Interaction of domain expertise and interface design in adaptive educational hypermedia

This paper presents results from a post-analysis of three previously reported experimental studies on adaptive educational hypermedia. In this new analysis, interaction effects of the post-hoc variable “previous knowledge of learners” and the adaptive treatments were found. The interaction effects have an impact on learners’ scores in knowledge tests, the time learners needed to browse adaptive hypertexts, the number of their page requests, and the type of information requested by them. While learners with higher previous knowledge seem to prefer non-restricting adaptive methods, learners with low previous knowledge can profit from the guidance of more restrictive adaptive methods.