Computer Interaction Course Research Articles

Usevalia: Managing Inspection-Based Usability Audits

Heuristic evaluation provides usability auditors with a structured flow of activities that enables them to obtain reliable, comparable and cost-effective usability evaluation results. Tools supporting heuristic evaluation are scarce in literature. Usevalia is an Internet-based tool that manages usability audits on the basis of heuristic evaluation. This article presents the main features of Usevalia, together with a validation of the software by following the Technology Acceptance Model, which verified the users’ perceptions of Usevalia as regards usefulness, ease of use, attitude and intention to use. A total of 22 students enrolled on a human–computer interaction course were involved in the validation. According to the results of the survey conducted with them, the proposed tool is easy to use (MD = 4.00 out of 5) and useful for conducting usability audits based on heuristic evaluation (MD = 4.00 out of 5). An expert-based validation was also carried out in order to thoroughly compare Usevalia’s features with those of a spreadsheet-based tool that performs usability audits in the traditional manner. This comparative analysis made it possible to conclude that the Usevalia tool has a higher perceived usefulness (M = 4.43) and perceived ease of use (M = 4.13) than a traditional audit tool, such as the Usability Datalogger spreadsheet (M = 2.43 and M = 3.03, respectively).

Investigating Student’s Cognitive Engagement, Motivation and Cognitive Retention in Learning Management System

Online learning has grown significantly in recent years, due to the proliferation of online courses offered by universities. As a result, pedagogical guidance is critical for improving teaching quality in an online learning environment. In this study, Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) activities were developed with the aim of increasing students' cognitive engagement, cognitive retention, and motivation to learn. This study also investigated the effects of the IBL pedagogical method on student performance. A pre-experimental study was conducted with 16 undergraduate students enrolled on a Multimedia Design and Human Computer Interaction course. Learning Analytics (LA) was used to retrieve research data from a Learning Management System (LMS) online discussion forum, and the data was then analyzed using content analysis and data mining analysis. According to the findings, students perceived a higher rate of low-level cognitive engagement but, interestingly, a high level of cognitive retention and motivation. Meanwhile, a significant relationship was observed between students' cognitive engagement, motivation and cognitive retention.

Identifying students’ learning difficulties in human and computer interaction course through the implementation of project based learning model

This study aimed at identifying students’ learning difficulties in Human and Computer Interaction course through the implementation of Project Based Learning model (PjBL model). PjBL Model has 6 stages, starting from giving essential questions, continuing with designing a project, writing the project implementation schedule, monitoring, carrying out the project product evaluation, and ending with carrying out the learning experience evaluation. The study used observation sheet, rubric and interview guide for collecting the data and descriptive qualitative analysis for analyzing the data. The collected data were reduced and presented and then analyzed to get some conclusions. The result of the study showed that it was still found out or identified that the students had difficulties in learning in Human and Computer Interaction course through the implementation of the PjBL model. However, the amount of the difficulties was not significant. The learning difficulties experienced by the students were caused more by an internal factor, namely the low motivation of the students as the result of their low interest in courses that contain programming and they tended to prefer a multimedia course. However, it was admitted by the students that Human and Computer Interaction course taught by the PjBL model had given them unique experiences. The students felt that there was an increase in knowledge from the problem-solving activities that they did, since they had a great opportunity to explore their abilities by themselves so that they had new knowledge and experience which made their learning activities better.

Automated Essay Scoring using Ontology Generator and Natural Language Processing with Question Generator based on Blooms Taxonomy’s Cognitive Level

Essay writing examination is commonly used learning activity in all levels of education and disciplines. It is advantageous in evaluating the student’s learning outcomes because it gives them the chance to exhibit their knowledge and skills freely. For these reasons, a lot of researchers turned their interest in Automated essay scoring (AES) is one of the most remarkable innovations in text mining using Natural Language Processing and Machine learning algorithms. The purpose of this study is to develop an automated essay scoring that uses ontology and Natural Language Processing. Different learning algorithms showed agreeing prediction outcomes but still regression algorithm with the proper features incorporated with it may produce more accurate essay score. This study aims to increase the accuracy, reliability and validity of the AES by implementing the Gradient ridge regression with the domain ontology and other features. Linear regression, linear lasso regression and ridge regression were also used in conjunction with the different features that was extracted. The different features extracted are the domain concepts, average word length, orthography (spelling mistakes), grammar and sentiment score. The first dataset used is the ASAP dataset from Kaggle website is used to train and test different machine learning algorithms that is consist of linear regression, linear lasso regression, ridge regression and gradient boosting regression together with the different features identified. The second dataset used is the one extracted from the student’s essay exam in Human Computer Interaction course. The results show that the Gradient Boosting Regression has the highest variance and kappa scores. However, we can tell that there are similarities when it comes to performances for Linear, Ridge and Lasso regressions due to the dataset used which is ASAP. Furthermore, the results were evaluated using Cohen Weighted Kappa (CWA) score and compared the agreement between the human raters. The CWA result is 0.659 that can be interpreted as Strong level of agreement between the Human Grader and the automated essay score. Therefore, the proposed AES has 64-81% reliability level.

