ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a research program in which authors designed, prototyped and evaluated several versions of a hypermedia presentation explaining how a mechanical system works. It examines whether people learn differently from hypermedia presentations, including hyperlinks and animations, compared to printed manuals containing the same visual and verbal information. The chapter also discusses whether people learn more from an animation of a mechanical system if they first try to mentally animate the system. It compares the learning outcomes of interacting with the hypermedia manuals to those of studying printed text and diagrams containing the same content. The chapter also compares hypermedia and printed versions of authors manual to hypermedia and printed instruction on the same type of flushing cistern from commercially available hypermedia and multimedia presentations. It describes six different experiments, some of which evaluated different versions of authors hypermedia presentation and some of which were focused on specific aspects of their model.
