Abstract:
The improvements in technology and the increasing use of the internet in everyday activities make it possible for the developments of learning systems to become more personalized and adaptive to student needs. Student needs differ, in that they may have different goals, preferences, requirements and interests. By accommodating these needs this would enhance student motivation towards learning, increase student performance results, as well as offer a more efficient use of teacher time and effort. Most of all it will provide a learning environment that would be more effective as it caters to a range of individual differences. A more precise education delivery is possible and inevitable. As researchers are taking more interest in the evolution of learning systems, the need for tailoring these systems to each individual’s needs and preferences has become a major concern. This research investigates the effect that learning environments and learning contents has on student learning. An experiment on university students within computer laboratory settings where students were asked to learn a course, in which they were required to select preferable content options to learn from. At the end of the course they were tested on the knowledge they learnt. Students were either recommended content based on the traditional learning approach or non-traditional learning approaches. Based on the research analysis, accommodating individual preferences is not a simple task as students may not always know what is best for them. Although there is a move towards more technology mediated learning environments which allows for education systems to become personalized and adaptive, it is still debatable on whether student performance is improved. Thus finding which different types of students perform best under traditional or non-traditional learning environments was the focus of this research. Since students differ and to make it easier to compare their differences, participants were grouped together based on their gender, technical ability and residential status. Several studies suggests that student learning systems should be both adaptive (by the system) and adaptable (by the learner) to enhance learning effectiveness. Recommendations for future research and improvements are also discussed.Keywords: individual differences, learning content, learning environments, personalization, learning preference, prior knowledge, web development