Will personalized e-Learning increase deep learning in higher education?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.