Background Information on Adaptive Learning:

Adaptive Learning first came into the educational scene in the 1950s by a behaviorist, B.F. Skinner. He constructed a mechanism using a teaching machine that primarily focused on a new concept of effective teaching rather than memorizing the information time and again. The concept of Adaptive Learning in the early days goes in this manner with the teaching machine worked on the basis of allowing the student to practice new concepts and answering questions.

This machine’s protocol contained the following:

• The students answered the questions given to them as an assessment.
• If the student has answered the question correctly, the machine provides positive feedback.
• If the answer was wrong, although the student need not worry, as smaller steps with a series of hints were given so that the student can move towards the right answer (Adaptive Learning: Definition, History & Methodology, 2015).

What is Adaptive Learning?

As per a tweaked version of Daria Bastanzhyieva’s Business Dictionary definition, adaptive learning is “a type of learning that concentrates on analyzing the previous successes and outcomes of the training and uses these results as a basis for improving training strategies to ensure future successes” (Bastanzhyieva. D, 2017).

There are many online platforms that embed adaptive learning in their tools such as Google Classroom, Moodle, and Edmodo. There are other tools that bring adaptive learning to the classroom such as Socrative, Elevate, Matific, Quizalize, and Typeform.

As an example to demonstrate the adaptive learning, there is a tool called, LearnDash.

Adaptive learning with LearnDash enables course administrators to design courses in a non-linear manner and there are a variety of child courses each with a unique course level and the student will then be assigned a child course based on their performance in the quiz/quizzes of that parent course.

Adaptive Learning with LearnDash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4bS-crxOLU

Implementation of Adaptive Learning:

Example 1:

Since August 2016, Adaptive Learning was implemented in the Singapore Management University (SMU) and about 500 students taking different courses in subject areas such as Economics, Strategy, Finance, and Organizational Behavior and Human Resources (OBHR) have been supported in their learning with adaptive courseware offered by educational publishers.

Singapore Management University (SMU) conducted an administered survey in collaboration with the faculty members and Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) using Qualtrics to collect feedback from students, measuring students’ perceptions of their experiences with the use of such adaptive digital tools.

Some students reported that clearer instructions could be given to facilitate their navigation of the educational publishers’ platform and suggested having more questions of higher difficulty levels (beyond comprehension and recall) included as part of the online quizzes. They also shared technical issues such as taking a long time to load the e-textbooks, and the incompatibility of the e-textbooks on a certain mobile operating system was also shared by students. However, the analyses of the findings were generally positive (Adaptive Learning Textbooks | Centre for Teaching Excellence, 2020).

Figure 1: Survey results of Singapore Management University's students taking different courses using Adaptive Learning

Image Credit: https://cte.smu.edu.sg/resources/adaptive-learning

Example 2:

Arizona State University (ASU), developed the world’s first adaptive-learning biology degree, adjusting to its students’ needs in real-time.

ASU’s four-year degree in Biological Sciences was built in a new adaptive-learning platform called BioSpine. The technology was a co-creation of ASU and a Scottish company, CogBooks.

ASU’s degree program is using the BioSpine adaptive-learning courseware instead of textbooks and faculty member’s linked learning activities to the platform, which will allow the students to progress through more challenging coursework when they are ready, or step back to obtain support in relearning material from a previous course or chapter, as a matter of personalized learning.

According to the ASU, it believes that a large lecture hall does not necessarily engage the students in science classrooms, nor is it effective in producing exceptional performance in exams. Hence, ASU has implemented the adaptive-learning approach and the results are the evidence to their successful implementation of such an approach (IBL News, 2019).

It has reached a goal of above 90% in three of its survey results and obtained a BIO 100 – Performance (C or better) after the implementation of Adaptive Learning Systems in the ASU’s degree program.

Figure 2: ASU transforms Undergraduate science education by developing the first adaptive learning degree

Image Credit: https://iblnews.org/asu-transforms-undergraduate-science-education-developing-the-first-adaptive-learning-degree/

Example 3:

Three Researchers from Georgia Gwinnett College, School of Science & Technology, Information Technology, conducted research on "Understanding Perceptions of Conceptual Information Technology Adaptive Learning" for the General Education - Computing Course. Students were required to complete an adaptive learning session for each major computing topic and at the end of the semester, a survey was conducted to 584 students and 25 instructors to understand the impact the adaptive learning system had on the course material, the students, and the instructors. Students were surveyed on their impressions of how the adaptive learning systems helped them learn, and their feedback on the various tools provided by the system. Instructors were asked to compare the adaptive learning tool to the traditional e-book previously used in the course. It was found that both students and instructors viewed adaptive learning as a beneficial addition to this computing course for the ability to focus on topics that students do not understand and for the tools it provides to motivate and engage the students (Kakish, K., Robertson, C. and Jonassen, L., 2020).

 Figure 3: Effectiveness of Adaptive Learning Tools - Students' Perception

Figure 4: Overall Comparison of Adaptive Learning and E-Book - Instructors' Perception

Image Credit: https://easychair.org/publications/preprint_open/n7ZD

Conclusion:

According to the examples and the research survey results, we concur that the Adaptive Learning or Teaching has proven to be an effective approach for instructors to quickly view assignment the results and to personalize their teaching approach and assessments accordingly. It will save enormous time for the instructors and their students from wasting time in teaching the course materials that the students already understand. It also allows them adequate time to drill down into the course materials that are challenging to the students on the basis of customization.

In terms of the student perspective, adaptive learning provides an engaging interface for learning complex concepts. The system allows for self-reflection by quizzing students until they have mastered the topic. With multiple tools in place, it augments their learning experience as well and adaptive learning proves to be an effective tool for the students in their learning journey (Kakish, K., Robertson, C. and Jonassen, L., 2020).

References:

Adaptive Learning: Definition, History & Methodology. (2015). Available at: <https://study.com/academy/lesson/adaptive-learning-definition-history-methodology.html> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

BusinessDictionary.com. 2020. What Is Adaptive Learning? Definition and Meaning. [Online] Available at: <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/adaptive-learning.html> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

Daria.B. 2020. Adaptive Learning: What Is It And How To Make It Work? [Online] Available at: <https://raccoongang.com/blog/adaptive-learning-what-it-and-how-make-it-work/> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

WordPress.org. 2020. Adaptive Learning with Learndash. [Online] Available at: <https://wordpress.org/plugins/adaptive-learning-with-learndash/> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

Cte.smu.edu.sg. 2020. Adaptive Learning Textbooks | Centre For Teaching Excellence. [Online] Available at: <https://cte.smu.edu.sg/resources/adaptive-learning> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

Iblnews.org. 2020. Arizona State University Develops the First Adaptive-Learning Degree in Science | IBL News. [Online] Available at: <https://iblnews.org/asu-transforms-undergraduate-science-education-developing-the-first-adaptive-learning-degree/> [Accessed 26 May 2020].

Kakish, K., Robertson, C., and Jonassen, L., 2020. Understanding Perceptions of Conceptual Information Technology Adaptive Learning. [Online] Easychair.org. Available at: <https://easychair.org/publications/preprint/n7ZD> [Accessed 26 May 2020].