How Does Prior Knowledge Impact Students’ Online Learning Behaviors?

Prior Knowledge And Comprehension

In this research, we explored how prior knowledge influenced students’ online learning behaviors and analyzed the relationship between these behaviors and students’ eventual knowledge outcomes. We chose to examine prior knowledge as a predictor of online learning behaviors because prior knowledge repeatedly has been shown to be a key factor in predicting learning with text (e.g., Adams, Bell, & Perfetti, 1995; McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, & Kintsch, 1996; McNamara & Kintsch, 1996; Recht & Leslie, 1988; Schneider, Körkel, & Weinert, 1989) and multimedia materials (e.g., Kalyuga, 2005; Kalyuga, Ayres, Chandler, & Sweller, 2003).

The rationale for why prior knowledge plays a strong role in learning can be drawn from research and theory in cognitive psychology. Relevant prior knowledge forms a framework for incoming information (Chi, Glaser, & Rees, 1982), allowing new materials to be integrated into a flexible knowledge representation that can be transferred to new situations (Kintsch, 1988, 1998). Without a conceptual framework of prior knowledge into which incoming information can be integrated, learners typically focus on memorizing isolated facts that can be recalled but cannot be applied outside of the context in which it was learned. This type of knowledge long has been referred to as “inert knowledge” (Whitehead, 1932).