The Effects of Content-Structure Focusing on Learner Structural Knowledge Acquisition, Retention, and Disorientation in a Hypermedia Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hypermedia content-structure focusing on learners’ structural knowledge acquisition, retention, and disorientation. Sixty-one students volunteered to participate in the study. A Completely Randomized Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) design with two groups of participants was used to test all hypotheses. The results of the study suggest that, when a learner’s attention is at least partially focused on the structural aspects of a hypermedia lesson, hypermedia disorientation will decrease and structural knowledge acquisition and retention will increase. Rationale for these findings are provided, and the implications for hypermedia design are discussed.