PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT USING ADAPTIVE LEARNING ITINERARIES

  • Authors:

  • Jose Manuel Marquez Vazquez;Luis Gonzalez-Abril;Francisco Velasco Morente;Juan Antonio Ortega Ramirez

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Business Applications, Simosa IT, Campus Tecnológico Palmas Altas s/n, Seville, Spain;Department of Applied Economy I, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida de Ramón y Cajal 1, Seville, Spain;Department of Applied Economy I, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida de Ramón y Cajal 1, Seville, Spain;Department of Computer Systems and Languages, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida de la Reina Mercedes s/n, Seville, Spain

  • Venue:
  • Computational Intelligence
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

In this paper, Bayesian-Networks (BN) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) techniques are combined to find the best path through a graph representing all available itineraries to acquire a professional competence. The combination of these methods allows us to design a dynamic learning path, useful in a rapidly changing world. One of the most important advances in this work is that the amount of pheromones released is variable. This amount is calculated by taking into account the results acquired in the last completed course in relation to the minimum score required. By using ACO and BN, a fitness function, responsible of automatically selecting the next course in the learning graph, is defined. This is done by generating a path that maximizes the probability of each user's success in the course. Therefore, the path can change to improve learners’ average performance, taking into account the pedagogical weight of each learning unit and the social behavior of the system. Furthermore, a discrete dynamical system is obtained and its stability is studied. How to wrap an existing Learning Management System is also described in this work. Finally, an experiment compares this approach with the old on-line learning system being used previously. (These initial values were agreed with the Pedagogical Team. In addition, all the edges of the learning graph were initialized with zero pheromones. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)