This study brings an evidence-based review of user individual characteristics employed as sources of adaptation in recent adaptive learning systems. Twenty-two user individual characteristics were explored in a systematically designed search procedure, while 17 of them were identified as sources of adaptation in final selection. The content analysis of 98 selected publications that include evidence of adaptation efficiency is conducted. The quantitative representation of the findings shows current trends in the research of individual differences, as well as the tendencies of their further employment in student modeling. The article contributes to the body of knowledge on user individual differences and consequently to the research and development of adaptive learning systems. Additional contribution of the study is in-depth description of development and evaluation of the search strategy which makes the method easily replicable as well as suitable for modification and employment in systematic literature review in any research field.

Visualization of geographic data is part of many widely used solutions that aim to communicate the information to the end user. Effective visualizations are those that are tailored to a specific group of users and their tasks, as well as to specific properties of the data. Usability is a key concept for such solutions, and the most effective way to achieve high usability is to incorporate user-centered design (UCD) into the development process. In visualization, data are often coded by colors, so the choice of color schemes and color range is critical to enable the reverse mapping of colors to data. In this paper, we present a method for integrating the principles of UCD into the development process. In doing so, we use a case involving the selection of the most appropriate color scheme and associated parameters for representing temperature values on geographic maps. The method described is suitable for use in UCD-based research related to the visualization of various types of data and is useful for researchers and developers of geovisualizations.

Although virtual reality became popular technology whose application is recognized in various domains, the field generally still lacks a widespread culture of usability. This is also evident when considering environments intended for learning, specifically virtual learning environments (VLEs). According to our findings, it is clear that there is a growing need for systematic evaluation approach to help with the design and development of usable learner-centered VLE solutions. After comprehensive introductory background and state of the art in the field, this article provides an insight into Scenario-based Group Usability Testing (ScerGUT), a mixed methods approach to the evaluation of three-dimensional VLEs which integrates several different methods of usability testing with measurements of educational value. While the majority of the existing work has made use of usually one single usability assessment technique, ScerGUT employs a number of methods putting in focus users and user testing. To examine efficiency and applicability of the approach, empirical validation is conducted as a case study of particular VLE. The contribution of the article is twofold: (a) ScerGUT as a mixed methods approach to the evaluation of VLEs, which brings new scientific value and could help other researchers and (b) ScerGUT’s application to a particular VLE, which brings quantitative and qualitative results, thus providing an insight into ease of use and educational value of specific VLE.

Including users in design and development of an interactive product is crucial to achieve high level of usability. Content management systems have two categories of users, content creators and content consumers, and designers of these systems have to considers the needs of both user groups. In design of interactive learning systems, special attention has to be given to the process of learning, which means that functional, accessible and usable interface has to serve the purpose of knowledge acquisition. Designing for mobile learning brings additional challenges due to the small screens of mobile devices. The paper describes the process of utilization of user-centred design in development of a simple content management system for learning called EMasters. The aim of the EMasters is to enable teachers to easily create and organize courses which will be delivered to students to facilitate web-based and mobile learning. According to the user-centred design approach, teachers and students are involved in iterative process of design, implementation and evaluation of EMasters. Evaluation study used complementary methods and provided quantitative and qualitative feedback. The usability score reached good level and the guidelines for redesign of the system interface are drown. According to the obtained results, proposed framework is confirmed to be applicable in user-centred design of content management systems in general. In addition, the directions for adjustment of the framework for specific cases are provided.

Virtual reality (VR) technology is becoming increasingly relevant as a modern educational tool. However, its application in teaching and learning computational thinking remains relatively underexplored. This paper presents the implementation of selected tasks from the international Bebras Challenge in a VR environment called ThinkLand. A comparative study was conducted to evaluate the usability of the developed game across two interface types: mobile devices and desktop computers. A total of 100 participants, including high school and university students, took part in the study. The overall usability rating was classified as “good”, suggesting that ThinkLand holds promise as a platform for supporting computational thinking education. To assess specific aspects of interface usability, a custom Virtual Environment Usability Questionnaire (VEUQ) was developed. Regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between participants’ age, gender, and interface type with both learning performance and perceived usability, as measured by the VEUQ. The analysis revealed statistically significant differences in interaction patterns between device types, providing practical insights for improving interface design. Validated in this study, the VEUQ proved to be an effective instrument for informing interaction design and guiding the development of educational VR applications for both mobile and desktop platforms.

The rapid growth of programming education and online learning environments has increased the demand for scalable and reliable assessment methods. Although many automated grading approaches exist, the literature spans traditional test-based methods and recent solutions based on artificial intelligence, making it difficult to obtain a coherent overview of the field. This study conducts a systematic literature review on automated programming assessment, analysing grading approaches, the use of artificial intelligence techniques, educational contexts, and comparisons between automated and human grading. The review synthesises evidence from 39 primary studies to identify technological trends and research gaps. The results show a shift from execution-based grading toward deep learning and large language model approaches, with most systems applied in higher education and limited research on visual programming assessment. Automated grading is evolving into an intelligent educational support tool, but challenges remain with regard to reliability and pedagogical impact. Future work should prioritise empirical validation, hybrid grading models, and broader educational applications.