Integrating Individual Differences in Adaptive Educational Systems

Abstract

The chapter provides an overview of the individual differences that have an impact on the learning process and that are currently integrated in adaptive educational systems (AES). The focus is on one of these human factors in particular, namely learning style, which constitutes a popular source of adaptation in recent AES, but also one of the most controversial. The chapter includes a critical analysis of learning styles and their use in technology-enhanced learning settings, motivating the need for a Unified Learning Style Model (ULSM). This model integrates a carefully selected set of learning preferences extracted from several traditional learning style models, related to perception modality, way of processing and organizing information, as well as motivational and social aspects. The practical applicability of the model is also shown by briefly introducing an adaptive Web-based educational system built on it (called WELSA) and reporting the encouraging experimental results obtained so far. The use of ULSM in the emerging Web 2.0 context is also envisioned, by proposing the addition of a social learning dimension to WELSA.