The purpose of this study was to examine whether matching navigation mode of a learning environment with learners' preferred navigation mode would facilitate their learning in a web environment. Sixty-eight undergraduate students were randomly assigned to treatments (linear vs. nonlinear navigation mode) and received four criterion tests designed…

Purpose: Today's technology supports the design of more and more sophisticated interactive learning environments. This paper aims to argue that such design should develop from first principles. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper by first principles is meant: learning theory and principles of course design. These principles are briefly…

Uses Frank Lloyd Wright's (1867-1959) organic architecture as a metaphor to define the relationship between a part and a whole, whether the focus is on a building and its surroundings or information delivered via hypertext. Reviews effective strategies for designing text information via hypertext and incorporates three levels of information…

This paper presents an academic World Wide Web authoring tool called AutoHTML. This tool, a work in progress, is designed to allow the novice user the ability to construct high level Web pages with a consistent look and feel. The system works with a standard Web browser without the addition of component plug-ins. Additional HTML meta-tags are…

Provides an overview of the potential of hypermedia as an instructional medium and discusses research that has investigated learning outcomes. Discusses instructional design considerations to guide developers and designers of hypermedia systems, including learner characteristics and elements of content presentation such as text structure,…

This paper shows how to use design patterns for building educational multimedia applications. The first section summarizes design issues related to organizing the information, the organization of the interface, and implementation. Navigating through information is covered in the second section, including problems, motivations, and solutions, and…

The hypertext markup language (HTML) used to develop pages for the world wide web also has potential for use in creating some types of multimedia instruction destined for CD-ROMs. After providing a brief overview of HTML, this document presents pros and cons relevant to CD-ROM production. HTML can offer compatibility to both Windows and Macintosh…

This paper presents an approach for developing flexible Hypermedia Learning Environments (HMLE) and applies this theoretical framework to the creation of a layered model of a hypermedia system, called HyperDisc, developed at the German Institute for Research on Distance Education. The first section introduces HMLE and suggests that existing…

This paper presents guidelines for World Wide Web-based instructional design, based on the 3Ls (i.e., linking, layout, and learner support). The first section, focusing on macro level design, discusses nodes and links, including how nodes work, determining nodes, node size, presentation format, characteristics of links, and kinds of links. The…

This paper presents interface guidelines from research at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) School of Information Sciences in developing a collaborative, problem-based learning environment for the World Wide Web. The lessons learned are based on student use and evaluation of three interface prototypes over the course of 3 years and…

This research investigates the ways people learn from multimedia and how navigational patterns can be incorporated into the design structure. The paper begins with a discussion of present navigational research and then presents the results from the initial empirical work, including a pilot study of primary and secondary children using multimedia…

A World Wide Web-based course at Winona State University (Minnesota) in the history of modern Germany (1818-1990), offered during the 1997-98 academic year, showcased several teaching innovations. Taught in "studio mode," with a workstation for each student, the course combined seminar discussions with electronic communication via e-mail…

This paper describes the development of two World Wide Web sites, "Our Place in the World" (OPITW) and "Chicana and Chicano Space" (CCS), specifically designed as resources for art educators, and describes a framework for three blended levels or layers of navigation that support knowledge construction within the domain. The…

This paper introduces a multimedia-based educational system on logistics developed at the University of Magdeburg (Germany), reports on development and implementation of the prototype, and discusses ideas for redesign. The system was tested, used, and evaluated at the university and within a European network of 24 universities, colleges, and…

This paper reports on a study that observed students creating structured hypertext documents, and how they try to convey structural information, in order to formulate tentative guidelines/principles for the design of concept mapping tools or hypertext systems with an emphasis on the representation of structural knowledge, and to formulated…