Arranging hypertext page design system

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

This step is used to propose a design structure and typical hypertext function that should be provided in devising hypertext document. In this thesis, the author will adopt the page design model that is proposed by Solli [Solli, 1998]. The model has been reviewed in previous chapter.

Beside page level design determination, typical hypertext function should be provided in devising hypertext document. For this purpose, the author refers to Dreher’s work that mentions a number of typical hypertext functions [Dreher, 1997].

1. Contents lists that reflect the contents element of hypertext.

2. Views that allow readers to identify article by category.

3. Searching capability.

4. Navigation that includes backtracking.

5. Help function.

6. Print function that includes sharing connection.

7. Minor important information that includes annotations, marginal notes, footnotes, and endnotes.

8. Open connection to files.

These hypertext functions will be used in designing this hypertext-writing project. Therefore, the goal of applying these functions should be directed to student’s perspectives and environments.

References:

[Solli, 1998] Solli, A., 1998, Hypertext ‘papers’ on the Web: Students confronts the linear tradition?, The Journal of the Association for History and Computing, Vol.I, No.2, November

[Dreher, 1997] Dreher, H.V., 1997, Empowering Human Cognitive Activity through Hypertext Technology, PhD Thesis. Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia

Analyzing documents : 2. The organizational element & 3.The presentation element

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

The organizational element

In this approach, the content elements of the document are organized by using hierarchical and parallel nodes and links. This organization will determine whether the document should be read sequentially or non-sequentially. The relationship determination of nodes is important in this step. The organizational element should determine how the nodes and links arranged to let user read sequentially or non-sequentially. An external and incoming links should be determined too. However, to explore information in scientific writing, a reader may read non-linearly. Thus, the organizational element has to be equipped with explore links. When there is an incoming link that leads to result node and its sub nodes then the reader can jump to another nodes non-linearly.

The presentation element

Three presentation types that have been identified for document writing:

1. Textual type that limited to the word or alphabetical content nodes such as title, definition, keyword, quotation, caption label, reference list, index, table of content, a paragraph, and appendixes.

2. Graphical type that presents the content and structure of document graphically such as document map, outline (like TOC), diagram, table, chart, picture, and icon.

3. Combined type is to present content and organizational element more comprehensively. For example, icon Goto in taskbar can lead to certain definition instead of clicking an associated word.

Analyzing documents : 1. The content element

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

Scheme of hypertext document construction methodology Thuring et al have proposed an approach to examine the component of a coherent hypertext document. This rule is applicable as a hypertext author guidance to analyze components in a document that will be acquired in hypertext development. There are three components to be analyzed – the content element, the organizational element, and the presentation element [Thuring et al, 1991].

1. The content element

1. Title: to attract the reader at first scan in the database list. The title should be concise, accurate and informative. Thus, the title is the content nodes that must have only the key words of the paper and must be identified all. The title nodes may have two heading statements. The usual format with two heading is to place the main thing as the most important key phrase as the main title and followed by subtitle.

2. Abstract: to stimulate the expert to read the paper and supplies the casual reader with definite information. Abstract can be become a summary node that usually between 150 and 250 words [Stapleton, 1987, p.21]. It includes four elements that become content nodes which must be stated in abstract:

a. The objective of research writing.

b. A succinct description of the methods.

c. Actual main results.

d. The significances and possible implications of the results.

3. Figures and tables: to summarize the results to the person scanning the article. The caption of the figures and tables are nodes that link to the main text and its reference list at the end of the paper.

4. Results: to give more detail research explanation. It consists of introduction, materials, methods, research results, discussion and references. Introduction has three nodes of information- the background to the work, a brief review of relevant literature, and a clear statement of the objectives or purposes. Materials have information to describe what the author used in his/her researches whereas methods have information to describe how the experiments of the research are accomplished in a logical order. The subsequent parts are research results, which have descriptive information that expose the research findings, and discussion or conclusion, which has three nodes of information: the found facts, commentary on the facts, and the theoretical implications or suggestion to following study. Thus, discussion has many links to previous work, objectives or hypothesis in the introduction, relevant literature, data findings and analysis, and relation to other fields or researches. Reference list has information from which an author cites a paper. It has information such as authors’ name, year of publication, title of article, edition / volume number, name and place of publisher, and number of pages.

