An approach to Adaptive E-learning Hypermedia System based on Learning Styles (AEHS-LS): Implementation and evaluation

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to integrate learning styles into Adaptive E-learning Hypermedia. The main objective was to develop an adaptive e-learning system and assess the effect of adapting educational materials individualized to the student’s learning style. The proposed approach utilized adaptive hypermedia technology to improve learning process by adapting course content presentation to student learning styles. The combination of Apache, MySQL and PHP were used to implement the system based on learning styles to present the appropriate subject matter, including the content, format and media type. The system was organized into 3 models; domain model, learner model and adaptation model. The 3 models interact together to perform adaptively. An experiment between 2 groups of students was conducted to evaluate the impact on learning achievement. Inferential statistics were applied to make inferences from the sample data to more general conditions. Descriptive statistics were applied simply to describe what's going on in the sample data. Results showed that students taught using learning style adaptive system performed significantly better in academic achievement (p<0.05) than students taught the same material without adaptation to learning style. The findings support the use of learning styles as guideline for adaptation into the Adaptive E-learning Hypermedia Systems. Key words: E-learning, adaptive hypermedia, learning styles, technology based education, academic achievement.