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Stella Lee et al.
placing the initiative on the learners themselves and help them make aware of their own learning and
in control of their learning paths. In fact, there has been no evidence in matching teaching to learning
styles as the best way to improve learning. Instead, there is an optimal way to teach chunk of content
to all students(Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008). In this study, our modeling approach is
centred around a constructive cognitive model of learning (Liu & Matthews, 2005). This approach
involves a model that helps make learning constructive while providing adaptive feedback to learners.
As a result, an adaptive eLearning system has been designed that is task-based and support learners
to self-direct their own learning paths by choosing the learning preferences (or learning modes as we
called them) as they see fit. Additionally, contextually appropriate meta level skills (i.e. study skills)
information and tools are provided along with the domain-level material. Adaptive feedback is
provided at the end in the form of a self quiz to evaluate whether the learners have progress through
their learning with adequate domain and meta knowledge.
The domain we have chosen for this study is in computer science. Specifically, we are conducting our
research study within an introductory Java programming course at a distance learning university in
Canada. Two relevant educational theories: experiential learning theory (ELT) and self-regulated
learning (SRL) have been selected as the underlining instructional design principles for this eLearning
system. We will discuss more about these theories in Section 2. Section 3 will cover the planned
research and the experimental design in details while Section 4 provides examples of the material we
have redesigned to suit this learning approach. Finally we conclude with discussion and future work in
Section 5.
2. Background on the two educational theories used
Two educational theories have emerged from authors’ experiences in designing eLearning models
and reviewing relevant literature in learning preferences and online learning - the Experiential
Learning Theory (ELT) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) theory. The fundamental ideas underlying
the two theories are explained below.
2.1 Experiential Learning Theory (ELT)
Developed in the early 1970's by David Kolb, Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) emphasizes
experience as the central focus in learning. Learning-styles theories(Coffield, Moseley, Hall, &
Ecclestone, 2004) raised questions about what learning strategies we operate with and how we use
learning strategies to enhance student learning. By studying these theories, one can also gain
insights into what motivates learners and how to help them to understand more about their own
strengths and weaknesses as learners. Kolb's model of learning styles could be represented as
"flexible stable learning preferences"(Coffield et al., 2004) as ELT is not about fixed learner traits, but
rather a "differential preference for learning, which changes slightly from situation to situation”. For
instance, a student working in a group setting during a field trip for geo-caching might prefer to take a
turn at hands-on interaction with the device even though he would normally prefer reading textual
instruction at home alone. In his research, Kolb observed that some students have a definite
preference for certain learning activities(Kolb, 1984). For example, one student might prefer reading
lecture notes whilst another student might prefer working on an interactive simulation. “From this
emerged the idea of an inventory that would identify these preferences by capturing individual
learning differences.” (Kolb & Kolb, 2005)
Figure 1 shows how a learner can progress through the experiential learning cycle: concrete
experience (and new information acquired) is translated through reflection into concepts, which are in
turn used as guides for active experimentation and the choice of new experiences. Kolb stated that a
learner can begin the learning cycle at any one of the four modes, but that learning should be carried
on as a continuous spiral. As a result, knowledge is constructed through the creative tension among
the four modes and learners will be exposed to all aspects of learning: experiencing, reflecting,
thinking and acting.
Furthermore, there are four dominant learning styles that are associated with these modes:
converging, diverging, assimilating and accommodating(Kolb, 1984).
According to Kolb, the four learning styles are:
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