Dynamic adaptive hypermedia systems for e-learning Elvira Popescu To cite this version: Elvira Popescu. Dynamic adaptive hypermedia systems for e-learning. Education. Université de Technologie de Compiègne, 2008. English. tel-00343460 HAL Id: tel-00343460 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00343460 Submitted on 10 Dec 2008 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. DOCTORAT TIS Cotutelle de thèse – Nom de l’établissement : Université de Craiova Label européen (nom du pays) : Roumanie Thèse financée par : l’Université de Craiova, Roumanie Dynamic adaptive hypermedia systems for e-learning Directeurs de Thèse (NOM - Prénom) : TRIGANO Philippe (NOM - Prénom) : RASVAN Vladimir. Date, heure et lieu de soutenance : 15 novembre 2008, 12h00, Université de Craiova, Roumanie NOM :Popescu ....................................................... Prénom : Elvira ................................................................ Courriel : [email protected] MEMBRES DU JURY - TRIGANO Philippe, Professeur des Universités (directeur de thèse) Spécialité: EIAH Courriel: [email protected] Université de Technologie de Compiègne BP 20529 60205 Compiègne Cédex, FRANCE - RASVAN Vladimir, Professeur des Universités (co-directeur de thèse) Spécialité: Ingénierie des systèmes Courriel: [email protected] University of Craiova, Automatic Control Department, Str. A. I. Cuza, nr. 13 200585 Craiova, ROMANIA - LECLET Dominique, Maîtres de Conférences, HDR informatique (rapporteur) Spécialité: EIAH Courriel: [email protected] UPJV, LARIA, 33 rue Saint Leu, 80039 Amiens Cedex 1, FRANCE - NEDEVSCHI Sergiu, Professeur des Universités (rapporteur) Spécialité: Génie Informatique Courriel: [email protected] Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Computer Science Department 15, C.Daicoviciu St., 400020, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA - LENNE Dominique, Maîtres de Conférences (examinateur) Spécialité: EIAH Courriel: [email protected] Université de Technologie de Compiègne BP 20529 60205 Compiègne Cédex, France - CRETU Vladimir Ioan, Professeur des Universités (examinateur) Spécialité: Génie Informatique Courriel: [email protected] Computer Science and Engineering Department, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, V.Parvan 2, Timisoara, 300223, ROMANIA UTC – Ecole Doctorale - 11/12/2008 Acknowledgments First of all I would like to express my gratitude to my PhD supervisors, Prof. dr. Vladimir Rasvan and Prof. dr. Philippe Trigano, for their invaluable guidance and continuous support throughout my thesis and for providing me with an excellent research environment. I would also like to thank Prof. dr. Vladimir Cretu, MdC. dr. Dominique Leclet, MdC. dr. Dominique Lenne and Prof. dr. Sergiu Nedevschi, for making me the honor of accepting to participate in my thesis committee, as well as for their valuable feedback on my work. I am also grateful to Prof. dr. Costin Badica for introducing me to the world of research and for his advices, encouragements and fruitful collaboration from the very beginning of my academic career. Special thanks go to all my colleagues from the Software Engineering Department and Automatic Control Department (University of Craiova, Romania) and Heudiasyc Laboratory (University of Technology of Compiègne, France) for their understanding and support throughout the past 3 years, as well as for their valuable comments on my research. I would also like to thank my students who contributed to the implementation of parts of the proposed educational system, as well as to all the participants in the experimental studies. Moreover I am grateful to the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research for funding this research under grant CNCSIS Td no. 167/2007 and scholarship CNCSIS BD no. 293/2006. I also want to express sincere thanks to all my friends and colleagues worldwide for the fruitful exchange of ideas, for the nice and interesting time we had at the conferences and for welcoming me during my research visits in Compiègne. Last but not least I would like to emphasize the loving care of my family and the support of my special friends through the ups and downs of my PhD studies. My greatest thanks go to my parents for their endless support throughout my entire life, for being my mentors and my role models. i Contents 1. Introduction........................................................................................................1 1.1. Motivation.............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Research Questions................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Thesis Outline ........................................................................................................ 5 2. Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems ...................................................7 2.1. Adaptive Hypermedia Overview ........................................................................... 7 2.2. Adaptivity in E-learning ...................................................................................... 11 2.3. Learner Modeling in AEHS ................................................................................. 14 2.4. Adaptation Provisioning ...................................................................................... 18 2.4.1. Adaptation Levels and Technologies........................................................ 18 2.4.2. Adaptation Models.................................................................................... 21 2.4.3. Representation of Adaptation Knowledge................................................ 24 2.5. Evaluation Methodology...................................................................................... 25 2.6. Examples of Adaptive Educational Systems ....................................................... 26 3. Learning Styles in Adaptive Educational Systems .......................................29 3.1. Theory of Learning Styles ................................................................................... 29 3.1.1. Definitions ................................................................................................ 29 3.1.2. Examples of Learning Style Models......................................................... 30 3.1.3. Implications for Pedagogy........................................................................ 34 3.2. Incorporating Learning Styles in Adaptive Educational Hypermedia ................. 35 3.2.1. Specificity of Learning Style based Adaptive Educational Systems ........ 35 3.2.2. Examples of LSAES................................................................................. 38 3.3. Introducing a Unified Learning Style Model....................................................... 40 3.3.1. Learning Style Criticism........................................................................... 40 3.3.2. Justifying the Use of a Unified Learning Style Model ............................. 44 3.3.3. Description of the Unified Learning Style Model .................................... 46 3.3.4. Advantages of Our Implicit Modeling Method using ULSM................... 49 4. Modeling the Learner from the Learning Style Point of View....................52 4.1. Critical Review of Existing Approaches.............................................................. 52 4.1.1. Explicit Modeling Method........................................................................ 53 4.1.2. Implicit Modeling Method........................................................................ 54 4.2. Analyzing the Behavior of Students in an Educational Hypermedia System...... 57 iii Contents 4.2.1. Patterns of Behavior ................................................................................. 57 4.2.2. Exploratory Study..................................................................................... 65 4.2.3. Main Study ............................................................................................... 71 4.3. Automatic Identification of Student Learning Style ............................................ 75 4.3.1. Proposed Modeling Method ..................................................................... 75 4.3.2. Experimental Validation of the Modeling Method................................... 84 4.4. From ULSM to Traditional Learning Style Models ............................................ 87 4.4.1. Correspondence Rules between ULSM Preferences and Traditional Learning Style Models........................................................................................ 88 4.4.2. Experimental Results................................................................................ 91 5. Adaptation Provisioning with respect to Learning Styles............................96 5.1. Critical Review of Existing Approaches.............................................................. 96 5.1.1. Methods and Techniques for Providing Adaptivity in LSAES ................ 96 5.1.2. Experimental Studies in LSAES............................................................