Concept map model is a method that creates domain model by identifying the relationship between concepts in course contents. This study presents an adaptive intelligent web based learning system called OPCOMITS (Object Oriented Programming Tutor using Concept Map Model). OPCOMITS has a free domain model which can be regulated by an expert for any course. It uses concept map model to regulate the topic hierarchy, to measure the student's knowledge about a topic and to stimulate learning. By employing a concept map model, it structures the course and provides an environment in which the lecturer can arrange the chapters, topics, concepts and the prerequisite relationships between the concepts. Thus, it offers an adaptive and effective learning environment by measuring the level of student's knowledge about a topic, offering reinforcing feedback, diagnosing students' weaknesses and directing them to related chapter topic in the domain for revisions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach an experiment has been conducted on Computer Programming department in Object Oriented Programming course. From the experimental results, it is found that OPCOMITS has contributed to the academic success of students using it and students have exhibited much better learning than those who have used a conventional e‐learning system. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:676–691, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21740