Running head: Personalization of Instructional Design 1

Personalization of Instructional Design

Michelle C N. Hortin
University of Utah

Personalization of Instructional Design

PERSONALIZATION
2
Personalization is one way to approach instructional design because it is effective in
helping learners cognitively process material and motivate them. It can be described as,
“adapting learning experience to different learners by analyzing knowledge skills and learning
preferences of individuals….[personalization] aims to tailor teaching for each learner’s
constantly changing needs and skills” (Altun, 2012, p. 692). There are many strategies that can
be used to achieve personalization. This paper will look at cognitive and motivational strategies
of personalization that could be useful to colleagues and professionals that are entering
instructional design. These strategies are: Ensure the learner has an individual interest, the use of
formal vs. conversational language, and other various strategies.
The first strategy of personalization is to ensure that the learner has an individual interest.
The more personally interested an individual is the higher their motivation will be. When the
learner has a higher interest Schrader et al. (2018) refers to it as individual interest (p. 1389).
Schrader, et al. (2018) explains that “Individual interest can...be seen as a trait variable resulting
in higher attention, cognitive processing, and task persistence during the learning experience.
This is why individual interest is seen as a crucial variable for the process and results of
learning.” (Schrader, et al., p. 1389). When a learner has high interest they have higher
motivation to learn.
This shows that meeting individual interest affects motivation. Students who show ,
“...persistence during [a] learning experience…” are showing that they are motivated to learn
(Schrader, et al., 2018, p. 1389). If a learner is interested in the task the longer the harder and
longer they will work on a task.
This also means that personalization causes individual interest therefore helping with the
cognitive process. If a learner is interested in the topic they are more likely to think and process
the topic more.
Another strategy of personalization could be the use of formal vs. conversational
language. This strategy can be used to help in the motivation of learners. Shrader et al. (2018)
researched the effects of the different language styles through the use of multimedia
presentations. After showing German students separate presentations of Gestalt Laws--one using
formal language the other using conversational language--, they were tested on content
knowledge. They concluded that learners in the middle range of motivation-excluding highly
interested learners (they are already motivated) and low interested learners (whatever you do,
PERSONALIZATION
3
they don’t care)-- showed more improvement when using conversational language than the
students who were shown the presentation using formal language (p. 1395) .
In doing this study one of their primary insights was to show if, “...the personalization
theory...positively determines learning outcome in comparison to the use of formal language in
the use of multimedia presentation…[and to] examine the...role of learners’ individual interest as
a trait variable and its relationship to the effectiveness of the personalization principle” (Shrader
et al., 2018, pg 1394). Their research ended up reproving the personalization theory. Which is
that, “...the use of conversational language style, rather than a formal language style, will result
in increased learning and motivation while decreasing the cognitive load” (Schrader et al., 2018,
p. 1388). So they were also able to show that using formal language can help motivate learners
and and decrease their cognitive load which causes better results in the learning task.
Altun (2012) describes four other strategies that help with the personalization of an e-
learning environment. They are, “1) Regular and constant data monitoring and analysis tools,...2)
Determining cognitive and non-cognitive personal characteristics accurately,... 3) Learner’s
interaction with--designed--medium: i.e., [learning] outcomes, and ...4) Tools to diagnose and/or
guide learners with study or navigational paths ” (p. 692).
Regular and constant data monitoring and analysis tools help instructors with learning
analytics. This will show the instructor if the students are cognitively learning the skills that are
needed for their learning task.
Determining cognitive and non-cognitive personal characteristics accurately help the
instructor identify learner characteristics. Examples of cognitive characteristics are, “...working
memory capacity, attention level, spatial abilities, perception, language acquisition etc…”
(Altun, 2012, p. 697). Non cognitive characteristics are, “...motivation, fear, anxiety, attitudes
etc…” (Altun, 2012, p. 697). Altun (2012) says, “To design better adaptive e-learning
environments, the role of the user as an individual and their characteristics had become the focus.
Since individuals have differences both in cognitive and non cognitive characteristics, their
learning processes also different form each other. So, in a uniform standard learning environment
learning will not be the same” (p. 696-97). This is important because it helps determine the
learners needs. If the instruction is fit to the learners diverse needs and background the learner
will be more motivated to learn the material that is presented.
PERSONALIZATION
4
The third strategy, “Learner’s interaction with --design--medium: i.e., [and] learning
outcomes” is important because, as described earlier in the study on formal and informal
language, can influence the learner individual interest (Altun, 2012, p. 692). When a learn has
high individual interest they are more motivated to learn the content and cognitively it is easier to
learn the material. This results in higher performance.
The 4th strategy that Altun (2012) mentions is, “Tools to diagnose and/or guide learners
with study or navigational paths” ( p.692). These tools are called “ontologies”. Ontholies are,
“...models, which [are] used for structuring and modeling of a particular domain that is shared by
a group of people in an organization...the underlying technology…[is that]the information of
learner goals, preferences or needs is kept in learner data” (Altun, 2012, p. 692). These are useful
because they, “...provide navigation guidance for...learning [paths] based on their progress
through cognitive skills and also [enables] the evaluators to base their assessment process and
diagnose the deficiencies in students’ learning as far as cognitive skills. (Altun, 2012, p. 694)
Personalization has also been shown to be effective in helping learners cognitively. “...
[Prior] knowledge, working memory capacity, and spatial abilities, have been shown to influence
the effectiveness of design recommendation in the context of multimedia” (Schrader et al., 2018
p. 1388).

Inclusion, personalization in instructional design can be an effective way to motivate

learners, and in obtaining a higher cognitive results in learning new skills. Through the means of
ensuring the learners’ individual interest, the use of formal vs. conversational language, data
monitoring and analysis, identifying learner characteristics, looking at learners interaction with
mediums and results and using tools to navigate pathways and other strategies learns can
increase their motivation, and their cognitive processes.
PERSONALIZATION
5

References:
Schrader, C., et al. (2018). The Effect of the Personalization Principle on Multimedia Learning:
the Role of Student Individual Interests as a Predictor. Educational Technology
Research and Development, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 1387–1397., doi:10.1007/s11423-018-
9588-8.

Altun, A. (2012) Ontologies for Personalization: A New Challenge for Instructional Designers.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 64, pp. 691–698.,
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.081.