Development of an Automated Instrument for Measuring the Usefulness of Mathematics Tutorial Courseware

Selecting mathematics courseware (PKM) by teachers is essential in order to get the most useful courseware for students. Empirical research is hindered by the lack of standard instruments with valid and reliable factor, criteria and metrics. Therefore the primary purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for evaluating the usefulness of mathematics courseware called IPKpkm and to provide psychometric evidence of validity and reliability. Through out four phases of this study, 696 participants were involved and six types of PKM were used. Each participant was required to evaluate the courseware heuristically and complete the IPKpkm form. First, based on the theoretical perspective, a hypothesize model with three factors which were usability, functionality and efficiency, five sub-factors and seven criteria were proposed. Preliminary study produced initial instrument (IPKpkm_1) consisting of 85 checklist metrics. Second, each metric was reviewed for clarity and appropriateness of metrics content by an expert panel consisting of eight lecturers from four local universities and two Assistant Directors from the Curriculum Development Center. Based on the experts’ judgments, 67 metrics were selected to form the first version of the questionnaire with a five-point-Likert-type scale (IPKpkm_2). IPKpkm_2 was administered to 35 secondary mathematics teachers Metrics analysis was conducted and three metrics were eliminated. Third, IPKpkm_3 with 64 metrics were administered to 626 mathematics teachers in five zones through out Malaysia. Analysis using SPSS 12 was conducted to find the variable that showed significant contribution to the PKM usefulness score. Findings suggested that three variables, which were teacher’s academic background, computer usage experience and evaluation error, had significant impact to PKM usefulness score. From these findings PKM usefulness mean score formula were constructed. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis revealed a three factors solution similar to the hypothesized model. Exploratory factor analysis suggested eight criteria and reduced the metrics to 57 (IPKpkm_4). Results from the initial, first, second and third confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 5, produced 34 metrics instrument (IPKpkm_5) that provided good fit models. Goodness-of-fit analysis had supported the hypothesized models and construct validity of IPKpkm_5. Convergent and divergent validity were supported hence added strong evidence of construct validity. Fourth, IPKpkm_5 were compared to similar instrument called Instrument for Evaluating Chinese Educational Software (IECES). Both instruments were administered to 26 Third Year Mathematics Education, UKM students. Positive correlation of both scores supported the criterion validity of IPKpkm_5 and thus completed validity tests. Results from construct reliability showed there was good to very good reliability for the three factors and eight criteria. Finally, a web-based evaluation system to measure the usefulness of PKM (SPKpkm) was developed and tested. The system makes the evaluation process more efficient and can generate the mean score automatically

User Centered Design Approach to Redesign Graduate Student Management Information System

This study conducted a user centered design approach based on user perception using the Graduate Student Information System. This study start by requirement gathering employs interview method with discussing about its interface design and its available menu. Then following as design, evaluation and delivery to actual user. The proposed design is evaluated by 30 respondent using questionnaire The findings from the analyzed result show that usability factor encountered by user that has high average mean was interface standard. The study prove that the current system needs to improve from functionality aspect. The proposed system is expected to help the administration task

Usefulness model for the redesign of Graduate’s Student Management Information System

Postgraduate Student Management Information System (PSMI) is developed for managing the academic matters of postgraduate students, such as registration, appointment of supervisor, proposal defence, appointment of examiners and managing oral defence examination. The system which is known as SMASH was developed in the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to facilitate the task of the Graduate Management Unit. However, SMASH is rarely used due to usability problems. Among the problems are, the administrative staffs are not aware of the graduate programs applications which are made through SMASH. There is a lack of functionality especially on the menu and the design of the interface. SMASH provides functionality that is limited to only download the application form. This paper discusses the usefulness model development that can be used as a guideline to improve the system. The usefulness model is developed by adapting IS0 9241 and ISO 9126 usability standards. This study employs User-Centered Design method which involves students and faculty administrative staffs. This study starts by identifying the usability problems through Heuristic Evaluation and analysing the user requirements through the system analysis and interview. The preliminary study discovers that there is a need for improvement in the interface design and the functionality of the system to meet user requirements. The user requirement analysis and the proposed improvement serves as the basis in redesigning the system prototype. The usefulness model is then verified by 30 respondents through survey

Accessibility factors for totally blind users of Palestinian universities websites

The World Wide Web (Web) is considered to be one of the sources of information and services.Universities use their webpages to communicate with stakeholders.Most of the related researchers have discovered significant faults with respect to accessibility of university websites, especially for blind users.In order to determine the totally blind requirements for designing websites, this study conducted a comprehensive literature review and based it on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.0. The study revealed important factors in designing an accessible university webpage prototype. An online questionnaire was constructed to evaluate the accessibility of the prototype from blind users’ perspective.From the evaluation of 16 visually impaired participants, it was found that the prototype was highly accessible among the totally blind where the mean score was 4.19. A regression analysis test was also utilized to determine the relationship between the items of the questionnaire and the main principles of accessibility.The results showed that there were statistically significant differences between these items.In conclusion, the accessibility factors are indirectly validated, and could be used to develop an accessible university website for blind users

