November 2004 - October 2007
Budget resources of KMRC
Visualizations have proven to be helpful in fostering cognitive processes.
Information visualizations may help to visualize the inherent structure of large
amounts of abstract non-physically data, for example in a hypermedia learning
environment, a digital database or in the Word Wide Web, in order to foster
information search processes (Card, Mackinlay & Sneiderman, 1999). Knowledge
Visualizations may foster cognitive functions of the brain in the organization
and mental representation of knowledge. Thereby, knowledge acquisition and problem
solving may be fostered and knowledge may be localized, reconstructed, diagnosed
and communicated more easily (Holley & Dansereau, 1984). Digital concept
maps open up possibilities to capitalize on synergies of both kinds of visualizations
(Keller & Tergan, 2005; Tergan, 2005, Tergan, Keller & Burkhard, 2006).
In this project the potentials of digital concept maps for a knowledge-based
communication of information resources were studied empirically. In the “AG
Wissenserwerb mit Hypermedien” the focus of interest was on using digital
concept maps as interfaces for fostering information search. Existing empirical
results were contradictory (Rouet, Potelle & Goumi, 2005). It was expected
that a digital concept map used as interface as compared with a digital concept
list (similar to a hierarchical bookmark list of URLs) is more advantageous
in searching for task-relevant information resources, because in a concept map
semantic relations (category and functional relations) between resources may
be visualized and verbalized whereas in a concept list only a visualization
of category relations is possible. In a decision experiment evidence was yielded
that concept maps may not foster information search in any cases. The results
show that a digital concept map may be used effectively as an interface for
information search, (1) if knowledge about the semantic relations between task-relevant
information resources is of importance for deciding about the task-relevance
of a resource and (2) if the map is clearly designed and comprehensible for
the user. In the case that only category relations between topics of information
resources were relevant for deciding about the task-relevance of a resource
the study showed no significant differences in information search performance
between subjects using the concept map and the concept list interface.
