E-learning Interface Research Articles

Combining common heuristic sets for a new exhaustive usability evaluation of e-learning interface design

Abstract With global school shut-downs due to the pandemic, in 2020 many educational institutions and universities were making use of e-learning like never before, but designing lesson plans for a digital space came with its own set of challenges. In most modern universities, education is still based on traditional learning methods and the teacher-centred physical classrooms. However, with nationwide school closures, teachers had no choice but to turn to e-learning for solutions. Usability evaluation of this kind of platform, therefore, has become essential, and a priority in the application development process. A set of usability evaluation methods have been developed to allow specialists to systematically determine whether graphical interfaces are usable. The usability assessment questionnaire is one of the most used methods and is intended to be answered by end-users of the application. This method is preferred due to its simplicity and low demand for resources. In this paper, a usability evaluation which combines existing work is presented. Based on existing heuristics, we propose a new questionnaire for evaluating e-learning interface design. In addition, we illustrate two different methodologies for evaluating e-learning interface design, and provide a quantitative rate, Usability Percentage (UP), which complements the usual qualitative data provided by this kind of evaluation.

Implementation of the Learner Centered Design method and the personality approach (Case Study: Redesigning The Interface mobile LMS Tel-U)

The Mobile LMS Tel-U is an e-learning platform developed by Telkom University to support the learning process. However, it still requires more demand from Telkom University students. Usability evaluation was conducted on twelve students using the System Usability Scale (SUS), resulting in a score of 46.5. Interviews and observations revealed interface problems on the dashboard, material, grades, and quizzes. This study aims to redesign the mobile LMS Tel-U interface using the Learner-Centered Design method and incorporating a personality approach by categorizing students into introverts and extroverts. Designing based on personality groups acknowledges the differences in interface design preferences and the relationship between personality and e-learning interface design. This approach yields two different interface designs, one for introverted students and one for extroverted students. The LCD method determines student needs in supporting the learning process. The redesigned interface's usability was evaluated using SUS to assess its appropriateness for students' learning needs. The study shows an average increase in usability scores of 80.4. The introverted student group achieved a usability score of 81, while the extroverted student group obtained a score of 80. Thus, the LCD method and personality approach effectively enhance the usability of distance learning applications (e-learning).

The Importance of Users’ Emotional Factors Related to Design of E-Learning Interface Using Kansei Analysis

E-Learning is a popular information system used to facilitate learning activities without borders of time and place. Students, as users, play an important role in determining the design of an e-Learning system; incorporating the users’ emotional requirements into e-Learning development is therefore crucial. A user interface is a critical software component that acts as a bridge to facilitate interaction between users and the system. The design of the user interface must consider the users’ emotions in order to create a positive experience during the running of a software system. Kansei engineering is a methodology utilized to analyze users’ feelings towards the software user interface. The goals of this research are to implement Kansei engineering with coefficient correlation analysis in order to analyze and explore students’ emotional experiences in higher learning institutions and to identify the emotional factors related to the appearance of an e-Learning interface based on students’ learning experiences. Most e-Learning is considered based on its functional aspect, but this paper attempts to explore e-Learning based on its emotional aspect by discovering the relationship between the user interface and students’ emotional experience in e-Learning. The results found that Kansei was “excellent” for exploring students’ most critical emotional factors, which could have a significant impact on designing and implementing an e-Learning system using open-source software. The result could also be used as a recommendation for educational institutions when selecting an open-source learning management system as a platform for e-Learning.

Introducing Clinical Pathology Course to Fourth Year Medical Students as a Bridge between Pre-clinical and Clinical Medical Sciences

