The relationship between learning styles and cognitive traits – Getting additional information for improving student modelling

Student modelling is an important process for adaptive virtual learning environments. Student models include a range of information about the learners such as their domain competence, learning style or cognitive traits. To be able to adapt to the learners’ needs in an appropriate way, a reliable student model is necessary, but getting enough information about a learner is quite challenging. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to support the detection process of the required information. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between learning styles, in particular, those pertaining to the Felder–Silverman learning style model and working memory capacity, one of the cognitive traits included in the cognitive trait model. The identified relationship is derived from links between learning styles, cognitive styles, and working memory capacity which are based on studies from the literature. As a result, we demonstrate that learners with high working memory capacity tend to prefer a reflective, intuitive, and sequential learning style whereas learners with low working memory capacity tend to prefer an active, sensing, visual, and global learning style. This interaction can be used to improve the student model. Systems which are able to detect either only cognitive traits or only learning styles retrieve additional information through the identified relationship. Otherwise, for systems that already incorporate learning styles and cognitive traits, the interaction can be used to improve the detection process of both by including the additional information of a learning style into the detection process of cognitive traits and vice versa. This leads to a more reliable student model.