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The emergence of the computer as an aid to education, with its unlimited range of instructional control optionsavailable to designer and user supports the vast development of coursewares. Hundreds of coursewares, aim to increaselearners’ learning outcomes were developed. However, to have a courseware fits with learners’ characteristics manyissues need to be explored. Referring to Resnick’s (1989) definition of learning as knowledge construction, it is criticalfor coursewares to support learners in the process of acquiring, retaining, and retrieving different kinds of knowledgeand performance. In acquiring, retaining, and retrieving information learners use procedures known as cognitivestrategies. It is assumed that cognitive strategies are integral to the process of learning, but initiation of their use maycome from the learner’s self-instruction, or, from an instructional unit or system. This study intends to show howcourseware design affects the use of cognitive strategies, especially from the high-school learners in Indonesia. A closeexamination on the psychological processes in learning was made to address questions: (a) how does screen densityaffect the use of cognitive strategies? (b) Does material presented in a linear format differs with material presented innon-linear (hypertext-based) in producing learner’s learning outcomes? The results show that learners employed bettercognitive strategies when presented with 25% text density material compare to 60%. Hypertext-based courseware wasalso found to have an effect on how learner processed the information. |
