Adapting to prior knowledge of learners

Abstract

Prior knowledge is an important factor that influences the interaction with a hypertext and the learning gain. Our authoring system NetCoach provides a way to assess the users' prior knowledge and to adapt the course in different ways. We describe how the adaptation mechanism assesses the user's knowledge with test items, infers the user's current learning state from this information, and finally adapts accordingly. An evaluation study with an adaptive HTML course demonstrates that this kind of adaptation might reduce the completion time, but retains the learning gain. © 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.