Construction of an adaptive e-learning environment to address learning styles and an investigation of the effect of media choice

This study attempted to combine the benefits of multimedia learning, adaptive interfaces, and learning style theory by constructing a novel e-learning environment. The environment was designed to accommodate individual learning styles while students progressed through a computer programming course. Despite the benefits of individualised instruction and a growing worldwide e-learning market, there is a paucity of guidance on how to effectively accommodate learning styles in an online environment. Several existing learning-style adaptive environments base their behaviour on an initial assessment of the learner's profile, which is then assumed to remain stable. Consequently, these environments rarely offer the learner choices between different versions of content. However, these choices could cater for flexible learning styles, promote cognitive flexibility, and increase learner control. The first research question underlying the project asked how learning styles could be accommodated in an adaptive e-learning environment. The second question asked whether a dynamically adaptive environment that provides the learner with a choice of media experiences is more beneficial than a statically adapted environment. To answer these questions, an adaptive e-learning environment named iWeaver was created and experimentally evaluated. iWeaver was based on an introductory course in Java programming and offered learning content as style-specific media experiences, assisted by additional learning tools. These experiences and tools were based on the perceptual and information processing dimension of an adapted version of the Dunn and Dunn learning styles model. An experimental evaluation of iWeaver was conducted with 63 multimedia students. The analysis investigated the effect of having a choice of multiple media experiences (compared to having just one static media experience) on learning gain, enjoyment, perceived progress, and motivation. In addition to these quantitative measurements, learners provided qualitative feedback at the end of each lesson. Data from 27 participants were sufficiently complete to be analysed. For the data analysis, participants were divided into two groups of high and low interest in programming and Java, then into two groups of high and low experience with computers and the Internet. Both group comparisons revealed statistically significant differences for the effect of choice. Having a choice of media experiences proved beneficial for learners with low experience but detrimental for learners with high experience or interest. These findings suggest that the effect of choice appears to be strongly influenced by the learner's background. It is hypothesised that encouraging a more active learner role in educational systems would expand the positive influence of choice to a wider range of learners. The study has contributed some weight to the argument that for certain groups of learners, it is more beneficial to view learning style as a flexible, rather than a stable construct. As a practical implication, it seems advisable to collect data on prior experience, interest, and the initial learning style distribution of the target audience before developing environments comparable to iWeaver

Comparing Bayesian Statistics and Frequentist Statistics in Serious Games Research

This article presents three empirical studies on the effectiveness of serious games for learning and motivation, while it compares the results arising from Frequentist (classical) Statistics with those from Bayesian Statistics. For a long time it has been technically impracticable to apply Bayesian Statistics and benefit from its conceptual superiority, but the emergence of automated sampling algorithms and user-friendly tools has radically simplified its usage. The three studies include two within-subjects designs and one between-subjects design. Unpaired t-tests, mixed factorial ANOVAs and multiple linear regression are used for the analyses. Overall, the games are found to have clear positive effects on learning and motivation, be it that the results from Bayesian Statistics are more strict and more informative, and possess several conceptual advantages. Accordingly, the paper calls for more emphasis on Bayesian Statistics in serious games research and beyond, as to reduce the present domination by the Frequentist Paradigm

Individual differences in navigating and experiencing presence in virtual environments

The effort of making Virtual Environments (VEs) more useful and satisfactory to use lie at the core of usability research. Because of their development and widespread accessibility, VEs are being used by an ever-increasing diversity of users, whose individual differences impact on both task performance and level of satisfaction. This aspect raises a major challenge in terms of designing adaptive VEs, suitable not for the average user but for each individual user. One way to address this challenge is through the study of individual differences and their implications, which should lead to new effective ways to accommodate them. Adaptivity reflects the system’s capability to automatically tailor itself to dynamically changing user behaviour. This capability is enabled by a user model, acquired on the basis of identifying the user’s patterns of behaviour. This thesis addresses the issue of studying and accommodating individual differences with the purpose of designing adaptive VEs. The individual differences chosen to be investigated are those that impact particularly on two fundamental aspects underlying each interaction with a VE, namely navigation and sense of presence. Both these aspects are related to the perceived usability of VEs. The impact that a set of factors like empathy, absorption, creative imagination and willingness to be transported within the virtual world has on presence has been investigated and described through a prediction equation. Based on these findings, a set of guidelines has been developed for designing VEs able to accommodate these individual differences in order to support users to experience a higher level of presence. The individual differences related to navigation within VE have been investigated in the light of discriminating between efficient versus inefficient search strategies. Building a user model of navigation affords not only a better understanding of user spatial behaviour, but also supports the development of an adaptive VE which could help low spatial users to improve their navigational skills by teaching them the efficient navigational rules and strategies

Investigation into the design of educational multimedia : video, interactivity and narrative

This study critically examines the design of multimedia in education. The study begins by reviewing existing media in education and then uses a series of empirical studies to uncover, and then examine the key issues for the design of educational multimedia.The research involves two studies. The first, a preliminary study, that identifies specific areas of interest for the research. This study looks at the existing use of an interactive video disc program for training in Price Waterhouse. The literature search, combined with the outcomes of the preliminary study, identified the areas for further research as: the use of video, forms of interaction, and the role of narrative. The main study examines these areas using two phases. The first phase analyses three treatments of the same educational text, on linear video, multimedia, and structured multimedia, each treatment maintaining the same content and narrative structure, but differing in presentation and control. The second phases builds on the results of the first with the creation and analysis of an interactive multimedia program that takes advantage of the identified strengths of multimedia, and specifically tackles problems found in the first phase. Qualitative data collection techniques are used in both phases, and form the basis of the findings.The findings are presented as implications for multimedia design, and discuss the use and development of narrative and grammar in multimedia, as well as the importance of carefully designed user interaction and goal definition

Retrieval-, Distributed-, and Interleaved Practice in the Classroom:A Systematic Review

Three of the most effective learning strategies identified are retrieval practice, distributed practice, and interleaved practice, also referred to as desirable difficulties. However, it is yet unknown to what extent these three practices foster learning in primary and secondary education classrooms (as opposed to the laboratory and/or tertiary education classrooms, where most research is conducted) and whether these strategies affect different students differently. To address these gaps, we conducted a systematic review. Initial and detailed screening of 869 documents found in a threefold search resulted in a pool of 29 journal articles published from 2006 through June 2020. Seventy-five effect sizes nested in 47 experiments nested in 29 documents were included in the review. Retrieval- and interleaved practice appeared to benefit students’ learning outcomes quite consistently; distributed practice less so. Furthermore, only cognitive Student*Task characteristics (i.e., features of the student’s cognition regarding the task, such as initial success) appeared to be significant moderators. We conclude that future research further conceptualising and operationalising initial effort is required, as is a differentiated approach to implementing desirable difficulties