ED-MEDIA 1999 Proceedings Book - Association for the ...

Cognitive Tools and their Design Implications for the Interactive Hypermedia
Instructional Program: HIV/AIDS Prevention Education for Women of Color
Heather A. Katz, Doctoral Candidate: Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas at Austin,
USA, hakatz@mail.utexas.edu
1. Overview
The purpose of this interactive hypermedia instructional program (HIV and AIDS Prevention Education for
Women of Color) is to provide women of color HIV and AIDS facts and the skills to protect against contracting
HIV. Both the research of (Park and Hannafin 93) and (Park 95) serve as the theoretical framework for the
development of the program, which mirrors Park and Hannafin's twenty guidelines for the design of interactive
multimedia. Additionally, Park's research was applied to the development of the program's cognitive tools—the
function of the individual cognitive tools in the hypermedia program were designed to be analogous to the
function of specific self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS). Additionally, both the interface design and
content are tailored for African and Latina American women (e.g., culturally appropriate graphics, video, and
language) and their unique circumstances surrounding HIV and AIDS. Literature, audio, and video acquired
from the United States' Centers for Disease Control HIV and AIDS prevention initiative were used to develop
the instructional content. Macromedia Authorware was used to develop the interactive hypermedia
instructional program.
2. Theoretical Background
Several empirical studies have reported (a) significant gains in learner performance (Borsook &
Higginbotham-Wheat 92, Crosby & Stelovsky 95, Frey & Simonson 93); (b) increased course completion rate
(Hardiman & Williams 90); (c) decreased demand on teaching time (Higgins & Boone 92); and (d) a positive
attitude toward hypermedia instruction (Janda 92). Thus, when hypermedia is grounded in research and
integrated with instruction it has the following five potentials: (1) provides rich and realistic contexts for
multichannel learning; (2) Ability to access information non-linearly; (3) focuses learner attention on the
relationship of facts and multiple perspectives of information; (4) encourages active, student-centered learning;
and (5) promotes collaborative learning (Ambrose 91, Nelson & Palumbo 92, Yang & Moore 95-6).
Using the aforementioned hypermedia characteristics, the HIV/AIDS Prevention Education for Woman of
Color program provides the opportunity to immerse oneself in the program's content via a multifaceted learning
environment. It incorporates text, graphics, video, sound, animation, and linkage between nodes of
information. However, the development of effective hypermedia instruction must be based on theoretical and
empirical research.
The proceeding explains how this interactive hypermedia program is grounded in research. First, are two
examples of how this interactive hypermedia program integrates the research of (Park & Hannafin 93) and the
implications for the design of interactive multimedia:
1. "The program's cognitive tools (bookmark, find, glossary, help, notepad, and program map) exemplify
the guideline to "embed structural aids to facilitate selection, organization, and integration."
2. "The program's instructional modules and sub-modules support both "layering of information to
accommodate multiple levels of complexity and accommodate differences," and the "organization of
lesson segments into internally consistent idea units" (p.68).
The following exemplifies how learning strategy research was applied to the design of the cognitive tools
and discusses their analogous relationship. SRLS represent actions and processes that learners implement
during achievement situations. Such actions and processes are "directed at acquiring information or skill that
involve agency, purpose, and instrumentality perceptions by learners. SRLS include organizing and
transforming information, self-consequating, seeking information, and rehearsing or using memory aids"
(Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons 88, p.329). Similar to SRLS within traditional learning environments are
cognitive tools (e.g., bookmark, find, glossary, help, notepad, and program map) within interactive hypermedia
learning environments.