Learning styles, personalisation and adaptable e-learning

Common Learning Management Systems (for example Moodle [1] and Blackboard [2]) are limited in the amount of personalisation that they can offer the learner. They are used widely and do offer a number of tools for instructors to enable them to create and manage courses, however, they do not allow for the learner to have a unique personalised learning experience. The e-Learning platform iLearn offers personalisation for the learner in a number of ways and one way is to offer the specific learning material to the learner based on the learner's learning style. Learning styles and how we learn is a vast research area. Brusilovsky and Millan [3] state that learning styles are typically defined as the way people prefer to learn. Examples of commonly used learning styles are Kolb Learning Styles Theory [4], Felder and Silverman Index of Learning Styles [5], VARK [6] and Honey and Mumford Index of Learning Styles [7] and many research projects (SMILE [8], INSPIRE [9], iWeaver [10] amonst others) attempt to incorporate these learning styles into adaptive e-Learning systems. This paper describes how learning styles are currently being used within the area of adaptive e-Learning. The paper then gives an overview of the iLearn project and also how iLearn is using the VARK learning style to enhance the platform's personalisation and adaptability for the learner. This research also describes the system's design and how the learning style is incorporated into the system design and semantic framework within the learner's profile

Video Styles and Learning

With the current prevalence of online and distance learning, videos are becoming a larger part of our education system. It is important that we be able to fully utilize the potential of videos as education tools. Videos make use of more senses than just printed materials, and provide greater flexibility for both teachers and students (Bevan). What qualities make a good educational video? We believe that to be effective at teaching a video needs to be interesting enough to students’ attention and have enough information to be useful. By surveying a number of college students, we were able to support my hypothesis. With this information, we will be able to better select and create instructional videos both in academia and in the world at large

Exploring Culture-Specific Learning Styles in Accounting Education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review whether culture affects accounting students’ learning processes to identify practical guidance for accounting educators facing a culturally diverse classroom. In spite of a significant literature thread in accounting education on student learning, relatively, little emphasis has been placed on culture-specific learning differences. The literature gap is particularly acute with respect to practical culture-specific guidance for accounting educators. This paper is organized along three primary inquiries into the role of culture in accounting education: first, do we know if culture impacts learning? Second, how much do we know about culture-specific learning styles in the accounting field? Third, what implications do culture-specific learning styles carry for accounting educators? Design/methodology/approach – Initially, the author surveys culture-specific learning styles literature, after which a more in-depth analysis of accounting-specific literature is conducted. The author then provides a synthesis of the literature followed by a discussion of the implications for accounting educators. Findings – Culture-specific learning styles carry several implications for educators such as problems associated with overloading short-term memory, the importance of prior experience and the role of visual prompts and motivation among students and educators. Research limitations/implications – It is an opportunity for accounting educators to explore practical teaching techniques that address differences in learning styles that result from culture. Practical implications – Culture-specific learning styles carry several implications for educators. Problems with culture may ultimately be associated with overloading short-term memory. Likewise, prior experience is an important aspect of culture-specific learning and should be recognized by accounting educators. Last, not all motivation need be sourced from the student, and instructors may explore the role of visual prompts when teaching international students. Originality/value – This paper highlights the importance of culture-specific learning styles research in accounting education and the need for accounting educators to carefully consider cultural implications, as international accounting education standards are pursued. The dearth of research into culture-specific learning styles in accounting education is addressed

Catering for different learning styles

This paper describes a study to investigate the possibility of applying a quick and simple front‐end to multimedia presentations. The front‐end will determine the user's learning style and suggest a suitable navigation method The paper recognizes not only different learning styles which influence learners’ performance, but also the practical use of valid learning styles’ measurements

