Cognitive Trait Model and Divergent Associative Learning

Cognitive trait model (CTM) is a student model that aims to create profiles of learners´ cognitive traits. Divergent associative learning (DAL) denotes the characteristic of learning that develops links between new and existing concepts. Relationships of DAL to divergent thinking and associative learning are examined in this paper. Manifestations of DAL are extracted from literature and used in CTM to create approximations of learners´ DAL. A Web-based tool called Web-DAL was developed to measure DAL psychometrically in an empirical study. In this study, the comparison of the approximations of DAL and the psychometric data shows a promising sign of using the proposed CTM to profile learners´ DAL.