An e-Learning Support System for Analyzing the Learners' State of Understanding by Using the Statistical Analysis Method

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One of the drawbacks of e-Learning is the fact that it is difficult for the teachers to grasp the learners' state of understanding (u-state) because there is little face-to-face communication. For these trends, we aim to develop an e-Learning support system in which teachers can grasp the learners' u-state in real time so that they can give appropriate feedback to the learners.Through the research in 2 years, we have developed a statistical analysis method for assessing the u-state of the students. We have also developed a general system for effectively and efficiently supporting e-Learning using the statistical analysis method.And we have tested the system, and verified the usability, usefulness, and effectiveness of it. The details are as shown below.(1) We have developed the statistical analysis method for assessing the learners' u-state using the ordering relations of knowledge.(2) We have developed the system to analyze the ordering relations of knowledge, the testing system, and the system to draw the ordering relations of knowledge. We have implemented those systems on a Linux machine, and conducted experiments for evaluating the systems. As the result, we have verified that the knowledge items that are difficult for the learners to understand can be grasped by visually analyzing the relation structure.(3) We have evaluated the usability, usefulness, and effectiveness of the e-learning supporting system using each system we implemented on a Linux server.(4) It has been observed from the evaluation experiments that there was a statistical significance between the u-state of a group of learners and that of another group of learners with a different specialty. Since the relation between the teaching materials and the specialty of the learners seems to be the cause of the observation, further investigation is being conducted to find how this relation affects the learners' u-state.