Learning strategies for unstructured hypermedia - A framework for theory, research, and practice

This article presents a review of major strategies for learning and information retrieval useful for learners, respectively users in coping with typical problems in unstructured hypermedia. They are derived from a process analysis of learning and information retrieval in ''hypermedia-systems'' and related problems, and they represent a framework for collecting and integrating several approaches widely scattered and isolated from each other in the literature. Three global types of strategies concerning goal attainment, spatial orientation, and knowledge acquisition are distinguished and specified with several sub-strategies. For each sub-strategy its contribution to solve particular problems is discussed. The article closes with a discussion of theoretical and methodological shortcomings, respectively, open questions concerning research and practical applications.