Explanogram: Digital Delivery of Learning Aids
Educational Technology Design and User Studies of Web-based Learning Aid
Skills Applied:
Ethnography, Interviews, Questionnaires, Statistical Analysis, Literature Review,
Web Log Analysis, Personas, Scenarios
For my master's thesis, I investigated the usability and effectiveness of the use of explanogram
(i.e. a sketch or diagram that shows students the contents of an explanation in a dynamic display)
in collaboration with a research team from Uppsala University in Sweden. An explanogram differs
from normal sketches or diagrams in that it allows the users to see how a diagram evolved to its
final state. A key advantage of an explanogram is its preservation of the dynamics involved in
creating a document.
The research team developed a web server, which contains an explanogram database, an explanogram
playback application, and a servlet program used to process an explanogram java class file to be
viewed on a web browser. My role in the research team was to develop the explanogram creator in
Java which operates in conjunction with a pen data collector, a commercial application available
with a digital pen, to create an explanogram java class file to view an explanogram in a web browser.
In addition, I analyzed the interaction behaviors of explanogram users by observing web log data,
in which all the events occurred in viewing the explanograms online were automatically recorded.
By querying the log tables, I identified patterns in students' activities, which allowed a detailed
analysis of frequent patterns underlying the viewing events. The goal was to characterize interesting
activities observed, understand how and why they occurred, and adopt these activity patterns and
understandings for improving the functions of explanograms in order for it to serve as an effective
learning aid. In addition to the log data analysis, I conducted interviews and surveys in order to
find out students' perception and evaluation of the explanograms.
The investigation of the use of explanograms in two undergraduate classes showed that explanograms'
dynamic display of information can better assist student comprehension. The data also revealed that
the students found a coordinated presentation of textual and visual explanations more appealing than
receiving textual explanations alone.
Artifacts:
Class Presentation,
Thesis
Contextual Interviews for Web Usability
Web Usability Analysis
Skills Applied:
Think Aloud User Study, Contextual Inquiry, Scenarios
As a project for a HCI course, I analyzed UCSD's (University of California, San Diego) housing website which provides
students with on-campus dining and housing information on its usability. Based on data collected through informal
think-alouds by its potential users, my goal was to find out various human-computer interaction styles within the
given website.
After identifying major interactional patterns between the users and the website, I built complete
scenarios of user interaction activities and discussed ways to improve the website in terms of its usability
and visual design. Contextual interviews were also conducted to clarify effectiveness/ineffectiveness of the web design.
Artifacts:
Usability Test Result