Think twice: exploring the effect of reflective practices with peer review on reflective writing and writing quality in computer-science education

ABSTRACT Reflective writing is a proven way to increase the quality of learning and knowledge construction. However, its use in computer science education has received little attention. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the effect of reflective writing practices, including peer review, on students’ reflective writing and writing quality scores in a computer science education context. Three reflective writing assignments were required in a Human Computer Interaction course and two peers reviewed each assignment to give feedback. Rubrics were used to measure the reflective writing and writing quality characteristics of student work, and a peer feedback coding scheme was used to determine the characteristics of the feedback students provided to one another. Results revealed that students’ reflective writing and writing quality did not differ across projects and they offered solutions as their most common type of feedback. Our results revealed further studies need to keep investigating new approaches in terms of timing, guidelines, and supportive tools to promote reflective writing to determine which activity designs facilitate student improvement.

Students’ Experience of Participation in a Discipline—A Longitudinal Study of Computer Science and IT Engineering Students

This article concludes a longitudinal study with the broader aim to explore learner development as a long-term, social process. One goal has been to inform the endeavours of improving student engagement, retention, as well as under-representation of certain demographics in computing.Students of two computer science--related study programmes (CS/IT) reflected on their engagement in their field of study at different times during the first three study years. Drawing on social identity theory, the focus has been to analyse and describe different ways in which the students experience participation in CS/IT, i.e., doing, thinking, and feeling, in relation to CS/IT, negotiated among different people. Insights into participation in CS/IT were used to discuss what it entails to fit in and become a computing professional.Phenomenographic analysis yields an outcome space that describes increasingly broad ways in which first-, second-, and third-year students experience participation in CS/IT. Two further outcome spaces provide nuanced insights into experiences that are of increasing relevance as the students advance in their studies, participation as problem solving, and problem solving for others.Participation as problem solving appears to be central in this learning environment and the students integrate such experiences into their histories of engagement in CS/IT. In study year 3, the students also reason about participation as problem solving for others that they encounter in the human computer interaction course. However, at that time several students perform a technical problem solver identity and reject such broader ways of participating in CS/IT.

Star Life Cycle and games development projects for conducting the human–computer interaction course: A practical experience

AbstractThis paper describes an approach to teaching a course in human–computer interaction that is supported by the use of Star Life Cycle methodology and game development projects. This approach aims to increase students’ motivation, commitment, and proactivity during the learning process. The Star Life Cycle methodology was extended to facilitate follow‐up of the projects developed by students and to enable coverage of the whole course. The teacher evaluated the deliverable artifacts that were associated with each activity, thus becoming a central part of the evaluation phase of the methodology as well as the leader of the development. In this paper, a case study is presented in which a mathematical game was defined as a final project for 145 students, who were divided into groups. The viewpoints of both the students involved and their teacher are taken into account in the discussion of the results.

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the National Library of Turkey website developed for all citizens in the country to retrieve information available in a wide range of areas.Design/methodology/approachThe evaluation performed by 57 undergraduate university students involved the identification and analysis of usability problems in the selected website. The assessment process was mainly based on Nielsen’s Heuristics. The data obtained in the evaluation process were enriched using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to conduct a more detailed analysis.FindingsThe participants identified many usability problems concerning the evaluated website and considered it as having low usability characteristics. The most violated heuristic item was found to be “consistency and standards” whereas the least violated heuristic item was “match between system and the real world.” The total number of the usability problems in heuristic evaluation correlated significantly and negatively with the SUS and the NPS results indicating that the more participants identified usability problems, the less they considered the website as usable and recommendable.Research limitations/implicationsThe participants were not usability experts, however they were selected from among the students who received the Human Computer Interaction course to ensure that they had sufficient information and experience concerning the evaluation of a website with heuristics. Besides, the study was limited to a small number of university students. The implication is that results of this study have potential to guide libraries, which plan to adapt themselves to the digital world by delivering web services, by addressing critical points influencing users’ points of views toward library websites and their usability evaluation result.Practical implicationsDepending on the changes in user habits regarding the retrieval of information, libraries have made considerable investments in web technologies to meet their users’ demands, and recently, digital libraries have begun to take over physical libraries. Users always need to perform tasks efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily when using websites. As one of the most crucial sources of digital materials, library websites are expected to have usable characteristics that satisfactorily meet user requirements. Therefore, the practical implication is that the findings of the study will guide designers, developers and practitioners in the development of library websites.Originality/valueIn the context of usability evaluation of digital libraries, this is the first study to analyze effects of usability problems identified by users during the heuristic inspection on their overall evaluation score and willingness to recommend the website to their friends or colleagues.

