Clustering of learners based on knowledge maps

Abstract

This study aimed to cluster learners based on the structures of the knowledge maps they created. Learners drew their own knowledge maps to reflect their learning activities. Our system collected individual knowledge maps from many learners and clustered them to generate an integrated version of the knowledge maps of each cluster. We applied the graph analysis method to extract important keywords from the knowledge map. The results of the analysis showed that the utilization of the knowledge map helped to improve lectures and grasp the learners' level of understanding. We conducted surveys asking course managers to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated knowledge maps of learners included in the cluster and received both positive and negative responses.