Modeling of relationships between students’ navigational behavior and problems in hypermedia learning system: the moderating role of working memory capacity

ABSTRACT

The studies in the literature show that all learners may not benefit from hypermedia learning systems in the same way as a result of their individual differences. Learners with different individual characteristic may display different navigational pattern and they may encounter different problems in the hypermedia learning system. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationships among students’ navigational behaviors, disorientation, academic achievement, and satisfaction in hypermedia learning systems, and also, investigating the moderating impact of working memory capacity on this relationship. The participants of the study consist of 81 university students. This study utilized path analysis to examine the relationships between the measured variables. The results obtained after testing the model indicate that the relationships between navigational metrics and disorientation, academic achievement, and satisfaction change depending on working memory capacity. The results may provide a basis for developing an adaptive system with dynamic models taking into account students’ individual differences.

KEYWORDS:

• Working memory capacity
• navigational behavior
• disorientation
• academic achievement
• satisfaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayça Çebi

Dr Ayça Çebi is a researcher at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology, Trabzon University, Turkey. Her research interests include adaptive systems, data mining and educational technology.

Tolga Güyer

Dr Tolga Güyer is a professor at the Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology, Gazi University, Turkey. His areas of research include fuzzy modeling in educational sciences and educational adaptive hypermedia design.