Agentic education · Learning science

Actionable companion · Learning design & outcomes

Learning with agency: Adaptive learning in university students’ opinions: Cross-border research

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide, separate from the original research. Proposed actions are not claims or recommendations attributed to the source authors. No independent peer review of this guide is asserted.

Read original paperSearch paper agentCC BY 4.0

Evidence and context

Title and abstract screening; stage labels describe reported settings, not verified numerical ages. Design labels require full-text appraisal. Reported stage(s): Higher education. Verify the participant population and task before transferring the findings.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the linked source license:

Abstract Contemporary education is often based on using e-learning courses, which have become a popular means of delivering didactic material to students. Among the main advantages mentioned is the potential possibility of creating individual ways of learning and teaching. The purpose of this article is to provide a description of the various approaches to adaptive learning, to present the comparative research results of a Polish-Ukrainian study, as well as to highlight the options offered by LMS Moodle (Modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment Learning Management System) for the implementation of adaptive learning and the possibility of taking into account the expectation of students regardless of the country. During the study, an online survey was administered to 59 students at the University of Silesia in Katowice (US), Poland and 121 students at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU), Ukraine between March–June 2020. All of the students were studying online due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The classes were conducted in synchronous and in asynchronous modes using e-learning courses in the Moodle system, as well as MS Teams for Polish students and Google Suite for Ukrainian students. At the same time, the majority of the surveyed students declared that they lack personalization, both in terms of materials and the learning process, which was limited in terms of fulfilment and they would like to have a choice of the level of study. Keywords: Adaptive learning, Adaptive technologies, LMS Moodle, Students’ expectation, Comparative research

What kind of evidence is this?

Intelligent tutoring & adaptive learning · Survey / observational study

Stage: Higher education. Screening labels describe reported context and study-design language. They are not a risk-of-bias rating or proof of effectiveness for an age band.

Study methods · source passage

The research was conducted among students of 1st (B.A.) and 2nd (M.A.) degree courses in the framework of different subjects at different faculties at the University of Silesia in Katowice (UŚ) and at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU) during March–June 2020 online due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The classes were conducted in synchronous and in asynchronous mode using e-learning courses in the Moodle system, as well as MS Teams for Polish students and Google Suite for Ukrainian students. During the study, an online survey was distributed to 59 students at the UŚ and 121 students at the BGKU. The Questionnaire was prepared and developed in electronic mode and shared online in Google Forms for Polish students and for Ukrainian students. The draft results were partly described in Morze et al. (2021).

Limitations and uncertainty · source passage

Within the context of the limitations of the analysis of the study, it would be interesting to expand the research sample, as well as to be able to submit a pretest and postest questionnaire to students to analyze if there are differences in their perceptions before and after the implementation of the elements of adaptive learning in the Moodle e-course. As a future direction of study, the authors are interested in expanding the research questions, along with the perception of the effectivness of the researched adaptive learning elements, their impact on motivation and the quality of learning and teaching. That is why the focus will be on proposing an experimental study (with a control group) in which we can analyze both the grades in the same academic course with several groups, in which personalised learning using the Moodle LMS system and other similar systems might shed light on a more timely methodology, as well as show the motivation of students with respect to the educational process.

Design the system before the pilot

Document the learner model, mastery rule, hint sequence and adaptation signal. Compare adaptive routing with the same content in a non-adaptive sequence. Check whether early errors lead to persistent low-expectation pathways.

  • Specify a measurable learning objective, a comparator and a task without tool assistance before adopting a system.

A 90-day district pilot

  1. Days 1–15 · Appraise. Have the curriculum lead and a teacher read the methods and limitations. Record the study design, sample, comparator, outcomes and evidence gaps. Define a local question that the study can help inform.
  2. Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one disciplinary task. Require a first attempt, a documented AI consultation, a critique of the output and an independent explanation. Align the comparison group and scoring rubric with the same objective. Name an accountable owner and set the baseline, success threshold and budget before implementation.
  3. Days 31–60 · Test. Start with a small voluntary cohort, preserve an accessible non-AI route and require teacher review. Use synthetic or de-identified examples; approve data handling and tool terms through district processes.
  4. Days 61–90 · Decide. Blind-score reasoning and accuracy on a new task without AI. Distinguish model examination scores, student perceptions and actual learner gains; only the last directly tests educational benefit. Compare with baseline, document uncertainty and stop or revise if learning worsens, access is unequal or critical errors persist.

The board decision brief

Report the learning problem, evidence quality, participating population, total cost including review time, measured benefit, errors, access differences and remaining uncertainties. Make a dated recommendation to stop, revise or expand. A positive perception survey alone does not establish learning improvement.

Attribution and reuse

Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska; Nataliia Morze; Lilia Varchenko-Trotsenko. Adaptive learning in university students’ opinions: Cross-border research. Education and Information Technologies (2022-01-24). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10830-7

Companion prepared 2026-10-30. Original authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract is an attributed source extract; the implementation plan is new AI-assisted editorial material, offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license. This guide has not undergone independent peer review.