Writing Model in Hypertext Environment

(source: my thesis- improving learning ability through hypertext system)

According to Rada [1991], writing is a combination of three activities: exploring, organizing, and encoding. Writing is the transformation of a network of related concepts (retrieved from long-term memory or external sources) into an outline or a hierarchy, which is later encoded into a linear sequence of words, sentences, paragraphs, sections, chapters, and illustrations.

Writing can stimulate the development of links between concepts [Glynn and Muth, 1994]. Newell, [cited in Rivard, 1994] concluded that analytic essay writing encouraged learners to integrate new information with relevant prior knowledge. Concept maps are diagrams that useful in analytic essay writing to make links between concepts words explicit using lines that represent semantic relationships. Novak [1996] found them to be useful in a variety of applications to facilitate learning, and encouragement of teachers and learners to understand the constructed nature of knowledge.

Less graphical but more common forms of the concept map are the hierarchical outline (indented listings) and menus (lists where each item leads to another list). These are common tools in many word processors and on web sites, and they help to create and reorganize structure between concepts and communicate that structure to others. These relationships are used in hypertext in generating forward and backward navigation. Thus, construction of those writing model in mental representation has important consequences for hypertext navigation.

References:

[Rada, 1991] Rada, Roy, 1991, Hypertext: From Text to Expertext, McGraw Hill Publishers.

[Glynn and Muth, 1994] Glynn, S. M. and Muth, D., 1994, Reading and Writing to Learn Science: Achieving Scientific Literacy, in Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31(9), pp. 1057-1073.

[Rivard, 1994] Rivard, L.P., 1994, A review of writing to learn in science: Implications for practice and research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, pp. 947-969.

[Novak, 1996] Novak, J.D., 1996, Concept Mapping: A tool for improving science teaching and learning. In Treagust, D.F., Duit, R., & Fraser, B.J. (Eds.), Improving teaching and learning in science and mathematics (pp. 32-43). New York: Teachers College.