5. Rest of paper: read for information such as appendixes, authorship, copyright, and guarantee of material.

This information is important for readers in terms of getting the paper noticed by accessing library and computerized databases. Following reproduced Figure is the comparison between the order of physical nodes and the importance of communication nodes of a scientific article [Stapleton 1987]

Figure Comparison of Physical And Importance Order In Scientific Articles

References:

[Thuring et al., 1991] Thuring, M., Haake, J.M., and Hannemann, J., 1991, Hypertext '91 Proceedings.

[Stapleton, 1987] Stapleton, P., 1987, Writing Research Paper: An Easy Guide for Non-Native-English Speakers, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 1987.

Hypertext Development Methodology for Academic Document

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

Author proposes a methodology that covers analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation approach to develop a hypertext system. Following is the methodology steps that comes from conceptual framework and literature review that will be used to develop an academic document from paper-based model to hypertext model which is accompanied by evaluation model.

1. Analyzing documents that potentially to be converted to hypertext format.

It consists of three parts of analysis:

a. Analyze the content element to investigate content nodes that store information and content links that join the content nodes.

b. Analyze the organizational element to draw object of document by structuring the document’s arrangement under a reader’s viewpoint. In this step, an appropriate starting point and paths of document are examined based on reader’s concern.

c. Analyze the presentation element to arrange the appearance of the structure and content of the document and provide the navigation tools.

2. Arranging hypertext page design system.

This step is used to propose a design structure and typical hypertext function that should be provided in devising hypertext document. It includes page level and structure design arrangement, build contents lists, build views that allow readers to identify article by category, provide searching capability, propose navigation tools, provide help function, provide print function, provide minor important information, and open connection to files.

3. Implementing the targeted document.

This step is used to determine procedures and tools to convert linear paper-based document to hypertext document. It consists of tool and procedure to implement hypertext conversion. The procedure will take:

· Extract the source’s structure.

· Reorganize the document target’s structure.

· Augment the structure of targeted document links.

· Define and applying proper styles and structure in Word.

· Build hypertext document database.

4. Evaluating the result.

This step is used to measure the usability of hypertext paper comprehension by means of five usability metrics that proposed by Nielsen. The five usability metrics are task time, errors percentage, user memory (recognition and recall), time to recall document structure, and subjective satisfaction. Following figure is the methodology and its detail (the explanations of the steps in this methodology are in the next articles)

Evaluation Model for Hypertext Document

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

Nielsen [1995] proposed five metrics to measure the usability of reading hypertext paper:

1. Task time was the number of seconds it took users to find answers for specific questions about the content element.

2. Errors was a percentage score based on the number of incorrect answers users gave for questions that had a known answer

3. Memory comprised two measures from an exam given to the users after they had finished using the hypertext paper. Recognition memory was a percentage score based on the number of correct answers minus the number of incorrect answers to 5 multiple-choice questions. Recall memory was a percentage score based on the number of item correctly recalled after the text minus the number incorrectly recalled.

4. Time to recall hypertext structure was the number of seconds it tool users to drawn a hypertext map. This is a measure of how well the users had understood the information organization.

5. Subjective satisfaction was determined from participant’s answers to questionnaire. Each question used a 10-point rating scale. Four satisfaction criteria were averaged to derive the subjective satisfaction score: perceived quality, perceived ease of use, likeability, and user affect.

Depending on the goal of a project, Nielsen in his research use different weight to each five usability metrics. For educational writing might give added weight to the memory measure and perhaps also some added weight to learning the hypertext structure.

