Learning styles assessment and theoretical origin in an E-learning scenario: a survey

Abstract

The performance of the learners in E-learning environments is greatly influenced by the nature of the posted E-learning contents. In such a scenario, the performance of the learners can be enhanced by posting the suitable E-learning contents to the learners based on their learning styles. Hence, it is very essential to have a clear knowledge about various learning styles in order to predict the learning styles of different learners in E-learning environments. However, predicting the learning styles needs complete knowledge about the learners past and present characteristics. Since the knowledge available about learners is uncertain, it can be resolved through the use of Fuzzy rules which can handle uncertainty effectively. The core objective of this survey paper is to outline the working of the existing learning style models and the metrics used to evaluate them. Based on the available models, this paper identifies Felder---Silverman learning style model as the suitable model for E-learning and suggests the use of Fuzzy rules to handle uncertainty in learning style prediction so that it can enhance the performance of the E-learning system.