METHADIS: Methodology for the Design of Adaptive Hypermedia Systems for Learning based on Learning and Cognitive Styles

The design of eLearning systems aimed at personalizing the learning process, and which are based on given learning and cognitive styles, implies, from the teaching perspective, a need for evaluating potential teaching environments adapted to the preferences and forms of information processing of the students. In order to systematize this task, we have developed a methodology METHADIS which, based on a leaning objective, and by means of following a sequence of steps, determines instructional strategies custom-design for the specific needs of different users. Thus the contents, information formats, and activities are presented as a function of the learning styles; the helps and navigational options are given as a function of the specifics of each cognitive style. METHADIS was applied to a case of study where performance was compared between students in an experimental group which interacted with a hypermedia system design using this methodology and that of a control group.