Nielsen and Landauer [1993] also suggest to test only 5 participants in a group with the argument from their research that after the first iterative study with 5 users has found 85% of the important usability problems. The rest of problem can be fixed in maximum 2 subsequent groups of five. Following Figure 2.5 is the research result of their work in explaining why the evaluation of usability can be satisfied with 5 users in one group of observation to get 85% of the important usability problems. Then, to calculate final measurements, Nielsen [2001] as well suggest to use geometric mean calculation rather than arithmetic mean in order to not skewing the result by a single big number and for the cases in which some of the metrics are negative. The geometric mean formula of N numbers is N’th root of the product of the numbers.

Figure 2.5 Usability Evaluation Curve [Nielsen and Landauer, 1993, p.206-213]

References:

[Nielsen, 1995] Nielsen, J., 1995, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond, Academic Press, Boston.

[Nielsen and Landauer, 1993] Nielsen, Jakob, and Landauer, Thomas K., A Mathematical model of the finding of usability problems, Proceedings of ACM INTERCHI’93 Conference, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 24-29 April 1993, pp.206-213.

[Nielsen, 2001] Nielsen, J., 2001, Usability Metrics, Available on-line at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010121.html

Hypertext page design system

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

Scientific document has comprehensive page design systems by describing all page design elements, both textual and graphical, as well as guidelines for using the elements appropriately. It is recommended that page design elements visually reflect the hierarchical scheme site writing [Sano, 1996].

Figure 2.3 Page Design Level [Solli, 1998, p.10]

Page design system has three levels as described in Figure 2.3 [Solli, 1998]. Outline nodes will typically have the hypertext design look presented very strongly while second and third levels of the site carry over the same look for consistency and to assure users that they do not lost. In Figure 2.3, hypertext design at level 0 will be like outline any text and the hypertext system will allow the reader to read the text sequentially from the introduction, through the result / discussion, and then to the conclusion. In the text at level 0 there could also be some excerpts from sources, diagrams, illustrations and simple tables. Level 0 could also be viewed as a kind of an extended summary, and then level 1 could be the full text.

When the reader also chooses to investigate part of the text in more detail, read excerpts from sources, definition of terms, references, additional tables or tables of data that are sources of diagrams used at level 0, a link leads to level 1. The reader can, by investigating level 1, check the arguments or find other interpretations. In level 2 there could be tables of data, more sources or different transcriptions of sources, data files for download, and also software tools for analyzing the data files. In a hypertext system these levels can be linked and integrated and the reader can adjust how the text is read according to his/her wishes.

Solli [1998] also proposes a two-columns design in the main structure of the hypertext writing. The outline of the paper (headings) will reside in the constant column to the left of the screen. The order from top to bottom indicates the sequence between different parts of the hypertext. This indicates the main-structure of the text as the author sees it. The outline at the left should also give some picture of the size and composition of the text. Figure 2.4 proposes a conceptual design of hypertext structure.

Figure 2.4 Page Structure Design Of Hypertext Paper

References:

[Sano, 1996] Sano, D. 1996. Designing Large-Scale Web Sites: A Visual Design Methodology. New York: John-Wiley and Sons, Inc.

[Solli, 1998] Solli, A., 1998, Hypertext ‘papers’ on the Web: Students confronts the linear tradition?, The Journal of the Association for History and Computing, Vol.I, No.2, November.

Hypertext Analysis and Design Model

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

Thuring et al have proposed an approach to examine the component of a coherent hypertext document. This rule is applicable as a hypertext author guidance to analyze components in a document that will be acquired in hypertext development. There are three components to be analyzed – the content element, the organizational element, and the presentation element [Thuring et al, 1991] .

1. The content element

The contains of content elements are content nodes that store information and content links that join the content nodes. As generating the content element, two subsequent design rules can be applied:

1. Combination content nodes should be used to hierarchically structure the content of the document into domain specific sub-units of information.

2. The label of a link should be as specific as possible and should constitute a comprehensible sentence together with the names of the source and destination nodes.

In the scope of this research paper, Stapleton [1987] said that the basis characteristic of an academic text could be structured into five parts. These parts, then, become the contents nodes.

1. Title: to attract the reader at first scan in the database list.

2. Abstract: to stimulate the expert to read the paper and supplies the casual reader with definite information.

3. Figures and tables: to summarize the results to the person scanning the article.

4. Results: to give more detail research explanation. It consists of introduction, materials, methods, research results, discussion and references.

