A “Rich Picture Approach” to researching cognitive activity in hypermedia learning

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a 'rich picture' approach to eliciting the metacognitive processes of learners engaging with hypermedia when undertaking a vocational course. The 'rich picture' approach to knowledge elicitation employed a combination of 'activity' and 'verbal data' analysis (Stahl 2004), and is a hybrid of both think-aloud and stimulated recall methods. That is, the method captured real time data about what the learner was doing and what materials were being engaged with, and stimulated recall on why they were doing it. Sessions were transcribed and the cognitive processes were coded and analysed using a taxonomy derived from Brown et al (1983), Pintrich (1989), and Meijer et al (2006). The 'rich picture' methodology was found to be effective in capturing multiple instances of cognitive and metacognitive activity. The data were rich in processes related to learner interaction with the hypermedia, however, it was not always possible to clearly determine whether some processes were merely cognitive or if they involved metacognitive control or monitoring. Hence, it is concluded that any further refinement to this rich picture approach needs to focus on improving the guidance of subjects to a more comprehensive interpretation of their interactions with the hypermedia. It is argued that this 'rich picture' methodology and its continued refinement have important benefits in illuminating the cognitive and metacognitive processes that are critically important to hypermedia design and to extending the theoretical understanding of learning with this medium.