Investigating and Predicting the Usability of an E-Book System for University Students: The Role of Prior Knowledge

Abstract

Students’ prior knowledge contributes to their e-book reading comprehension and might affect the usability of an e-book system. This study explored the influence of university students’ prior knowledge on the usability of an e-book system termed “BookRoll,” which was introduced in the context of an information and technology course in this study. One hundred first-year students (36 male and 64 female students) at a university in central Taiwan participated in this study. Students previewed the lecture slides and used e-book functions such as bookmarks, highlights, and memos during seven weekly lessons. Students’ prior knowledge in the domain of information and technology and the Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of use (USE) dimensions of the BookRoll system were collected before and after the treatment course, respectively. This study revealed that students’ prior domain knowledge had no significant effect on the usability of the e-book system. In general, students’ ratings of BookRoll’s usability were high. Positive qualitative feedback across categories was given by students with high and low prior knowledge; however, some negative but constructive qualitative feedback was also provided. In addition, a short questionnaire to measure the USE dimensions of an e-book system for undergraduate users was developed and provided.