There isn’t any vertical integration of pre-clinical and clinical sciences subjects in the existing Kathmandu University MBBS curriculum. Many of the graduates are not able to correlate the clinico-pathological aspects of various diseases as a result the rational use of investigations for diagnosing various diseases is compromised. There are few published examples of implementation of pathology instruction courses during the clinical years of medical training but it is not universally practiced. This lack of exposure to pathology may lead to poor understanding of laboratory testing and the role of pathologists in patient care.
 To set and implement an exemplary vertical integration of pre-clinical science with clinical science.
 A 12 credit hours clinical pathology education course comprising clinical hematology, cytopathology and histopathology was developed. Students belonging from the ongoing fourth year MBBS course of Birat Medical College were enrolled in the course. All of the interactive lecture sessions were delivered via an e-learning interface, using the Zoom platform as the main teaching methods. Evaluation of students’ achievement of learning objectives was conducted through distributing pre and post-test online multiple-choice questionnaires. Chi-square tests were used to compare the variables between pre-test and post-test questionnaire responses.
 Results suggested that the designed clinical pathology course is valuable. The pretest and post-test questionnaire responses revealed the positive impact regarding the importance of introducing clinical pathology courses within the clinical year of MBBS undergraduate curriculum. Response rate to the online session was 100%. The point of agreement between the pre-test and post-test questionnaire responses were highly achieved after intervention of the clinical pathology course. A statistically significant result (p < 0.05) between all of the pre-test and post-test questionnaire responses was noted. There was a strong positive recommendation for incorporating clinical laboratory medicine courses within the MBBS clinical science curriculum.
 The improvement observed among fourth-year MBBS students on learning the importance of clinical pathology courses was encouraging. This experience thus contributed to set and implement an exemplary vertical integration of pre-clinical science with clinical science.

Evaluation of E-learning at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang

Online learning can use an e-learning platform, e-learning content must be ideal and in accordance with the evaluation of the use of e-learning content. However, the gap that occurs is that e-learning content has never been started at Padang State University (UNP). The problems experienced by lecturers are not using content optimally, only using uploaded material, while content related to how to present material, learning methods in the use of e-learning and other content is not used. The purpose of this research is to make improvements to the implementation of e-learning in the UNP environment. The method used is a mixed method with quantitative and qualitative research, CIPP evaluation model, data collection using questionnaires. Based on the keywords from the CIPP evaluation results; 1) Context such as Principles, Goals, Environment, Needs. 2). Inputs such as e-learning delivery format, human resources (HR), User-friendly E-learning interface and service quality. 3) product category, namely Lecturer Competence. 4). Category of Lecturer Interaction Process, Teaching Method. The results of the survey obtained in Contexs have an average of 77.23, for input the average is 93.99, then the average process is 69.73, and the product is 68.25. So that it can provide recommendations for evaluating the implementation of e-learning by considering the process in the interaction section, on the product aspect of learning outcomes, on the input aspect the value is very good, then the component dimensions need to be improved.

Impact of Power Distance Cultural Dimension in E-Learning Interface Design Among Malaysian Generation Z Students

Adapting the user’s cultural background to Interface Design (ID) can increase student engagement in e-learning. The cultural dimensions of Hofstede’s model have often been used as guidelines when adapting cultural interface design. As Malaysia’s power distance cultural dimension has a perfect full score based on Hofstede’s model, many interface developers tend to be guided solely based on the power distance cultural dimension. Therefore, this study aims to identify the impact of the power distance cultural dimension in e-learning interface design in Malaysia. A survey was conducted among generation Z students in public universities in Malaysia and collected 367 data. This study found that the power distance index of e-learning interface design by generation Z students in Malaysia scored 63, compared to the score from Hofstede’s study, which was scored 100. Generation Z students in Malaysia disagreed with using images of leaders and theme colour of institutions in e-learning. They prefer the image element related to students and learning. It was also found that students want the theme colours of e-learning are not the formal colours of the institution. However, they still want the official logo of the institution to be presented in the e-learning interface. Therefore, this study can help e-learning interface developers design a worthy interface for generation Z students which increases student engagement in e-learning.

Assessing the efficacy of online handouts and active lectures in learning outcomes at the engineering undergraduate level

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of lectures' online handouts versus active lectures as two modes of presentation at the undergraduate level. A sample of thirty-eight fourth-year students in the architecture department at the College of Architecture and Planning in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University was selected to undergo a three-phase questionnaire survey on the perceptions of the term sustainability and its related practices. The first phase was to measure the background knowledge on sustainability and was considered the students' base case. After uploading handouts to the blackboard, the second phase was a web-based E-learning interface. And the final stage was applied after a common lecture presented to the students. The responses of the students were collected and statistically analyzed. The t-Test Paired Sample presented the results of Pearson Correlation, t Stat, t Critical two-tail, and p(T

Proposing new innovative technological features to support human e-learning interaction processes in academic organisations

The rapid growth and widespread adoption of e-learning technologies with human interaction has sparked a revolution in learning styles. The present study utilises this revolution to enhance human interaction and learning styles by designing a real application of an e-learning user interface (ELUI) that allows users to benefit from the effects of online interaction. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews to measure students and teachers' perspectives regarding usage of the ELUI. The findings indicated that students were satisfied with the new features added to the suggested e-learning interface. The interview with teachers enhanced the study by further validating the overall high satisfaction among their students. The results provide students, teachers, academic institutions and developers some guidelines on the design and implementation of the future e-learning system. This is particularly so when embedding the interactional communication features for learning purposes through interactive learning settings.

