ABSTRACT
The capabilities of hypermedia learning environments-either standalone or globally distributed via the World Wide Web to store, interconnect, and provide access to a wide range of knowledge represented as text, graphics, audio, an d vide o provid e signifcan t opportunitie s t o enric h students ’ learning (Baker , Niemi , & Herl , 1994 ; Beeman e t al. , 1988 ; Conklin , 1987; Dede, 1987; Jonassen, 1986; Jonassen & Wang, 1993; Kearsley, 1988; Landow , 1992 ; Lehrer , 1993 ; Marsh & Kumar , 1992 ; Nielsen , 1990; Yankelovich, Meyrowitz, & van Dam, 1988). Although researc h has explore d educationa l application s o f hypermedi a technologies , many o f thes e studies have primarily describe d feature s o f hypermedi a systems or usage patterns of thes e systems by students . Whereas som e studies hav e demonstrate d improve d learnin g outcome s associate d with th e us e o f hypermedi a programs , overal l ther e ha s bee n limite d empirical documentatio n o f th e educationa l effcac y o f suc h systems . Factors contributin g t o th e provisiona l natur e o f researc h o n learnin g with hypermedia include preoccupation with technological functionality , methodological problems , an d lac k o f attentio n t o relevan t cognitiv e learning theory an d research (Jacobson , 1994) . Further, there ha s been little systematic research int o the relation betwee n specif c hypermedi a
design features , correlate d learnin g activities , an d cognitiv e learnin g outcomes, particularly i n domains tha t ar e conceptually challengin g t o students (e.g., science). These criticisms, and others, are also applicable to much o f th e recen t literatur e o n learnin g wit h networkeddistribute d hypermedia suc h as the World Wid e Web (see Slotta & Linn , chap. 7, this volume).