The use of task modeling in interactive system specification

Task modeling is undoubtedly a key step for task analysis during the development of iterative systems since it helps not only in the understanding of what users want but also in how to design for them. As a consequence, it should be considered as indispensable while specifying the requirements of an interactive system. With this in mind, we analyzed the requirement specifications of a typical interactive system which is a compulsory element of the final grade for a human–computer interaction course in two Master’s degree programs at the University of Valenciennes. To that end, we decided to use an approach based on project-based learning. Sixty-three requirement specifications performed since 2010 were investigated to find out how the task modeling was represented. Moreover, suggestions concerning pedagogical improvement made by the students in an open question on the evaluation form were analyzed using the ground theory method. The results showed that since students are not required to perform task modeling by the requirement specification, they do not do so even in the case of complex interactive systems. Criticism, positive and improvement issues raised by the students were also identified. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of this study that opens up questions about HCI education and effective learning of task modeling, and, as a consequence, its potential use in industry.

Problem-Based Learning in Multimodal Learning Environments

In this study, we enhanced a problem-based learning (PBL) environment with affordable, everyday technologies that can be found in most university classrooms (e.g., projectors, tablets, students’ own smartphones, traditional paper–pencil, and Facebook). The study was conducted over a 3-year period, with 60 postgraduate learners in a human–computer interaction course, following a PBL approach to teaching and learning. First, this article contributes a detailed description of how PBL can be enacted in a multimodal, technology-rich classroom. Second, the study presents evaluation data on learners’ technology adoption experience while engaging in PBL. Overall, the participants positively endorsed the learning environment, rating their experience highly on scales of communication and interaction, reflection, perceived learning, and satisfaction. In addition, quantitative content analysis of Facebook use documented how the physical and digital tools in the environment, coupled with the capability of Facebook as a recordkeeping and communication tool, were integral part of the PBL process.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Self and Peer Assessment using PBL on Student Performance and Preference: Malaysians Experience

This paper reports on the effectiveness of students performances between self and peer assessment based on students preferences. A total of 56 respondents from the second year of study at UTeM who enrolled for the Human Computer Interaction course took part in this study. Three research instruments were developed for the purpose of evaluating students performance and preferences which include a set of questionnaires, interview questions and prototype development. A t-test was conducted to analyze independent variables by self and peer assessment while students preferences and performances are dependent variables. Findings of this study revealed that students prefer peer assessment rather than self assessment. The use of courseware namely PBLAssess can increase students understanding towards the topic that has been taught. Results showed that assessment in PBL is significantly related to students performances and preferences.

Evaluating a Web Lecture Intervention in a Human–Computer Interaction Course

Research using Web lectures to enhance the classroom learning experience in an introductory human-computer interaction course is presented. By using Web lectures to present lecture material before class, more in-class time can be spent engaging students with hands-on learning activities-using class time for more learning by doing, less learning by listening. A quasi-experiment was conducted over a 15-week semester with 46 students in two sections of the same course-one section using Web lectures and one using traditional lectures. Many control measures were in place, including each section being taught by the same instructor and blind grading being used. The Web lecture section's grades were significantly higher than the traditional lecture section, and Web lecture students reported increasingly strong positive attitudes about the intervention. The twofold contribution of this work is a novel use of existing technology to improve learning and a longitudinal, quasi-experimental evaluation of its use in context

The development of a Human Computer Interaction course at a senior synthesis course

HCI has been taught in universities and colleges as an elective for computer science majors. An inter-disciplinary synthesis course was developed in the Department of Computer Science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The course was first offered in the fall of 2004. Objectives, content, and pedagogy of this course are outlined. The paper is concluded by citing challenges and issues regarding the development and launching of such a course.