5. Rest of paper: read for information such as appendixes, authorship, copyright, and guarantee of material.

2. The organizational element

Organizational element is a drawing object of document by structuring the arrangement under a reader’s viewpoint [Thuring, 1991]. The following rules can be applied while creating the organizational element:

1. Choose an appropriate starting point to serve as an introduction to the document.

2. Construct appropriate paths based on reader’s interest and knowledge by using sequencing and exploration nodes and links.

3. The presentation element

The presentation element is dealt with the arrangement of structure and content of the document and provides the navigation tools. Three presentation types that have been identified for scientific writing:

1. Textual type that limited to the word or alphabetical content nodes.

2. Graphical type that presents the content and structure of document graphically.

3. Combined type is to present content and organizational element more comprehensively.

References:

[Thuring et al., 1991] Thuring, M., Haake, J.M., and Hannemann, J., 1991, Hypertext '91 Proceedings.

[Stapleton, 1987] Stapleton, P., 1987, Writing Research Paper: An Easy Guide for Non-Native-English Speakers, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 1987.

Reading Model in Hypertext Knowledge Environment

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

Reading is the execution of the three processes of writing model (see my previous article) in the reverse order. That is, a linear sequence of text is transformed into a hierarchy, which is later integrated into a network in long-term memory. A mental representation of the meaning of text is then constructed which is in the form of relationships. While reading text, readers establish local coherence in short-term memory - small-scale inferences from few small units of information (relationships between words, sentences and so on) [Thuring et al., 1991]. The reader makes preliminary hypotheses based on titles, words, propositions, and knowledge about the real world.

The reading model uses the spreading activation model to access concepts. In semantic memory, each concept is connected to a number of other concepts. Activating one concept activates its adjacent concepts, which in turn activate their adjacent concepts. Thus, activation spreads through the memory structure, determining what is to be added and what is to be removed from the interpretation of text. This process continues until further activation of adjacent concepts does not change the concepts used to interpret the text. By using hypertext, this activation can decrease semantic distance.

A number of formal reading strategies have been developed by reading educators as series of steps to facilitate student comprehension and memory of concepts from texts. One of the most enduring of these is SQ3R that introduced by Thomas and Robinson in 1972 [cited in Glynn and Muth, 1994, p1063] which has been shown to be very effective in improving students' immediate and delayed recall of text:

1. Survey: Preview the text, using headings as guidelines.

2. Question: Form questions about the text content.

3. Read: Read the text, using questions as guides.

4. Recite: Answer questions posed, relating questions to headings.

5. Review: Organize text information, rereading difficult content.

These activities form important activities for student to get a comprehension skill in learning from text and therefore hypertext learning can benefit from paying attention to their use.
From both reading and writing process above, learning model is based on the non-linear nature of thinking, a natural process in human beings. Human cognition is essentially organized as a semantic network in which concepts are linked together by associations. Hypertext systems should try to exploit this basic nature of cognition.

References:

[Thuring et al., 1991] Thuring, M., Haake, J.M., and Hannemann, J., 1991, Hypertext '91 Proceedings.

[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.

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.

Specific Construction for Educational Hypertext Application

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

Hypertext Learning Model

In this writing, author restricts to review human learning model from two main activities concerning with reading and writing academic document. Reading and writing models have been developed by cognitive psychologists that can be used to understand non-linear thinking by human beings [Rada, 1991]. This review is important to evaluate student’s improvement in learning academic text through hypertext application.

The understanding of knowledge, like in text format, has four levels: lexical, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic [Rada, 1991]. At the lexical level, the reader reveals the meaning for every word while at the syntactic level, the reader determine the subject, predicate and object of a sentence. In the semantic level, the reader determines the meaning of a sentence. In the pragmatic level, the reader combines his/her knowledge and external knowledge with semantic meaning to get text understanding. The process of reading starts from lexical to syntactic, to semantic and to pragmatic levels in that order. However, readers may proceed from words to sentences, to paragraphs and to the overall document, the progress is more forward and backward -- non-linearly.

