Detecting Differences in "Meaningful Learning" Behaviours and their Evolution: A Data Driven Approach

In this paper we investigate two different ways in which learners construct personal semantic maps, expressed by navigational behaviours. The first of them concerns the usage of hypermedia structures non- sequentially, i.e. without following a strict order within two nodes; the second one concerns the usage of glossaries and concepts maps. A data driven approach, described in the paper, is used. The dataset is made by 254 sessions realized by learners interacting with the WINDS Advanced Learning Environment. The results show that the differences in two behaviours are statistically significant ;that the usage of maps and glossaries is less frequent than the usage of hypertextual structure; that the usage of maps and glossaries is clustered above all around a single course; that when different from zero, the two behaviours have statistically significant opposite trends. We can conclude that the presence of two different behaviours of non sequential navigation in Electronic Learning Environments is likely, and that the corresponding strategies are likely to be learned. The results and the implications are analysed and discussed.