Usability guidelines for elderly website interface

The elderly population is growing every year. Most of them are retirees. The number of elderly are significantly increasing in the near future. Therefore, it is important to see them as a large scale users of technology. However, the information system that exists is mostly general and not specific to a particular group. For the elderly, this is a constraint for those who have certain deficiencies such as having reduced visibility, movement, and deterioration of cognitive skills. It is essential to conduct a study to identify the problems faced by the elderly in using existing information system. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to discuss the construction of a usability guideline for elderly website interface. The study began by identifying the problems faced by the elderly to the usability of the current information systems that are available interviews. Usability characteristics of information systems that are suitable to the elderly are identified and a guideline for the elderly interface usability of information systems is constructed. These guideline illustrates that a friendly website interface for elderly are sites that provide usage facilities to the elderly such as simple language, large font size, navigation that is easy to use and has a combination of media such as video and audio. These guidelines are used to develop usability’s website interface for elderly. The website evaluation is conducted to assess the usability features used in the design. The website is tested by target users. Feedback from the elderly is used to enhance the interface to become more usable and can serve as a reference for web developers

A Proposed Model for Virtual Fitting Room Based on Usability and Profound Emotional Elements

Technological advancement has evolved the way business is conducted. Companies around the globe venture into e-commerce to reach more customers apart from the traditional retails and marketing approaches. Nowadays, almost everything could be found sold via the internet regardless of size, usage, price and etc. The challenge of e-commerce channel is coming from its inability to provide a practical ways in giving the customers the sense of trying before purchase which is crucial for some product type namely clothing. This paper presents the issues in the e-commerce clothing industry, namely fitting issues and problems encountered in existing Virtual Fitting Room (VFR) applications. These issues include usability and lack of a profound emotional stimulant within existing applications. A systematic procedure of searching related literature on VFR is done based on several identified criteria from the established online repository. The extensive search result is then filtered based on the identified criteria once again to obtain the suitable model to be further studied. This study reviewed five VFR-related models, with the results confirming the issues of usability and profound emotional elements in each model.  This study also proposed a new VFR model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), which consists of usability and profound emotional constructs. These elements were mainly included to solve the identified problems and to provide guidelines for a design solution, which is usable, useful, and delightful

Multiclass classification for chest x-ray images based on lesion location in lung zones

Innovation in radiology technology has generated numerous kinds of medical images like the chest X-ray (CXR).This image is used to find common problem in lung like the lesion through scanning process in lung area which is divided into six zones.By classifying the CXR images with common feature like the lesion location, we can ensure efficient image retrieval.Recently, Support Vector Machine (SVM) has turn out to be a well-known method for image classification.While many previous studies have reported the achievement of SVM in classifying images, yet there is still problem with this technique for multiclass classification.Since SVM is a binary classification technique, its ability is limited to classifying features between two classes at one time. Therefore, it is difficult to classify CXR images which contain many image features.Realizing the problem, we proposed an application method for multiclass classification with SVM to the CXR images based on the lesion position in the lung zones.The multiclass classification application is executed on the CXR images taken from Japan Society of Radiology Technology dataset.Lesion coordinates were selected as the classification input while the lung zones becomes the labels. The multiclass classification is performed with RBF kernel and the classification accuracy is tested to attain the classifiers performance.Overall, it can be concluded that the percentage of the classification accuracy is high with the highest accuracy percentage recorded at 98.7% while the lowest was 94.8%.Meanwhile, the average classification accuracy was recorded at 96.9%. The result obtained revealed that the SVM classifiers generated have successfully classified the lesion location correctly according to the lung zones

The Acceptance of Braille Self-Learning Device

The blind and visually impaired individuals are the citizens that exists in any society. Their blindness and visual impairment prevent them from using computers, operating digital devices, learning educational software, and restricting them from gaining certain knowledges. One of the most proven techniques for people with visual impairments to gain knowledge is to become proficient in Braille. Braille is represented by six dots arranged in a 3x2 matrix and can be read receptively only by the sense of touch. The common way of learning Braille is one-to-one technique between students and teachers. They use bulky devices which is inconvenient, not portable and costly.  In fact, learning Braille always requires teachers to be present. People with visual impairments need special tools or tutorials to master the Braille language. This research introduces Braille Fingers Puller (BFP) self-learning device which is autonomous, low-cost, user-friendly, and portable with self-learn and self-test functions. Prior to the current device development, a Braille Finger Puller acceptance model is proposed based on seven factors that influence the BFP behavioral pattern which are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, performance, satisfaction, emotion, attitude, and comfort. The Braille Fingers Puller is tested with the blind association and finding shows that all factors except comfort factor have high score toward the intention to use BFP. Further improvement of the self-learning device is suggested in order to make it more comfortable for the visually impaired person to use

Exploring indicators of engagement: applications for gamification of online training systems

In recent years, gamification is being used in business organization for an increased employee engagement in the work place. However, less has been said about engagement of employees in online training to learn new skills and knowledge that may help or improve status quo in the organization. This paper explores the engagement indicators and game elements that may foster employee engagement in online training. The study employs an iterative step-by-step methodology that is used in information technology for the development of artefacts. As a result, a framework to implement the gamification technique in online training is proposed. The framework consists of a gamification construct that contains a set of commonly used game elements such as points, levels, challenges, rewards, competition, progress bar, leaderboard, badges, and feedback. The framework also contains three engagement dimensions including behavioural, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. To achieve the main objective of the study, an iterative process used by information technology researchers to develop new artefacts and their constructs is employed. As for the formulation of the hypothesis, for the evaluation of gamification’s influence on employee engagement when attending an online training, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is employed