20101013 - Hollins, ...Instrument to assess Usability of courseware

The development of an instrument to assess the usability of courseware by Hollins, Louvenia D., Ed.D., Northern Illinois University, 2008 , 270 pages; AAT 3324334 My Interest: 1) UET = Instructional Design Usability Survey (IDUS). 2) Heuristic evaluation. 3) Empirical usability testing. 4) Walkthroughs. 5) Field observations. 6) Theoretical framework. 7) Three-phases approach. 8) ANOVA. 9) Validity & reliability of UET/Survey. Action: To read the Dissertation in future. Research Goal This study describes the development and initial validation of a survey designed to measure students' perceptions of the usability of instructional design of educational courseware. Motivation There is a lack of measuring instruments to conduct this kind of research. The present study attempts to take steps to provide educators and researchers with a useful tool to facilitate their studies of this aspect or courseware creation and use. Methodology A three-phase approach is taken in this study to develop the Instructional Design Usability Survey (IDUS) instrument. Expert evaluators from the field of educational technology, research and assessment were involved in Phase I to establish content and face validity. During Phase II, student focus groups were formed from the population of courseware users to establish content validity and clarity of the instrument. In Phase III, students examined the usability of the instrument, and reliability and validity tests were conducted. Comments: This dissertation ought to be read in detail. Because a UET is developed. Second reason is to benchmark how she validated the UET. Results Discussion Reliability and validity of scores from the IDUS were assessed through statistical procedures performed on the data collected from 206 student participants. Internal consistency reliability was assessed for each construct using Cronbach's alpha. The internal consistency for the six constructs ranged from .73 to .92. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to establish construct validity by examining the overall fit of the models as well as the magnitude of the factor loadings for each proposed construct. Results of the study show the IDUS is reliable but does not yet show strong enough evidence of validity. 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1 Statement of the Problem 3 Purpose of the Study 4 Theoretical Framework 5 Research Questions 9 Definition of Terms 9 Significance of the Study 10 Organization of the Study 10 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 12 CAI and User ID Guidelines 12 HCI and UEM 26 Empirical Usability Testing 29 Heuristic Evaluation 29 Field Observations 30 Walkthroughs 30 Analytical Modeling Methods 31 User-Centered Design (USD) 32 Survey Development and Validity 33 Summary of the Literature Review 41 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43 Research Methodology 44 Three-Phase Approach Overview 44 Research Site and Student Target Population 44 Instrument Development 46 Phase I: Expert Evaluation 49 Expert Target Population 49 Data Collection 50 Data Analysis 52 Phase II: Student Focus Group 56 Data Collection 56 Findings of Phase II 60 Phase III: Student Pilot Test 61 Data Collection 62 Data Analysis 63 Chapter Page Missing Data 65 Summary 66 4. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 68 Demographic Data Analysis 68 Research Question 1 73 Research Question 1A 73 Research Question IB 88 Research Question 2 97 Posttest Reading Levels ANOVA 98 Posttest Math Levels ANOVA 100 Summary 105

