The Influence of Configurational Knowledge o n Children's Problem-Solving Performance in a Hypermedia Environment

We believe hypermedia environments need to be defined by their capacity to in teract effectively with the limitations and constraints of students' cognitive informat ion processing system. In this study, we contrasted four navigational platforms to test t h e hypothesis that the development of configurational knowledge increases learners ' abilities to (a) find information in a hypermedia environment and (b) use t h a t information to solve a scientific problem. We had learners search a hypermedia environment on the temperate rainforest with the goal of learning as much as they could about the problem in order to offer solutions to the current conflict over use of the oldgrowth forests of the Pacific Northwest. Learners navigated through the site using (a) a traditional outline, (b) a labeled diagram of the cyberspace environment, (c) a visual metaphor showing categories of information as puzzle pieces, and (d) a geographic m a p of the Pacific Northwest. Results revealed noteworthy findings regarding metacognitive abilities and hypermedia learning. Background and Purpose Computer use in education will continue to increase at an astounding rate over the next 10 years. Students are using hypermedia systems in exponentially-increasing numbers to understand and solve problems, find 1 *Prepublication working draft. Do not cite without permission of the first author. Correspondence should be directed to: Dr. Neil H. Schwartz, Professor Department of Psychology California State University, Chico, CA 959290234 Email address: [email protected]