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ABSTRACT
Adaptive tutorials enable engaged, personalised and interactive online learning that includes instant adaptive feedback. By integrating an adaptive tutorial into a large and diverse engineering mathematics course, we explored its potential to support and guide students’ learning from afar. The aim of this study was to assess whether students provided with an adaptive tutorial, could benefit from its use and whether they would engage in and take responsibility for their learning. Comparisons were made between students who did and did not use the tutorial. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses determined the impact of including an adaptive tutorial in a blended learning environment, where 58% of students engaged with the tutorial and 74% of them completed it. Improved confidence and understanding was reported by 98% of the participants. A comparison of examination results indicated that median scores for students who utilised the tutorial were significantly higher than those who did not.
Acknowledgements
Approval for the study was granted on 23 October, 2015 by UNSW Human Research Ethics Committee (HC15610).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Heather Weltman is a research student in the School of Computer Science & Engineering at UNSW, Sydney, Australia. She has had a longstanding interest in online learning. Her current research interest lies in adaptive tutorials and how they can be utilised as a teaching and learning resource. As a secondary school computer teacher, she has implemented ICT projects, and designed and run software courses. She is passionate about supporting educators integrate technology into their courses. As a lifelong learner, she believes there is always something new to learn and strive for and that like a circle, learning has no end.
Dr Timchenko is a senior lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at The University of New South Wales. She completed her Honours Degree in Physics at Kharkov State University, Ukraine, and her PhD in Engineering (1993) at the Institute for Problems in Machinery, The Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Her areas of expertise are computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer. Research interests include natural convection and phase change problems; cooling of building integrated photovoltaic systems and microelectronic devices; synthetic jets; bioheat transfer and hyperthermia for biomedical applications.
Haritos Sofios completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Hons 1) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance with Distinction) at UNSW in 2015. His engineering thesis was focused on measuring the effectiveness of adaptive e-learning technology for students undertaking an engineering numerical methods course. He is currently working as a Project Manager in the Educational Technology Industry managing the development and implementation of a broad range of courseware for both universities and corporate organisations.
Dr Paul Ayres is an emeritus professor in Educational Psychology at the University New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. His research focus is in the field of learning and instruction, particularly cognitive load theory (CLT), a theory that originated at UNSW. He has made a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to a number of CLT effects, as well as measuring cognitive load. Much of his recent research has been into multimedia design, specifically into the effectiveness of instructional animations. He is on the Editorial board of several international journals and was previously an Associate Editor of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Dr Nadine Marcus is a Senior Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction at UNSW. She has a cross-disciplinary background and her research focuses on the design of multimedia educational technology that improves learning. The research involves the collection of empirical data, so results can inform multimedia theories of instructional design; as well as leading research related to uses of the Adaptive eLearning Platform (AeLP). She has attracted significant grant funding to develop eLearning resources spanning multiple projects and disciplines, and has published extensively in peer reviewed journals and conferences within the domains of Educational Technology, Online Learning and Interface Design.