The Role of Goal Structure in Undergraduates’ Use of Self-Regulatory Variables in Two Hypermedia Learning Tasks

We collected think-aloud and posttest data from 60 undergraduates to examine whether they used different proportions of self-regulated learning (SRL) variables in two related learning tasks about science topics while using a hypermedia environment. We also manipulated the goal structure of the two hypermedia learning tasks to explore whether the goal structure of the learning task is related to the use of SRL variables. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (mastery goal structure, performance-approach goal structure, or performance-avoidance goal structure) and participated in two 20-minute learning tasks in which they used hypermedia to learn about the circulatory system in one learning task and the respiratory system in another learning task. Results indicate that a mastery goal structure and a performance-approach goal structure are related to undergraduates' use of similar proportions of SRL variables in two hypermedia learning tasks, whereas a performance-avoidance goal structure is related to undergraduate's use of different proportions of SRL variables, specifically planning, in two similar hypermedia learning tasks. Based on these results, the implications for the design of hypermedia learning environments are discussed. ********** Computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) are becoming commonplace in the classroom (Alexander, Graham, & Harris, 1998). Recent CBLEs provide an environment in which students can pursue personal goals and solve challenging problems (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996; Lajoie, 2000; Lajoie & Azevedo, in press). Hypermedia, an example of a type of CBLE that allows students to pursue personal goals, presents information in a nonsequential and nonlinear manner which allows students to access information of their choosing (Jacobson & Archodidou, 2000; Jonassen, 1989). Though this learning environment should foster a student's participation in the construction of knowledge structures (Hartley, 1985), research has begun to question the effectiveness of these CBLEs (Williams, 1996; White & Frederriksen, in press). Empirical research has produced mixed results on the effectiveness of such learning environments. Most of this research has compared student-controlled and program-controlled treatment conditions (Williams, 1996). Student-controlled CBLEs offer students the provision of choice in accessing information, whereas program-controlled CBLEs present information in a predetermined manner. For example, while researchers such as Morrison, Ross, and Baldwin (1992) found that program-controlled treatments were superior to student-controlled treatments with respect to the posttest achievements of 6th graders learning about mathematical concepts, other researchers such as Ellermann and Free (1990) found that student-controlled instructional contexts fostered higher levels of learning with adults learning about phonetics. These mixed results suggest that some individuals can effectively use CBLEs such as hypermedia, whereas other students have difficulty using these CBLEs to learn. Recent research has begun to shed light on why some students have difficulty effectively using student-controlled CBLEs, such as hypermedia environments. While these environments may offer a student the opportunity to choose which information to access, the multiple navigational choices may present the student with cognitive overload and disorientation (Muller-Kaltjoff & Moller, 2003). In order to address these potential hurdles to learning with these environments, the design of hypermedia often incorporates navigational aids such as graphical overviews (Muller-Kaltjoff & Moller) and scaffolds (Brush & Saye, 2001). However, some researchers suggest the provision of support tools does not guarantee that students will effectively use them while learning with hypermedia (Clarebout, Elen, Johnson, & Shaw, 2002). In order to better account for why some students have difficulty learning with hypermedia, other researchers have focused on individual student factors that may affect learning with hypermedia. …