Proposing new innovative technological features to support human e-learning interaction processes in academic organisations

The rapid growth and widespread adoption of e-learning technologies with human interaction has sparked a revolution in learning styles. The present study utilises this revolution to enhance human interaction and learning styles by designing a real application of an e-learning user interface (ELUI) that allows users to benefit from the effects of online interaction. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews to measure students and teachers' perspectives regarding usage of the ELUI. The findings indicated that students were satisfied with the new features added to the suggested e-learning interface. The interview with teachers enhanced the study by further validating the overall high satisfaction among their students. The results provide students, teachers, academic institutions and developers some guidelines on the design and implementation of the future e-learning system. This is particularly so when embedding the interactional communication features for learning purposes through interactive learning settings.

A comparative study of an assistive e-learning interface among students with and without visual and hearing impairments

Purpose Using a human-computer interaction (HCI) approach, the present study proposes a new e-learning interface with interactional features for use by students with varying visual and hearing needs. Materials and method Prototypes of these new features have been presented through several screens, including an interaction panel that allows for Button voice, Tab voice, Text voice, and sign language. The interactive features were evaluated by teachers and tested by students with and without visual and hearing impairments. Evaluation of the interface was conducted using a mixed methods design; student satisfaction with the features was measured quantitatively, while teacher perspectives regarding practical issues with implementation were explored through qualitative interviews. Results The results indicate a high level of satisfaction towards the new interactional features in the suggested user interface among all students regardless of visual and hearing ability. Conclusion The teachers involved in the study expressed the need for comprehensive cooperation from academic organisations through provision of required support, including technical, financial, and human resources. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION The existing e-learning systems in higher educational organizations revealed the need to develop and implement instructional communication features based on technological components to support visual-and hearing-impaired students. The implementation of the accessible e-learning system is an important strategical approach to enhance flexible access to learning contents for all students who are unable to attend a traditional mode of learning. This type of accessible e-learning system, along with teachers’ support, is needed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the self-management of the student’s learning process; giving students the opportunity to study according to their individual abilities, schedules and locations. The integration of appropriate visual and hearing assistive technology (AT) and its related applications, embedded within the educational technology infrastructure, are important resources to enhance the educational outcomes for visual- and hearingimpaired students.

An Empirical Study of e-Learning Interface Design Elements for Generation Z

E-learning is the latest evolution of electronic-based learning that creates, fosters, delivers and facilitates the learning process anytime and anywhere with the use of interactive network technology. The use of e-learning as a learning platform makes users want a high quality of interface design to interact with the e-learning system. Interface design that meets students’ needs and expectations may increase their involvement and satisfaction towards e-learning, especially generation Z students. However, interface design is always being criticized and has become a part of issues that cause the failure of e-learning. Lack of understanding about students’ cultural background and preferences towards e-learning interface design are the major factors that contribute to this phenomenon. To ensure the success of e-learning, a model of interface design specifically for generation Z students’ culture that consists of interface elements and design characteristics need to be developed. So, this study aimed to address this subject by identifying e-learning interface elements and design characteristics from existing literature, confirming the elements and design characteristics and discovering related elements for e-learning interface design from generation Z students’ perspective. This study used semi-structured for a focus group interview that included seven students. The focus group interview involved three main steps which were sampling, protocol and research instruments. This study validated several interface elements and design characteristics that contribute to the model of e-learning interface design. The findings could guide the interface designer in designing e-learning interface for generation Z students.