Personalizing the design of computer‐based instruction to enhance learning

This paper reports two studies designed to investigate the effect on learning outcomes of matching individuals’ preferred cognitive styles to computer‐based instructional (CBI) material. Study 1 considered the styles individually as Verbalizer, Imager, Wholist and Analytic. Study 2 considered the bi‐dimensional nature of cognitive styles in order to assess the full ramification of cognitive styles on learning: Analytic/Imager, Analytic/ Verbalizer, Wholist/Imager and the Wholist/Verbalizer. The mix of images and text, the nature of the text material, use of advance organizers and proximity of information to facilitate meaningful connections between various pieces of information were some of the considerations in the design of the CBI material. In a quasi‐experimental format, students’ cognitive styles were analysed by Cognitive Style Analysis (CSA) software. On the basis of the CSA result, the system defaulted students to either matched or mismatched CBI material by alternating between the two formats. The instructional material had a learning and a test phase. Learning outcome was tested on recall, labelling, explanation and problem‐solving tasks. Comparison of the matched and mismatched instruction did not indicate significant difference between the groups, but the consistently better performance by the matched group suggests potential for further investigations where the limitations cited in this paper are eliminated. The result did indicate a significant difference between the four cognitive styles with the Wholist/Verbalizer group performing better then all other cognitive styles. Analysing the difference between cognitive styles on individual test tasks indicated significant difference on recall, labelling and explanation, suggesting that certain test tasks may suit certain cognitive styles

Personality and learning styles towards the practical-based approach

An enduring question for educational research is the result of individual deviations in the efficacy of learning. The individual learning differences that have been much explored relate to differences in personality, learning styles, strategies and conceptions of learning. This article studies the personality and the learning style profile exhibited by students in a practical based approach of vocational courses. The relationship between personality and learning styles among students was assessed as the students got along through the curriculum. The analysis show that students are more oriented towards an active learning mode in a practical-based approach. Given a specific instruction, some people will learn more effectively than others due to their individual personality and learning styles. This study will help a vocational instructor and advisors to understand their students and to design instruction that can benefit students to accomplish a respectable performance in their learning process

HOW TO BETTER MEET OUR STUDENTSï¿1/2 LEARNING STYLE THROUGH THE COURSE RESOURCES

Publishers of the course resources for business higher education are willing to help professors and instructors to develop the learning process. An important part of the learning process is affected by the each studentï¿1/2s learning style. Our paper focuses on how meeting studentsï¿1/2 learning styles can be done through the course resources we use. The scope of the paper is to identify a way to link studentsï¿1/2 learning preferences with the available course resources. The literature on this topic is limited, the interest in research being focused less on resources used and their useful diversity. We heavily relied in our research on the preliminary results of a market research study conducted by the Higher Education Group from Harvard Business Publishing among instructors who use resources from Harvard Business Schoolï¿1/2s library. The research methodology is based on the case study method. We tried to recommend a treatment to our students and then analyze the effect of the applied treatment. The main instruments used are the VARK test followed by tailored recommendations for each student. The first conclusion of the research is that identifying the learning styles is extremely useful for students in terms of learning process. Knowing and exploiting their particular learning style helped students to maximize their learning. The second conclusion is that recommending resources based on learning styles is useful because it really helps students to learn in their own styles. The results of our paper show, firstly, that learning process could be facilitated by professorsï¿1/2 directly identifying studentsï¿1/2 learning styles. Secondly, our findings underline the importance of having a diversity of resources available for our students, and to be able to offer them a constructive solution regarding their learning styles. Moreover, our contributions are reflected in the methodology we used in linking the learning styles with the course resources and in building our personal approach in issuing our students individual recommendations on study strategy based upon their learning styles.learning process, course resources, learning styles, VARK test physiological dimension of learning

'Learning Styles' and 'Approaches to Studying' in Sports-Related Programmes: Relationships to Academic Achievement and Implications for Successful Learning, Teaching and Assessment: Project Report Summary

There are relatively few recent investigations that have addressed the issues of preferred learning styles and approaches to studying in sports-related disciplines such as: Sports Studies; Sports and Exercise Science; Coaching Science; Sport and Leisure Management and Outdoor Recreation Management. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine student learning across a range of sport-related programmes at a UK University College. It applied tools from two related, but different, educational research paradigms: approaches to learning and learning styles analysis. Thus, these differing means of researching student learning were tested against the same student group. Results were compared to students’ perceptions of their own developing autonomy of learning and achieved grades; insights were generated into the particular learning approaches and styles of sports students; and tentative recommendations are made on the implications of the findings for higher education teachers seeking to promote improvements in the learning of sports subjects