The effect of levels of processing with navigation design types on recall and retention in e-learning environments

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of levels of processing (LOP) and various navigation design types (NDTs) on high school students recall and retention performances in e-learning environments. The participants (N=90) performances of free recall, title recognition, location memory and their retentions were measured in two different navigational layout design types by giving participants the instructional tasks which were designed in shallow, medium and deep LOP. Results are in accordance with the main argument of LOP; deeply processed elements are remembered better and the strength of the encoded memory trace depends on the mental processes carried out with different types of tasks. Results show that the main effects of LOP and NDT on memory performance are significant.