Stimulating human learning by means of a cognitively engineered learning support system: An empirical study.

Computers and information systems are playing increasingly prominent and direct roles in the conduct of human affairs and in the survival of corporations in highly competitive environments. Because of this increasingly important role, it has become imperative that users be able to use these systems optimally. It has been pointed out that the computer systems designers should be the main agents to apply psychology to system design and that information systems specialists are best placed to take responsibility for helping users utilize systems in an optimal fashion by designing information systems that will incorporate learning-to-learn principles. In this research we developed information system interface tools that incorporate cognitive learning strategy theory. The research question posed is: Can we build cognitively-engineered electronic note-taking tools that will allow users to implement cognitive learning strategies and thereby improve performance and stimulate learning? To answer this question we designed software tools that allowed users to implement rehearsal and organizational cognitive learning strategies. The model was then validated in a laboratory experiment. The independent variables were: (1) the technology used, with or without the cognitively engineered software (CES) tools, and (2) two methods of presentation used involving the tools, the embedded method, in which the users were told how they could use the tools presented to them, and the adjunct method, in which the users were told about the cognitive learning strategies and how they could be implemented by the user using the tools presented to them. Dependent variables were: (1) the performance variables, (2) satisfaction with the software tools, and (3) variables indicating the level of usage of the software tools. What we discovered was that subjects who were aware of the cognitive learning strategies on which the tools were based were significantly more satisfied with the quality of the system than users who were not aware of the strategies. We also found that familiarity with the task performed and familiarity with the technology both had significant effects on overall performance. In addition, subjects who were aware of the cognitive learning strategies tended to implement several of these strategies as they used the tools and they tended to use the tools in a more efficient fashion that subjects not aware of these strategies. The major limitations of the study were the subject population, the task chosen and the limited training session. Future research will center on eliminating these limitations and further explore the effects of the presentation of the cognitive learning strategies on tool use and performance.Digitization note: p. 14 missing from paper original; appears to be a pagination error rather than missing content