USING THE STUDENTS' STATE INDICES FOR DESIGN OF ADAPTIVE LEARNING SYSTEMS

Abstract

The paper discusses what scientific ideas could be used to increase effectiveness of adaptive learning systems. Possibilities to use changes of learner's cognitive state indicators under influence of internal (heart rate and blood pressure) and external (speed and density of solar wind) factors are discussed. It is described experience of use of the learner's cognitive state assessment (accounting psychological, physiological and external parameters) to assess his/her cognitive changes over weeks. The experimental results demonstrated individual nature of subjects' psychological and physiological changes over observation time (1,5 month) and their relationship. The authors' approach is based on the model describing formation and functioning of the “functional system of cognitive activity”. The question discussed is: what indices of a human performance indicators (behavioral, internal and/or external) could be useful for model construction? A human cognitive load can be under influence of different external and internal factors that can provoke his/her performance degradation. The results demonstrated the similar tendency for studied groups of subjects in previous studies: individual nature of changes of cognitive and physiological indices in day-to-day performance, as well as potentially significant influence of parameters of solar wind on them. As a result, such type of measurements of internal (physiological) and external (solar physics) parameters in combination with test performance indices could be used for assessment and prediction of effectiveness of cognitive activity, and adaptation of learning process according to the particularly learner's readiness to learn on a particular day and time. Different approaches and methods were proposed to take into account a human state, abilities, individual features to plan a human activity. Looking at learning as a type of activity in human-system integration, it is possible to consider today’s learner as an operator-researcher who acts in digital environment. At the same time, a human and tools of activity need mutual adaptation in complex systems. Psychophysiological model of learning and cognitive abilities development could be a basis for more effective design of learning achievements, organization and process, their quality, namely for adaptive learning on the base of accounting a learner's current cognitive state indices. Those results could be applied in design of adaptive learning systems, as it was made for industry in the previous developments of the authors. Principles of use of student's state indices in adaptive learning systems are proposed.