Tolhurst [1995, p.22] argues that "hypertext can be viewed functionally as nodes of information that are linked, allowing readers to follow a variable reading path of associations based on semantic links”. Hence, at this level hypertext is able to support learners in creating documents with semantic level, which can be accessed non-linearly.

(to be continued to: Writing and Reading Model)

References:

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

[Tolhurst, 1995] Tolhurst, D., 1995, Hypertext, Hypermedia, Multimedia Defined, Educational Technology, 35(2), 21-26.

Conceptual Framework of the Hypertext Construction

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

A General Construction

Shneiderman [1989] has identified three “golden rules of hypertext” to determine whether a document is appropriate for hypertext:
· There is a large body of information organized into numerous fragments,
· The fragments relate to each other, and
· The user needs only a small fraction at any time.

Furuta et al, [1989] also added that the construction of a hypertext engages two parts but united activities:
1. Generation of the individual articles in the hypertext’s database, each with their own internal structure.
2. Identification of the interrelationships among the separate articles (forming the contextual links).

The detail of transformation methodology that Furuta, et.al [1989] proposed is as follows:
1. Design the structure of the target hypertext article.
2. Determine how the source’s structure corresponds to the desired target’s structure.
3. Specify the conversion process, which must
· Extract the relevant components of the source’s structure
· Reorganize the components to form the target’s structure
· Augment the target’s structure with representation of relationships (links)
· Generate the hypertext database files
4. Convert from source to produce the target hypertext database.
5. Modify the hypertext database, if appropriate, to provide a “wrapper”, to incorporate additional articles, and to correct errors generated in conversion or carried forward from original source.

Figure Hypertext Transformation Model

The Furuta et.al.’s approach as illustrated in Figure 2.2 is rather generic and shows the degree of natural logical relationship between the components of the input information source and the targeted hypertext.

Glushko, [1989] proposed some criteria in converting linear documents into hypertext format, both manually and automatically:

1. The most care is required while identifying text units as nodes that can be separate modules and still be sufficient enough to be cross-references for other entries.

2. A good design rule is to choose as the basic unit of text the smallest logical structure with a unique name (such as the title for an entry) - this can be used as a selection key in a hierarchical browser, in search lists as candidate keys, as bookmarks, and embedded cross-references.

3. Pages or paragraphs are less suited as hypertext units because they do not form convenient handles for manipulation.

4. It is very important to understand both the explicit and implicit link structures in the printed version of the material. Careful decisions have to be made as to what links to create and what to disregard.

5. It is important to understand the user's task and to support links that follow some model of the user's need for information in some particular context. It is essential not to link items that are related in superficial ways.

6. The organization of the material should be open and flexible. Different kinds of views should be available for different users. View descriptions may appear as alternate overview diagrams or webs of information.

References:

[Shneiderman, 1989] Shneiderman, Ben, 1989, Reflections on authoring, editing, and managing hypertext, in The Society of Text, ed., E. Barret, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

[Furuta, et al., 1989] Furuta, R., Plaisant, C., Shneiderman, B., 1989, Automatically transforming regularly structured linear documents into Hypertext, in Electronic Publishing, Vol. 2(4), pp.211-229.

[Glushko, 1989]. Glushko, Robert J., 1989, Transforming Text Into Hypertext For a Compact Disc Encyclopedia, Proceedings of CHI '89, ACM Press.

Contribution of Hypertext in Education/Knowledge Application

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

There are a number of significant contributions of hypertext to educational application. Following is a list from a number of literature reviews that indicates hypertext contributions.

1. Provide information faster using accessible paths. The path of hypertext permits the user to get deeper or augment their complex knowledge by setting up new interrelations and pathways or maps of understanding. Nelson [1965] said that hypertext provides information in a body of written that “…interconnected in a complex way that it could not be conveniently represented on paper. It may contain summaries or maps of its contents and their interrelations; it may contain annotations, additions and footnotes from scholars who have examined it". Since the information may become larger, the pathways of understanding have to endure and should be readily shared with other users, as they need [Bush, 1945].

