Integration of learning style theory in an adaptive educational hypermedia AEH system

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Integration of learning style theory in an
adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) system

• Liz Brown
• Tim Brailsford

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Presentation overview

• Education and the W W W
• Adaptive educational systems
• Scholars Desktop and WHURLE
• Introduction to learning styles
• Implementation of learning styles as a new
  adaptation mechanism for WHURLE

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Requirements for a good ILE

• Support of separated levels of authoring
• Facilitate repurposing of content
• Navigation and linking capabilities
• Pedagogically informed
• Adaptation to learner needs
• Brailsford, Stewart, Zakaria Moore, 2002

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The need for adaptive systems

• People are different!
• Limited capacity for learner differentiation in
  most commercial ILEs
• Development of various systems to allow for this
  differentiation
• ? "adaptive educational hypermedia", or AEH
• Brusilovsky, 1996

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A brief history of WHURLE

• Scholars Desktop
• Web-based Scholars Desktop
• ? WHURLE
• (Web-based Hierarchical Universal Reactive
  Learning Environment)
• Adaptive to user characteristics

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The WHURLE framework

• Content is stored as conceptually discrete
  chunks of information in XML
• Lessons are stored as hierarchical lesson plans
  (XML)
• Adaptation at chunk level based upon user
  profiles (stored in database)
• Navigational overlay creates the Virtual
  Document

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WHURLE architecture
Chunks
Lesson Plan


User Model
Links
Adaptation Filter
Skin
Display Engine
Virtual Document
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User modelling in WHURLE

• Current user model assigns learners into
  stereotypes based on prior knowledge within a
  knowledge domain
• Beginner, intermediate, advanced
• Stereotype is determined when learner first uses
  the system
• This stereotype develops as they continue to
  interact with the system

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Why use learning styles?

• Students learn better when using preferences or
  characteristics in which they're successful
• Students will be better learners when they can
  exploit these characteristics
• When the learning experience accommodates various
  characteristics, more students will be successful

Kwok Jones, 1995 Cassidy, 2003
Bajraktarevic, Hall Fullick, 2003
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Families of 'learning style'

• LSRC report by Coffield, Moseley, Hall
  Ecclestone in June 2004
• 5 categories of learning style
• Constitutionally based
• Cognitive structure
• Stable personality types
• Flexibly stable learning preferences
• Learning approaches, strategies, orientations and
  conceptions of learning

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Choosing a tool to measure LS

• Criteria
• MUST BE pedagogically sound
• MUST BE feasible to model computationally
• IDEALLY has internal validation
• IDEALLY used already
• Felder-Solomon ILS instrument for first-pass
• Quantitative instrument
• Validation study carried out by Zywno, 2003
• Used in previous multimedia learning system

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Felder-Solomon ILS

• 4 axes to assess learners
• Visual / verbal
• Global / sequential
• Active / reflective
• Sensing / intuitive
• Questionnaire consists of 44 items (11 per axis)
  with choice of 2 answers
• Learners are scored on each axis out of 11

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Scoring users' learning styles

• For example, the visual-verbal axis

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Modelling users' learning styles

• Visual-verbal axis as initial adaptation

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Adaptation to learning style

• Visual/verbal user characteristics stored in
  database
• Learning style filter applied to lesson plan
  containing details of user characteristics
• Chunks are ordered in the virtual document so the
  more appropriate chunks appear first on page
• User can still see all content if they wish

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Contact acknowledgements

• Join us at http//whurle.sourceforge.net
• References at http//www.cs.nott.ac.uk/ejb/alt
  .html
• Many thanks to Helen Ashman and the University of
  Nottingham's Web Technology Research Group
• This work is supported in part by the EU Adapt
  Project (101144-CP-1-2002-NL-MINERVA-MPP).

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Scholars Desktop
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WHURLE
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WHURLE architecture
Chunks
Lesson Plan


User Model
Links
Adaptation Filter
Skin
Display Engine
Virtual Document