Identifying opportunities for artificial intelligence in the evolution of training and development practices

PurposeThe fast pace of innovation and disruption in business processes and technology today requires employees of organizations to be continuously up-skilled and be able to adapt to changing practices. Training needs are becoming more personalized. Micro-learning and byte-sized training modules, easily accessible to employees, as and when required, are some of the major organizational needs. Training and development programs should be designed keeping in mind factors of employee engagement, involvement and extent of training transfer. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether artificial intelligence (AI) can lead training and development processes in organizations in the years to come.Design/methodology/approachThe author has interviewed 27 HR and training professionals, in person, from across eight organizations in the FMCG, oil and natural gas and clothing and apparel industries. All these organizations have an annual turnover of greater than US$14.5m. A formal questionnaire was not followed since this research explores a new field in academia. Open-ended questions were used in the interviews, of which eight were common across all interviews. The mean interview duration was 25 min 33 s. The objective being to capture ideas and identify future trends, the analysis was done on a percentage basis and served as the foundation for a new training and development needs model for organizations.FindingsAmong the 27 HR/training professionals interviewed, 92.6 percent respondents believed that their organization/department requires knowledge management practices while 40.7 percent require the training content delivered to a fixed category of employees, to be updated continuously. Personalized learning was mentioned as a requirement by 63 percent of the respondents. In total, 92.6 percent HR/training professionals believed training programs should involve high employee engagement. In total, 51.9 percent would prefer on-the-go learning tools for their employees, while 33.33 percent respondents believed an intuitive e-learning interface would be useful for their organization/department. The findings also led to the foundation of an SIP model, which shall be useful in providing direction to AI systems in training and development practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper opens up avenues for further research to be conducted in identifying the areas of impact of AI in training and development. It paves the way for researchers to quantify training effectiveness and measure it with the help of AI.Practical implicationsThe objective of the paper is to explore the opportunities for AI in training and development practices. Having identified the opportunities, it shall drive the practice of using AI across industries.Originality/valueThe thoughts in the paper have been ideated by the authors organically. Relevant data points from referred sources have been cited to back up those thoughts.

Automated Bahasa Indonesia essay evaluation with latent semantic analysis

Essay Examination is one of many ways to evaluate the learning process of students. The Essay test can measure a student’s capability of memory and to develop an idea. With the vast development of Information Technology, an essay test is done in a more sophisticated way with a platform called e-learning. This research implemented an e-learning interface to conduct an essay test, starting with giving out questions, answering it and marking it. The system will generate an automatic mark, using the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) method by measuring the relevance of the key answer and the student’s answer. Before entering the LSA phase, the answer will go through pre-processing step which is cleansing, case folding, tokenization, stop word, convert negation and stemming. The result of the accuracy of this system compared to teacher’s manual assessment is 83.3%. Expectedly, this research will help teachers in making their assessment process more efficient.

E-learning’s usability measurement toward students with myopia visual impairment

Usability in e-learning is closely related to user interaction, so the e-learning interface needs to be taken into account. In e-learning, the user interface is an important factor of visual interaction between users and learning resources. Related to this, the user’s vision aspect can affect the performance of e-learning usage, especially usability problem, so the study about usability related to user’s vision needs to be done. This study measuring the usability of e-learning using USE Questionnaire and supported by eye-tracking technology. The results were compared between users with visual impairment and users with normal vision. The results obtained are, the usability variables have a correlation with each other. The four variables, which have a correlation to the variable tasks completion by the respondents (Task), are Ease of Learn, Ease of Use, Satisfaction, and Usefulness. This study shows that myopia visual impairment not causing difficulty in task completion. This is demonstrated in relatively similar user interactions, between normal-sighted users and abnormally-sighted users. The tendency to focus on web page elements per task for both groups of respondents are on elements such as announcement lists, course lists, navigation bars, drop-down menus, links and login text-boxes.

The Attitudes of Field Dependence Learners for Learner Interface Design (LID) in e-Learning Instruction

The purpose of the study is to explore relationships between learners' cognitive styles of field dependence and learner variables in the preference of learner Interface design, attitudes in e-Learning instruction and experience with e-Learning in distance education. Cognitive style has historically referred to a psychological dimension representing consistencies in an individual's manner of cognitive functioning, particularly with respect to acquiring and process information for individuals. In this work, to determine learners' field dependence levels, The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was administrated to 157 students enrolled in various fields at Fatih University. The attitude survey for students' preferences will be given all participants to clarify their decisions about quality of learner interface design in distance education. The attitude survey was developed and controlled by three content experts in the field of instructional design and technology. Also, it consists of three sections with 20 items including of e-learning experience and learner interface design parts in distance education. To complete this study, cognitive styles such as field dependent (FD), field neutral (FN) and field independent (FI) were defined based on mean score of GEFT groups. One-half Standard deviation of GEFT was added or subtracted to mean, to calculate cognitive styles as FD, FN and FI. The relationships between groups and attitudes and preferences in e-learning instruction were indicated at the end of study. Findings were presented in tables. These tables included some evaluation results for distance education programs as well as successful learning interface design principles which are defined by content, empower, and control with context clarity, visuals, challenges and feedback decisions.