2. Construct collective work, learning, and new way of writings. In a collaborative system, any user would be able to "define" a link at any time since hypertext allows multiple authorship of texts [Hager 1993], The author can communally use hypertext as a writing environment to stimulate the development of links between concepts [Glynn and Muth, 1994]. Newell, in a 1986 study [cited in Rivard, 1994] concluded that analytic paper writing could encourage learners to incorporate in new information with relevant prior knowledge. The result of this collaborative work, then, becomes a community of knowledge that can be associated and expanded in the future.

3. Allow reuse of materials. Hypertext is an easy, fast, and cheap medium in reusing, reproducing, and distributing documents. This issue is very valuable in education benefit and has been concerned by Australian Government [2001] in publishing electronic document.

…the economics and logistics of digital publishing make it possible to
provide more information to site users without the costs associated with
paper documents. To make hard copies of a report available to colleagues
you would have to print a copy for each person. Costs and practicality
dictate that paper reports be concise, and without much supporting material
or appendixes—thus the audience is often left without access to the
information upon which the authors based their conclusions for no reason
other than the high cost of printing.

4. Allow for distant learners.

5. Minimize time to study.

Hypertext’s contribution also radically challenges traditional print-based notions of writing and reading. Solli [1999], a historian lecturer from Bergen University who applying hypertext teaching, argues that linear customary academic writing obligates students to read sequentially that potentially to make students miss the arguments.

Academic texts like student papers have a very simple structure or outline.
First, an introduction presenting the issue or discussion is required, followed
by some questions to be answered or a hypothesis, some historiographical
references, one part of source-criticism, then a pro-et-contra discussion based
on textbooks or interpretation of the sources where the aforementioned questions
are answered and, finally, a conclusion. The most striking feature is the
linearity, a well-defined start and well-defined end--the conclusion. If the
paper is not read sequentially the reader can miss the line of arguments and
therefore also not fully understand the author's conclusion.

By using the feature of links, thus, the students can navigate through different nodes of the text according to their interest. There can be multi-order access with more than one beginning and ending point of the text and access to internal and external documents.

Actually in a book student is also free to choose his own paths through the text; however it is not always purposely structured for making their own way through the text. As a reader, student can stop to read here, and then jump to the next paragraph. However, what becomes challenge to hypertext is not merely ‘linking’ and ‘jumping’, but also a new way of both presenting and structuring knowledge [Solli, 1999]. Therefore relevant method should be established to build a good hypertext document. In doing so, it is important for school to provide some guidelines in writing for hypertext, dealing with the most basic elements of writing: style, content, and audience. As well lecturers must teach student how to use the hypertext sources actively and to develop the content of it, how to develop resources that can be read by other students and by a broader public [Solli, 1999].


References:

[Bush, 1945] Bush, V, 1945, Atlantic Monthly, July, pp. 101-108. Available on-line at: http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm

[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.

[Australian, 2001] Australian Government Publication, 2001, available on-line at http://www.dofa.gov.au/ausinfo/guidelines/guidelines_for_commonwealth_in.html

[Solli, 1998] Solli, A., 1998, Hypertext ‘papers’ on the Web: Students confronts the linear tradition?, The Journal of the Association for History and Computing, Vol.I, No.2, November.

[Hager, 1993] Hager, T., 1993, A rhetoric of hypertextual invention. Writing on the Edge, 4(2), pp. 103-115.

Hypertext Concept in Educational Application / Knowledge Collection

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

Hypertext in Learning Experience

The hypertext concept to retrieve and read information has caused great excitement in educational application "because hypertext has the power to change the way we understand and experience texts, it offers radical promises and challenges to students, teachers and theorists of literature" [Landow, 1989, p. 174]. The prospective of hypertext has been noticeably discussed by Son [1998] in CALL research, which investigates the effects of hypertext in language learning and teaching. He concludes that hypertext can be used as a strategic approach to improve learning process.

