Can Scaffolds from Pedagogical Agents Influence Effective Completion of Sub-Goals during Learning with a Multi-Agent Hypermedia-Learning Environment?

Research on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in hypermedia-learning environments revealed that students are unable to engage in effective use of SRL, which have important implications for designing hypermedia-learning environments. 60 undergraduate students interacted with MetaTutor, an intelligent, multi-agent hypermedia-learning environment, with the overall goal of learning about the human circulatory system. There are two experimental conditions; prompt and feedback and control. We investigated if there were significant differences on the performance on and use of sub goals among the different experimental conditions. Results indicated significant differences between experimental conditions, such that participants in the prompt and feedback condition had higher sub goal quiz scores, spent more time engaging in each sub goal, had larger page relevant ratios, and had lower irrelevant page ratios, compared to participants in the control condition. These results suggest the importance of scaffolding in promoting the effective use of SRL strategies while interacting with a hypermedia-learning environment.