Cognitive Flexibility Theory

Cognitive flexibility theory (CFT) is a theory of learning and instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition and application in complex and ill-structured knowledge domains. Its emphasis on nonlinear and highly interconnected structures has made it a natural theoretical framework for the principled design of hypertext and hypermedia learning environments beginning in the mid-1980s. Hypertext or hypermedia differs from multimedia. The key feature of the latter is simply the presence of text with other media such as video or audio. The former have as their main feature that they are built to be restructured, either by following different hot links or through various programmed structures that do not utilize overt links. Thus the same content can take on a different compositional form (what is included and in ...