The Relevance of Hierarchies to Learning Biology From Hypertext

Abstract

Previous research on text-based learning has shown the relevance of hierarchical structures to the acquisition of complex concepts and the formation of knowledge structures. Because of the inflexible nature of traditional text, however, these studies have been limited to comparing participants learning with either hierarchical or linear presentations. As a consequence, our understanding of the importance of hierarchies to information processing is only relative to that of linear text. The purpose of this investigation is to move beyond that comparison, to explore more deeply the relevance of hierarchies to information processing. For this study, the traits that characterize a hierarchy were isolated and used in varying combinations to create 4 different organizations for a single body of information: hierarchical, clustered, unstructured, and linear. The creation of these structures was made possible by hypertext technology. Participants were each assigned to study one of these systems and were then asked to take cued-association, problem-solving, and factual-knowledge posttests. Results of these tests suggest that participants in all conditions created hierarchical representations as they worked and that those in the nonlinear conditions used this structure to guide their exploration of the material. They also suggest that an important function of hierarchies may be to define relations between concepts. Results are discussed in relation to current theories of learning, the construction of knowledge structures, and application to educational settings.