Publication: Evaluating the usability and patterns of interactions for enhanced technology assisted problem solving (TAPS) package
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Date
2018-01
Authors
Lee Chen Kang
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Abstract
Engineering Mechanics Dynamics course is known as one of the challenging course for
the mechanical engineering students. This course is built upon the strong fundamental
knowledge in physics and mathematics. This course requires the students to have a
strong abstract thinking, reasoning and problem solving skills. In response to the new
paradigm shift in engineering education that emphasizes on the use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) to facilitate the teaching and learning for tertiary
education, there have been numerous studies that proposed the solutions utilizing the
Computer Aided Learning (CAL) platform. The usability of the CAL software to
facilitate the learning of the students need further investigation empirically. In this
research, a technology assisted problem solving (TAPS) package which is a branch of
CAL was enhanced with twenty five patterns of interactions and tested on the
mechanical engineering students from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). This
research study identified the students learning preferences using the Honey and
Munford’s Learning Styles Questionnaire and the Ogden’s Personality and Learning
Styles Questionnaire. The research study further investigated the usability of enhanced
multimedia TAPS package embedded with 25 proposed patterns of interactions.
Through the usability testing, two of the usability evaluation instruments, System
Usability Scale (SUS) and Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ) were
employed. The usability testing results indicated consistent feedbacks on the good
usability achievement level for the enhanced multimedia TAPS package. The proposed
25 patterns of interactions embedded in the enhanced multimedia TAPS package was
grouped statistically through the exploratory factor analysis method into five main
categories. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis was performed to evaluate the five
categories of interaction patterns. The empirical result revealed that four out of five
categories of the interaction patterns are positively associated with engineering problem
solving tasks. This study supports the use of enhanced multimedia TAPS package
embedded with patterns of interactions to facilitate the engineering students especially to
enhance the problem solving skills in the context of mechanics dynamics that build up a
strong foundation further in mechanical design and its application in daily life.
Description
Keywords
PATTERNS OF INTERACTIONS , TECHNOLOGY ASSISTED PROBLEM SOLVING (TAPS) , Computer Aided Learning (CAL) platform