect navigation and comprehension of digital expository texts. From the…

Tagging systems represent the conceptual knowledge of a community. We experimentally tested whether people harness this collective knowledge when navigating through the Web. As a within-factor we manipulated people's prior knowledge (no knowledge vs. prior knowledge that was congruent/incongruent to the collective knowledge inherent in the tags).…

This study investigates the capacity of children to develop map-based skills in spatial orientation in an urban environment unknown to them. In this quantitative study, a total of 328 pupils of grades 3-5 had to achieve specific skills with regard to map-based skills in spatial orientation (such as turning-off skills, transformation from map to…

While e-learning is now characterized by a past and trends within that past, there continues to be uncertainty about how e-learning is defined and conceptualized, whether or not we like e-learning, and whether or not it is as meaningful to us as face to face learning. The purpose of this study was to document the e-learning perceptions of students…

In this study, a follow-up analysis of the data reported in Lin et al. ("Learn Media Technol." doi: 10.1080/17439884.2011.629660 , 2011), we investigated the relationship between student use of a virtual field trip (VFT) system and the probability of students reporting wanting to visit the national park site upon which the VFT was modeled,…

Approximately 80% of youth on the autism spectrum in the U.S. who attend college will attend a 2-year college at some point in their postsecondary education. These community-based colleges are universally-accessible educational institutions which offer both academic and vocational courses and are experienced in teaching diverse learners who may…

This research describes a study that examined the influences of cognitive style (as assessed by the CSA- Riding 1991) and Learners' Prior Knowledge on student recall performance of the contents of online course presented via two navigational formats (linear sequential navigation version versus nonlinear free navigation version). The study was…