External Regulating Agents' Adaptive Content and Process Scaffolding: The Key to Fostering Mental Model Development during Hypermedia Learning

External Regulating Agents’ Adaptive Content and Process Scaffolding: The Key to Fostering Mental Model Development during Hypermedia Learning Roger Azevedo Department of Psychology, Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis 3693 Norriswood Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA {razevedo@memphis.edu} Daniel C. Moos and Jeffrey A. Greene University of Maryland, Department of Human Development 3304 Benjamin Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA provide adaptive scaffolding to students who are learning about well-structured tasks with traditional CBLEs such as intelligent tutoring systems (ITS; e.g., Anderson et al., 2005), providing adaptive scaffolding for students learning about conceptually-challenging domains remains a challenge for non-linear hypermedia instruction (e.g., Azevedo, 2005; Hmelo-Silver & Azevedo, 2006). We argue that harnessing the full power of hypermedia learning environments will require empirical research aimed at understanding what kinds of scaffolds are effective in facilitating individualized instruction and when these scaffolds are best deployed (see Azevedo, In this study, we examined the effectiveness of different human scaffolding conditions in both facilitating adolescents’ learning about the circulatory system with a hypermedia environment, and facilitating adolescents’ ability to regulate their learning with hypermedia. We also investigated why and how different types of scaffolding were differentially effective. We created three scaffolding conditions based on Winne and colleagues’ (Winne, 2001) information-processing model of self- regulated learning (SRL), research on scaffolding (e.g., Azevedo & Hadwin, 2005; Chi et al.;, 1996, 2001; Graesser et al., 1995, 2005; Pea, 2004; Wood et al., 1976) and research on learning with hypermedia (Azevedo et al., 2005, in press). The empirical results from our human tutoring studies can be used to inform the design of adaptive hypermedia learning environments. In this paper we focused on three research questions— 1) Does a confirmatory factor analysis of our four measures of circulatory system knowledge meet common fit criteria? 2) What is the influence of the pretest, developmental level, and condition on participant posttest scores, as examined using structural equation modeling? 3) How are different scaffolding conditions and developmental levels related to students’ use of self- regulatory processes during learning with hypermedia? Abstract We examined the effectiveness of different scaffolding interventions in facilitating adolescents’ shift to more sophisticated mental models as indicated by both performance and process data. Ninety-three (N = 93) adolescents were randomly assigned to one of three scaffolding conditions (adaptive content and process scaffolding [ACPS], adaptive process scaffolding [APS], and no scaffolding [NS]) and were trained to use a hypermedia environment to learn about the circulatory system. Pretest, posttest, and verbal protocol data were collected. The performance data revealed that the students in the ACPS condition gained significantly more conceptual knowledge, as examined using a structural equation model, than did those in the other two comparison conditions. The verbal protocol data revealed that students in the ACPS condition used a significantly higher proportion of planning processes than students in the NS condition, and a significantly higher proportion of monitoring processes than students in the APS and NS condition. By contrast, students in the NS condition used a significantly higher proportion of handling task difficulty processes than students in the ACPS and APS condition. Keywords: self-regulated learning; mental models; science; metacognition; learning strategies; hypermedia Objectives of the Study Computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) are effective to the extent that they can adapt to the needs of individual learners by systematically and dynamically providing scaffolding of key learning processes (Anderson et al., 1995; Lajoie & Azevedo, 2006). These environments’ ability to provide adaptive, individualized instruction is derived from an understanding of how learner characteristics, system features, and the mediating learning processes interact during learning in particular contexts. A critical aspect of providing individualized instruction is scaffolding, or instructional support in the form of guides, strategies, and tools which are used during learning to support a level of understanding that would be impossible to attain if students learned on their own (Chi et al., 1996; 2001; Collins et al., 1989; Graesser, McNamara, & VanLehn, 2005). Despite our ability to Method Participants. Ninety-three (N=93) adolescent students (mean age = 13.7 years, 55% girls) from both a middle