자기조절학습을 위한 감성조절 지원 이러닝 인터페이스 설계전략 개발

자기조절학습을 위한 감성조절 지원 이러닝 인터페이스 설계전략 개발

A Comparative Usability Study on the Use of Auditory Icons to Support Virtual Lecturers in E-Learning Interfaces

Prior conducted research revealed that the auditory icons could contribute in supporting the virtual lecturers in presence of full body animation while delivering the learning content in e-learning interfaces. This paper presents further empirical investigation into the use of these supportive auditory icons by comparing three different e-learning interfaces in terms of usability aspects; effectiveness, user satisfaction and memorability. The aim is to find out which combination of the tested multimodal metaphors is the best one in terms of utilizing the auditory icons to supplement the presentation of learning material by virtual lecturer. The first experimental e-learning interface incorporates a speaking virtual lecturer with full body gestures along with supportive auditory icons. The second experimental e-learning interface includes the use of virtual lecturer speech in the absence of his body and accompanied with the same auditory icons used in the first interface. However, the third interface is similar to the second one in terms of using the virtual lecturer's speech but without any additional auditory icons. The obtained results have shown that the inclusion of auditory icons could enhance the usability and learning performance of e-learning interfaces much better if combined along with speaking virtual lectures in the absence of any body animation.

E-LEARNING USER INTERFACE ACCEPTANCE BASED ON ANALYSIS OF USER'S STYLE, USABILITY AND USER BENEFITS

E-learning does not function properly if the system is not in accordance with user needs. This study aims to establish an evaluation model for e-learning user interface according to user acceptance. The model is designed based on three categories: user learning style, usability and user benefits. Results of measurements of the three categories will determine the level of user acceptance of the e-learning interface. The data were taken using a questionnaire which was distributed to 125 ELS students from various countries. Then processed using SEM and Lisrel v8.80. This paper presents experimental set up for the general research and some results for technology acceptance theories.

The Design and Evaluation of the Persuasiveness of e-Learning Interfaces

This study addresses the general goal of designing more engaging e-learning applications through persuasive technology. The authors present and discuss two potential approaches to the design persuasive e-learning applications that differ in terms of comprehensiveness and ease of application. The more straightforward approach based on Fogg is considered for designers who may not have the time or background to invest large efforts to analyze and understand how the principles of persuasive technology can be deployed. The Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa (2009) approach is presented as a different approach that does require such investment. The design approaches are complemented with a persuasive assessment grid that can be used as an inspection instrument, akin to usability inspections as found in the field of human-computer interaction. The intent is that this instrument can complement the design process by giving early feedback on issues to address. The authors report an experiment where the inspection instrument is applied to an existing e-learning application. The actual data on how students used it provides feedback on how effective the persuasive grid is for detecting issues. The results show that the application scores low on most criteria, and the usage patterns generally confirm this assessment. However, the authors also find that some students were persuaded to engage more thoroughly to use the system and conclude that large individual differences affects the factors of influence and should lead the designers of e-learning application to consider different means in the design of persuasive technology.

E-Learning Interface Management

World Wide Web has popularly developed in everywhere and everyday people since 1997; this research considers internet education, E-Learning, cutting edge and clever approach. Its revolution will improve the models and principals of traditional education around the world. E-Learning interface is perceived as a communication protocol that is much more human, friendly and intelligent interaction in future such as icloud or touch panel technology, even if non-experience users can easily or conveniently operate the system. Human-machine interaction interface is required by a particular software design. This study applies five factors by structural equation modeling method to determine what criteria of E-Learning users-interface could be satisfied in the virtual classroom. The main purpose finds out the efficient systems that save time, money, and resources to establish the optimal virtual classroom for users required satisfaction exactly. The results and findings provide critical implications and recommendations for interface designers and instructors in future research and practice.