Hypermedia learning and evaluation: a qualitative study of learners' interaction with the Perseus Project

摘要

The use of hypermedia, whether on-line documentation, CD-ROMs, Web pages, or other materials, is gaining ground as a commonly used tool in academic and nonacademic settings. Although much has been written about hypermedia-based learning, the current research does not present much empirical evidence for learning being enhanced with multimedia. Therefore, more research needs to be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of this technology, and further, to provide specific guidelines for its successful implementation. This exploratory study provides a qualitative report on the integration of the extensive use of large-scale hypermedia databases (Perseus) in actual class settings. The study examines how the learners use Perseus to create their projects, what their affective attitude and cognitive perceptions are towards hypermedia in general, and the Perseus system in particular. The paper concludes with some recommendations for future use of Perseus technology in the teaching. The researcher hopes that the insights gained in this small study will help designers to continually develop and refine better intellectual tools, which augment the learners' performance.