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Identification of learning styles online by observing learners’ browsing behaviour through a neural network
Author(s) -
Lo JiaJiunn,
Shu PaiChuan
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00437.x
Subject(s) - learning styles , identification (biology) , computer science , adaptive hypermedia , factor (programming language) , artificial neural network , educational technology , cognitive style , style (visual arts) , adaptive learning , multimedia , hypermedia , human–computer interaction , artificial intelligence , psychology , mathematics education , cognition , history , botany , archaeology , neuroscience , biology , programming language
Identification of individual learning style is important when developing adaptive educational hypermedia systems. Current systems ask learners to complete questionnaires to identify their learning styles, which might not be appropriate in some contexts. The goal of this research is to identify the learner's learning style by simply observing his/her browsing behaviour without asking the learner to answer any questions or filling out any form. It is implemented through a multi‐layer feed forward neural network (MLFF). Browsing behaviour, in this research, includes three factors, the use of embedded support devices (ESDs), the selection of link types, and the navigation between visited/unvisited nodes. The experiment results showed the proposed model performed well in identifying learning styles. Link type is the dominant factor and Time shift may not be a major factor in the identification of learning styles. Because of the fast execution property of neural networks and identification of learning styles online, it is possible to incorporate learning styles into online adaptive educational web‐based systems.