ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Design an Adaptive E-Learning Environment Based on Personalized Factors and Its Impact on the Development of Students' Metacognitive Thinking Skills
Provisionally accepted
Hassan A. EL-Sabagh1*
Sami A. Issa1,2- 1Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
- 2Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract Modern e-learning platforms are increasingly using personalized elements to better address diverse learners and enhance learning outcomes. To investigate the effects on the development of students' metacognitive thinking, this study develops an adaptive e-learning environment based on two personalized factors: learning styles and knowledge levels. The study, which used a quasi-experimental design with undergraduate students, revealed that there was no obvious effect on metacognitive growth when content was personalized for learning styles. This reflects the increasing concern among academics about the usefulness of learning styles in personalized learning. On the other hand, metacognitive engagement was found to be strongly influenced by prior knowledge. The findings imply a shift to evidence-based adaptive design, arguing that to successfully promote higher-order cognitive abilities, e-learning environments should give priority to empirically verified factors like knowledge expertise.
Keywords: Adaptive Learning, elearning, learning styles, metacognitive thinking, personalized learning
Received: 10 Dec 2025; Accepted: 12 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 EL-Sabagh and Issa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hassan A. EL-Sabagh
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