Identifying learning styles and cognitive traits in a learning management system

Abstract

Investigating learner behavior is an increasingly important research topic in online learning. Learning styles and cognitive traits have been the subjects of research in this area. Although learning institutions use Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, Claroline, and Blackboard to facilitate teaching, the platforms do not have features for analyzing data and identifying behavior such as learning styles and cognitive traits. Instead, they only produce certain statistical reports from the daily access records. Even though complex models have been proposed in the literature, most studies are based on a single behavior such as learning styles or cognitive traits but not both. Only a few have investigated a combination of cognition-based theories such as working memory capacity and psychology-based ones such as learning styles. Thus, this study sought to answer the research question of whether it was possible to establish a methodology for the estimation of learning styles and cognitive traits from a learning management system. The study combined the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model and Cognitive Trait Model as theoretical frameworks to identify behavior in a Learning Management System. This study designed a model for extracting records from Learning Management Systems access records to estimate learning style and cognitive traits. From this, a prototype was developed to estimate the learning style and cognitive traits for each student. The model was evaluated by administering manual tools to students in a classroom environment then comparing the results gathered against those estimated by the model. The results analyzed using Kappa statistics demonstrated the interrater reliability results were moderately in agreement. Taken together, these results suggest that it is possible to estimate the learning styles and cognitive traits of a learner in a Learning Management System. The information generated by the model can be used by tutors to provide a conducive online learning environment where learners with similar behavior ask each other for help. This can reduce the teaching load for online tutors because learners themselves act as a teaching resource. Information on learning styles and cognitive styles can also facilitate online group formation by isolating the individual factors that contribute to team success.