EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF PERFORMANCE BASED ADAPTIVE LEARNING

Serkan Demiroren

Ankara University

Abstract

Web based learning, which is individualized considering students’ features, has become an important research area. In this context, adaptive hypermedia comes out as an alternative to conventional stable web based hypermedia. In this study, effectiveness and efficiency of performance based adaptive learning is evaluated. Two different media have been developed for the research. The first one makes performance adaptations just at the beginning (static environment) and the other makes performance adaptations in every chapter’s start and end (dynamic environment). The experimental period of the research is applied to 38 first year students from Ankara University Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department at 2012 – 2013 spring semester. The Independent variable of the research is continuity of adaptations. The independent variable has two sub levels: the static adaptive learning environment (control group) and performance based dynamic adaptive learning environment (experimental group). The dependent variables of the research are academic achievement and material completion time to evaluate effectiveness, and efficiency of students’ learning to evaluate efficiency. To determine students’ academic success, pretest-posttest, and for material completion time database records are used. To determine students learning efficiency a special formula, in which success and material completion time are used together, is used. According to the obtained findings, there is no significant difference on students’ academic achievement, material completion time and efficiency between the static and dynamic adaptive learning environments.

Keywords

Performance-based adaptation, Effectiveness, Adaptive learning and instruction, Efficiency.

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