The purpose of the study is to identify the effects of two types of hypertext on learning effectiveness according to students' metacognitive levels. One type was an non-structured hypertext, the other is a structured hypertext.
On the basis of the related literature review, the hypotheses were formulated as follows:
Hypotheses I : Between high and low metacognitive group, there would be significant differences in the number of total nodes, total short-cut nodes, unrelated nodes, and learning task performance in hpertext llearning.
Hypotheses II : Between the non-structured hypertext learning and the structured
hypertext learning group, there would be significant differences in the number of total nodes, total short-cut nodes, unrelated nodes, and learning task performance in hpertext llearning.
Hypotheses Ⅲ : There would be interaction effects between metacognitive levels and hypertext structures on the number of total nodes, total short-cut nodes, unrelated nodes, and learning task performance in hpertext llearning.
The subjects of the study were the 84 1st grade students intentionally selected from 2 classes of K middle school, located in Kong-ju. Forty-three students of one class were treated with the non-structured hypertext program, and 41 students of the other class were treated with the structured hypertext program. The metacognition test consisted of 31 items selected from MSLQ (Motivation Strategies for Learning Questionnaire) developed by Pintrich, Smith, Gracia, & Mckeachie. And two types of hypertext programs were developed by the researcher using Multimedia Toolbook 3.0 authoring tool.
To testify the effects of the hypertexts on learning effectiveness by Learner’s Metacognitive level, t-test procedure of SPSS/PC+ 4.01 program was applyed.
The results of the study showed that the hypertext structure was not a significant factor in promoting learning performances whereas cognitive levels of students was. It was concluded that the non-structured hypertext is more effective than the structured hypertext for students with high metacognitive level. On the other hand, the structured hypertext is more effective than the non-structured hypertext for with low metacognitive level. This finding implies that students' metacognition level should be considered when a hypertext program is used in classroom teaching.