An investigation into finding the most influential factors in developing a Personalized Learning Environment for Higher Education

In any classroom, there are always different students with different background knowledge, interests, preferences, needs and abilities. Traditional learning systems follow “One-size fits-all” approach which means all students receive the same content in the same way and do not acknowledge diversity by design. By emergence of new technologies in higher education (HE), educational institutions aim to tailor pedagogy and curriculum for learners to meet their individual needs by developing a new learning system called Adaptive Learning System (ALS). This paper is the first part of developing an ALS for practical laboratory modules. It presents the result of an experimental investigation into finding students' preferred learning method and identifies the main learning factors in developing an ALS. The finding of this research shows that most students prefer an ALS to a traditional learning method for delivery of practical modules. In addition they have chosen learning style and background knowledge as the most influential learning parameters which should be considered in developing an ALS.