Hypertext makes CALL work actively by allowing and encouraging learners to
manage the learning process independently and to explore linked pieces of
information non-sequentially on the basis of their personal preferences and
needs….Each learner can have the option to link either to an explanation of any
word or to various types and sources of information on particular items as much
of the larger material as required or desired by the learner…As a result,
hypertext facilitates a discovery approach and enhances learning strategies in a
self-directed way [Son, 1998].

Biber [1992, p.271] also comments on the use of hypertext as a collection of information libraries. This collection is used for cross-referencing and explanations to help students improve their ability to write expository and argumentative essay. This improving learning ability is caused by better learning experiences through ‘feeling‘ how the nodes, such as texts, sounds, and even video clips are linked to others [Armstrong and Yetter-Vassot, 1994]. When a student wants to enrich their learning experience, then, they must also train their thought of how their thinking can trace relevant knowledge. Dreher [1997, p.109] utters that hypertext can help user to find and develop user’s knowledge.

…Without losing the train of thought, users may follow such a link to help make
the meaning clear, and then return, without the cognitive burden of retracing
steps of picking up the thread, to the place from which they came.
As work proceeds, the Concept may be elaborated, altered and developed to
reflect the knowledge creator’s emerging thought.

It can be seen that hypertext not only potential in educational application for creating a collection of information of documents, but also for influencing the way of learning process in finding, developing, and experiencing knowledge.

References:

[Landow, 1989] Landow, G. P., 1989, Hypertext in literary education, criticism, and scholarship, Computers and the Humanities, 23, 173-198.

[Son, 1998] Son, J. B., 1998, Understanding Hypertext: A discussion for TEFL, English Teaching, 53(3), pp.113-124.

[Biber, 1992] Biber, D., 1992, Applied linguistics and computer applications, In W. Grabe & R.B. Kaplan (Eds.), Introduction to applied linguistics, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp.257-278.

[Armstrong and Yetter-Vassot, 1994] Armstrong, K. M., & Yetter-Vassot, C., 1994, Transforming teaching through technology, Foreign Language Annals, 27, pp. 475-486.

[Dreher, 1997] Dreher, H.V., 1997, Empowering Human Cognitive Activity through Hypertext Technology, PhD Thesis. Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia.

Basic Elements of Hypertext in Connecting Knowledge

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

There are five essential elements of hypertexts that should be presented in hypertext applications [Dreher, 1997 p15] :

• Nodes/chunks of knowledge, which are the group of information in hypertext. A node usually represents a single concept of idea in the form of text, images or audio that can carry semantic information [Rao and Turoff, 1990].

• Links between these groups of information.

• A navigation/browsing facility to keep a history of nodes visited. Navigation/browsing facility is used to access the structure of hypertext via a screen design and to indicate user’s previous track. In order to navigate to previous node, we can use backtrack or use the history list of the node track that is shown sequentially to review all the previous nodes that have been visited. User can use the screen to show the path of the function of the system that represent a meta diagram or high-level overview diagram, which display how a group of information is, linked to others groups by links. In meta diagram, each node can be consisted of many-detailed diagram that correspondence to meta diagram. A screen may also perform at once both meta or detail diagram. At this point, Gilster [1997] argues that the author of hypertext should think critically about the routes users will be allowed to select or browse.

• A dynamic indexing item. Dynamic indexing system constitutes of all specialized terms that hyper linked to the main document [Nielsen, 1995, p328, 329]. An index lists the terms and topics discussed in a document, in conjunction with the pages they appear on. Thus, the index lists in the documents that are particularly relevant and hyper linked to the nodes of information in a document should be dynamically reorganized.

• A full text search function. Element of search function is similar with information retrieval (IR) mechanisms such as keyword searches, author searches etc. There are also attempts to incorporate structure queries along with content queries - retrieving a part of the hypertext network based on some user-specified criteria

References:

[Dreher, 1997] Dreher, H.V., 1997, Empowering Human Cognitive Activity through Hypertext Technology, PhD Thesis. Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia.

[Rao and Turoff, 1990] Rao, U., & Turoff, M., 1990, Hypertext Functionality: A Theoretical Framework, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.

