Will personalized e-Learning increase deep learning in higher education?
Information Discovery and Delivery
ISSN: 2398-6247
Article publication date: 16 January 2019
Issue publication date: 22 February 2019
Abstract
Purpose
Recent research in higher education has pointed out that personalized e-learning through the use of learning management systems, such as Moodle, improves the academic results of students and facilitates the detection of at-risk students.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 124 students following the Degree in Health Sciences at the University of Burgos participated in this study. The objectives were as follows: to verify whether the use of a Moodle-based personalized e-learning system will predict the learning outcomes of students and the use of effective learning behaviour patterns and to study whether it will increase student satisfaction with teaching practice.
Findings
The use of a Moodle-based personalized e-learning system that included problem-based learning (PBL) methodology predicted the learning outcomes by 42.3 per cent, especially with regard to the results of the quizzes. In addition, it predicted effective behavioural patterns by 74.2 per cent. Increased student satisfaction levels were also identified through the conceptual feedback provided by the teacher, arguably because it facilitated a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this work should be treated with caution, because of the sample size and the specificity of the branch of knowledge of the students, as well as the design type. Future studies will be directed at increasing the size of the sample and the diversity of the qualifications.
Originality/value
Learning methodology in the twenty-first century has to be guided towards carefully structured work from the pedagogic point of view in the learning management systems allowing for process-oriented feedback and PBL both included in personalized e-learning systems.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Conflict of interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The authors thank all the students who participated in this study. They are also grateful for funding for the dissemination of research results from the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer, 2018, of the Burgos, and the suggestions of the reviewers that have added to the quality of the manuscript.
Citation
Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., García Osorio, C.I., Díez-Pastor, J.F. and Martín Antón, L.J. (2019), "Will personalized e-Learning increase deep learning in higher education?", Information Discovery and Delivery, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-08-2018-0039
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited