Match personalization strategy to learners' prior knowledge: give low prior knowledge learners system-decided support and reserve learner control for advanced learners¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 quant-synthesis), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Based on the moderator results, the article recommends that personalization strategies be chosen in light of learners' prior knowledge: for learners with low prior knowledge, adaptable scaffolding conditions show worse effects than adaptive conditions, whereas learners with high prior knowledge may benefit from adaptable scaffolding, possibly due to more accurate self-diagnosis and experienced autonomy. The article also highlights combining adaptive scaffolding with adaptable task progression for advanced learners, where the learner selects tasks and the system provides support if a selected task is too complex.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Learners need sufficient prior knowledge and self-regulation skills to benefit from control over scaffolding and task selection

Constraints¶

• The combination of adaptive scaffolding and adaptable task progression was not beneficial for learners with low prior knowledge; results are descriptive and the article states they do not provide causal evidence

Target Learners¶

• higher education students with varying levels of prior knowledge

Target Learning Goals¶

• complex skills in simulation-based learning environments

Affordances¶

• Adaptivity Adaptability Personalization Framework

Claims¶

• Adaptive scaffolding combined with adaptable task progression is descriptively most effective for high prior knowledge learners but not for low prior knowledge learners [+W]
• Fully adaptable learning environments are significantly less beneficial than non-personalized environments [+W]
• For learners with low prior knowledge, adaptable scaffolding shows the worst effects, while non-personalized scaffolding with adaptable task progression is descriptively most beneficial [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Match scaffolding type to learners' prior professional knowledge level

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Chernikova, O., Sommerhoff, D., Stadler, M., Holzberger, D., Nickl, M., Seidel, T., Kasneci, E., Küchemann, S., Kuhn, J., Fischer, F., & Heitzmann, N. (2025). Personalization through adaptivity or adaptability? A meta-analysis on simulation-based learning in higher education. Educational Research Review 46 (2025) 100662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100662