[Gilster, 1997] Gilster, P., 1997, Digital literacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

[Nielsen, 1995] Nielsen, J., 1995, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond, Academic Press, Boston.

Conceptual Relationship of a Hypertext Structure (A Basis for Knowledge Structure)

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

Hypertext uses two fundamental units to represent its structure. The first one is node, which is a unit of information, and the second is link that is used to establish and indicate the possible connections between the nodes. Nielsen [1995, p.3] quoted from Frank Halasz said that a true hypertext system should include an explicit representation of a network structure in its user interface to give the user a dynamic structure of hypertext system. The structure is comprised of departure/arrival nodes of information and links between them. Figure Conceptual Relationship of a Hypertext Structure, which is a modified view of Nielsen [1995, p. 1], shows a miniature of hypertext structure, which has six nodes and nine links. Once users start by reading the text marked A, the hypertext structure gives two options: B or D. Assuming that users decide to go to B, they can then jump to C or to E, and from E they can go to C or to F. Thus, hypertext is able to tell a user where can go next and the path that a user has tracked.












Figure Conceptual Relationship of a Hypertext Structure

Drawing upon above explanations, the fundamental hypertext concept that must be bear in mind when generating hypertext system are presented as follows:
1. Hypertext is used to handle information in literary place in the form of texts, images, or other objects that potentially to be associated with others so that become a collection of broader relevant information.
2. Hypertext is a multi-linear writing where users determine where they can start and go next with multiple paths.
3. Hypertext is structured by its fundamental units; links and nodes.


References:

[Nielsen, 1995] Nielsen, J., 1995, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond, Academic Press, Boston.

The Origin Concept of Linking our Knowledge-(The Beginning of Hypertext Idea)

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

The initial concept of modern hypertext was published in July 1945 by Vannevar Bush in his article entitled “As We May Think”. Bush [1945] yielded his creative idea by thinking of how people that live in his era or in the future could inherit the previous or existing knowledge by using a growing technology since man could not remember all the knowledge that they have produced. He proposed a famous system, which is called the memory extended (memex), to handle the uneasiness of using a huge number of information that difficult to be trailed by any scientists in a discipline. Thus, his memex was used to store human knowledge and organize them in a consulted mechanized device, which ran in a flexible way so that the memory inside the device could be quickly extracted and extended in the future. Although his idea has never gotten constructed, his concept has never been outdated and still always fresh until now since the knowledge always be transferred and explored over the time.

After Bush’s article, Ted Nelson formulated the authentic word of hypertext in his system called Xanadu. He proposed the system to be a literary place to put information on line and can be linked to every user [Nielsen, 1995 p38]. By ‘hypertext’ Nelson elucidated:

I mean non-sequential writing – text that branches and allows choices to the
reader, best read at an interactive screen. As popularly conceived, this is a
series of text chunks connected by links which offer the reader different
pathways [Nelson, 1960, cited in Landow, 1992).

His important concept of hypertext is non-sequential or non-linear, which allows readers/users access to non-linear information. Non-sequential means that “there is no single order that determines the sequence in which the text is to be read” [Nielsen, 1995 p1]. This suggests that the texts, images and other forms of information, that connected by links are arranged to make a set up of a multi-order of relationships among those nodes of information. The multi-order of connected information, then, becomes the most distinctive feature of hypertext to give users freedom to explore banks of information [McAleese, 1989]. Users can manage a set of dynamic links in attaining multi-sequential information of the hypertext system. They are permitted to browse and navigate by using the links generated by the author of the system.

References:

[Bush, 1945] Bush, V, 1945, Atlantic Monthly, July, pp. 101-108. Available on-line at: http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm

[Landow, 1992] Landow, G., 1992, Hypertext: The Convergence of Technology and Contemporary Critical Theory , Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

[Nielsen, 1995] Nielsen, J., 1995, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond, Academic Press, Boston.

[McAleese, 1989] McAleese, R., 1989, Navigation and Browsing. In R. McAleese (Ed.), Hypertext: Theory into practice, pp. 6-44, Norwood, NJ: ABLEX.