Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Ryu, Jeeheon
Author's Email Address	jjr7148@garnet.acns.fsu.edu. jeeheon_ryu@hotmail.com
URN	etd-07092004-173539
Title	A Cognitive Model of Knowledge Transformation in Authoring Hypertext
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Amy L. Baylor Committee Chair Marcy P. Driscoll Committee Member Ralph S. Brower Committee Member Vanessa P. Dennen Committee Member
Keywords	Knowledge Transformation Hypermedia Cognitive Model Learning By Authoring Hypertext Learning By Design
Date of Defense	2004-06-17
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to propose a grounded theory of knowledge transformation in the hypertext authoring process. More specifically, the present study attempted to answer the following two questions: 1) what cognitive processes are involved in knowledge transformation through hypertext authoring and 2) how are these cognitive processes interrelated. For the first question, this study identified cognitive components associated with the knowledge transformation. For the second question, this study explained how the cognitive components interact within a theoretical framework of knowledge transformation. This study was an inquiry-oriented research to investigate how learners transform their prior knowledge and what cognitive processes are occurring during the hypertext authoring process. Specifically, this study endeavored to construct a cognitive model of knowledge transformation by identifying what cognitive components constitute the knowledge transformation process and how they are structured as a model. Since there has been no systematic scrutiny of the cognitive processes of knowledge transformation in authoring hypertext, an inductive data analysis, a qualitative research method, is employed to theorize a cognitive model of how and/or what cognitive processes are occurring. This study set three stages to elaborate data collection methods and delineate the cognitive process of knowledge transformation in authoring hypertext: 1) Model Initiation Stage, 2) Model Elaboration Stage, and 3) Model Theorization Stage. These three stages compose the iterative model saturation process of this study, which was based on not only iterative data analysis and comparative analysis but also an evolutionary design approach. For the Model Initiation Stage, one Korean graduate student, who was majoring in instructional systems and enrolling in a southeast public university, participated to the initial stage. The purpose of the Model Initiation Stage was to build a preliminary model of knowledge transformation in authoring hypertext. The results of Model Initiation Stage revealed that there were two factors as causal conditions that determine the participant’s cognitive process. As a second cognitive component, it was observed that the participant was prioritizing key concepts to transform his prior knowledge. For a third cognitive component, it was identified that the functions of authoring tool regulated the participant’s cognitive process. The Model Elaboration Stage was directed by the findings from the Model Initial Model. Three Korean graduate students, who were majoring in instructional systems and enrolling in a southeast public university, participated in the Model Elaboration Stage. Five cognitive components were identified: 1) content knowledge, 2) causal condition, 3) internal modification of knowledge structure, 4) external representation by tool regulations, and 5) instructional knowledge. Finally, for the Model Theorization Stage six Korean graduate students participated. The outcome of the Model Theorization Stage identified six cognitive components and their relationships during knowledge transformation through an authoring tool: authoring goal, 2) content knowledge, 3) instructional knowledge, 4) preliminary modification of knowledge structure, 5) external representation by tool regulation, and 6) internal modification of the knowledge structure. Authoring goal was identified as to activate content knowledge and instructional knowledge. When participants were given the authoring goal, it activated what domain knowledge should be used for the content knowledge and how the knowledge should be organized for the instructional knowledge. Content knowledge played a role as a main resource to be transformed. Instructional knowledge was identified to an effect at an earlier stage of the knowledge transformation process. Both of content knowledge and instructional knowledge were coordinating for the preliminary modification of knowledge structure. After the authoring goal activated their content knowledge and instructional knowledge, participants were observed to begin to modify their knowledge structure for transformation. Yet, there was no mediation by the functions of an authoring tool, the modification of knowledge structure needed to remain a preliminary form of knowledge transformation. The main features of this preliminary modification of the participants’ knowledge structure occurred as the following sequence: 1) comprehension of the concepts, 2) adjustment of the participants’ prior knowledge of the concepts, and 3) configuration of the interrelationships of the concepts. External representation by tool regulation was identified to mediate the process of knowledge transformation. In order to externalize the modified mental representation, participants had to follow the authoring tool’s functions. Consequently, the changed mental representation needed to be altered by the ways an authoring tool allowed the presenting of knowledge. Then, finally, participants could complete internal modification of their knowledge structure with working together with the external representation by tool regulation. The results of this study proposed that there were two different types of knowledge searching process during the knowledge transformation through an authoring tool: 1) concept level knowledge searching process and 2) structure level knowledge searching process. Whereas the concept level searching process is employed for a conceptual understanding, the structure level searching process is used to understand the interconnectedness of concepts. The concept level searching process is activated at the moment a concept is understood, and the process is spread out through very limited numbers nodes of semantic networks. Thus, the knowledge searching process is limited node-by-node. On the other hand, the structure level knowledge searching process is activated to scan interrelationships among concepts, and the process is spread out across the chunks of semantic networks that consist of a set of nodes.
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