20101013 - Ballard, Web site usability...educational web sites

Web site usability: A case study of student perceptions of educational web sites by Ballard, Joyce Kimberly, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2010 , 408 pages; AAT 3408366 My Interest: 1) Nielsen's Heuristics. 2) Xerox Heuristic Evaluation Checklist. 3) Computer Use/User Self-Efficacy Scale. 4) Quality of Web-based Instruction. 5) Usability Testing – think-aloud protocol. 6) Usability Testing – eye tracking. 7) Usability Testing – time-error log. 8) Methodology of data analysis. 9) Theoretical framework. 10) Validity & reliability. Action: To read the Dissertation in future. Research Goal The purpose of this research study was to understand the construct of usability from the perspective of 74 students enrolled in six online courses offered by one online and distance learning program at a large, public university in the Midwest. Methodology Six courses, designed and developed by two different groups, professional and nonprofessional developers, were selected. The study used both quantitative and qualitative measures to record the experiences of students enrolled in the six online courses. First, the courses were evaluated using Nielsen's (1994, 2000, 2002) heuristics as operationalized by the Xerox Heuristic Evaluation Checklist (1995) as a standard measure of usability, then rank-ordered by heuristic evaluation score. Comments: I would love to see this Xerox Heuristic Evaluation Checklist. I suppose this is a UET (usability evaluation tool) for UEM = heuristic evaluation. Would love to know WHAT are the usability criteria (heuristics) used in this Checklist. Eachus and Cassidy's (2006) Computer Use Self-efficacy Scale was used as a pre-course survey to measure students' computer self-efficacy prior to beginning their online course. Comments: Would like to see the details of Computer Use/User Self-Efficacy Scale. Stewart, Hong, and Strudler's (2004) Quality of Web-based Instruction was used as a post-course survey to measure student satisfaction with their online course experience. A subset of 29 students participated in usability testing sessions in the usability lab. A think-aloud protocol provided qualitative data in the form of verbal reports, eye-tracking recordings provided data confirming the think-aloud protocol data, and a time-error log provided "time to complete tasks," and "error rate" data as students completed seven typical tasks required to successfully participate in an online course. A summary, debriefing interview with each student was conducted to record any additional student comments and any student recommendations for improving the courses. Qualitative data were examined for themes and a coding scheme was created. This coding scheme, which illustrated the issues specific to educational web sites, was compared to Nielsen's (1994, 2000, 2002) heuristics to evaluate whether Nielsen's (1994, 2000, 2002) heuristics, widely accepted as the standard for the design and development of business and commercial websites, also apply to educational web sites. Comments: I will want to review her Guidelines for educational web sites. These can be correlated with learning-related usability criteria. Design and development guidelines for educational web sites were written by the researcher based on the study findings. These guidelines were mapped to Nielsen's heuristics as operationalized by the Xerox Heuristic Evaluation Checklist (1995). Results Discussion The results of the quantitative and qualitative measures used were analyzed by course and course development type. The most significant results of this study came from the analysis of the variables according to course development type. The results of the study findings include that the course design type, professional or nonprofessional, was related to usability as measured by students' error rates, Nielsen's heuristic evaluation scores, and student satisfaction scores. The professionally-developed courses were found to be significantly higher in usability than the non-professionally-developed courses by task error rate, Nielsen's heuristic evaluation score and student satisfaction scores. The analysis of students' verbal reports resulted in three times as many positive comments for the professionally-developed courses when compared to the positive comments for the non-professionally-developed courses. The results of the quantitative and qualitative measures used were also analyzed by course. When comparisons were made between courses using courses as the unit of analysis the findings were different. The rank-order of courses was mixed between course types when compared by error rates. The Nielsen's heuristic evaluation scores as measures of usability for educational web sites were not consistent with students' judgments of course usability as measured by error rate scores. There was no relationship between the usability ranking of courses by Nielsen's heuristics and usability as judged by students' error rates. However, an analysis of students' verbal reports identified 52 common themes and confirmed the importance of Nielsen's heuristics in educational course design. Comments: She has found that Nielsen's heuristics are important and relevant for educational course design and educational websites. This is a good support for my literature review. The correlation between the self-efficacy score and error rate means was nonsignificant. The correlation between self-efficacy and error rate was small; very close to zero. There was a small positive correlation between student satisfaction and usability as measured by error rates. Conclusion Based on the analysis of the study variables according to course development type, the results of this study found that Nielsen's usability heuristics, a respected evaluation tool used primarily to measure the usability of commercial web sites, can be used to evaluate instructional web sites and used to differentiate between levels of usability in the same way usability is judged by students. Chapter Two 14 Review of the Literature 14 Theoretical Framework 15 Usability. 17 Defining Usability 18 Usability and Web-based Instruction 19 Web-based Instruction and Instructional Design 21 Instructional Design 23 Defining Instructional Design 24 The Need to Evaluate Design and Quality 26 Instructional Design Differences . 29 Usability and Aesthetics 32 Usability Guidelines for Interface Design 34 Summary 35 Chapter Three 37 Research Method 37 Introduction . 37 Research Questions and Data Collection . 38 Rationale of the Methodology 41 Xerox Heuristics Evaluation: A System Checklist 42 Rationale 42 Validity . 44 Reliability 48 Method 48 Survey One Computer User Self-efficacy Scale (CUSE) 50 Rationale 50 Validity 52 Reliability 52 Survey Two Student Evaluation of the Quality of Web-Based Instruction 52 Rationale 52 Validity . 54 Reliability 54 Institutional context . 55 Institution . 55 College 55 Online Distance Education Program . 56 Course Management Systems 56 Course Selection 57 Student Selection/Recruitment . 60 IRB Approval 61 Recruitment Procedures 61 Data Collection Procedures . 62 General Collection Procedures . 63 Volunteers for Usability Testing . 64 Follow-up Attempts 65 Quantitative Data Collection 65 Timing of Instrument Use 65 Qualitative Data Collection . 66 Timing of Usability Testing 66 Qualitative Data from the Usability Testing Sessions 67 Usability Testing 67 Usability Testing Site 67 Pre-determined Tasks 69 Think-aloud Protocols 69 Time Log, Video, Audio, & Eye-tracking Data Collection 72 Time Log Data 72 Video, Audio, and Eye-tracking Data 73 Error Log . 75 Summary Interview 77 Post-course Student Evaluation of the Quality of Web-Based Instruction 77 Limitations of the Study 77 Summary 78 Chapter Four . 81 Research Findings 81 Research Questions 83 Summary 114

20101013 - Yen, ...Usability Evaluation: Methods, Models, Measures

Health information technology usability evaluation: methods, models, and measures by Yen, Po-Yin, Ph.D., Columbia University, 2010 , 160 pages; AAT 3420882 My Interest: 1) Usability evaluation studies. 2) Usability evaluation scale (Health-ITUES). 3) Usability evaluation model (Health-ITUEM). 4) Validity. Action: To read the Dissertation in the future. Introduction Health information technology (IT) can offer important benefits to health care; however, technology-related factors are a major obstacle to health IT adoption. Research Goal Toward the goal of achieving a greater understanding of health IT usability and its measurement, the dissertation comprised three major analyses: 1) a methodological review of health IT usability evaluation studies to identify problems in existing studies; 2) exploratory factor analysis of the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale (Health-ITUES) which was developed as part of the dissertation research along with the underlying Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM); and 3) confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to examine the construct validity and predictive validity of Health-ITUES. Methodology The health IT system that served as the focus of the analysis was a web-based communication system that supported nurse staffing and scheduling. The sample comprised 553 staff nurses in two healthcare organizations. In the usability methodological review, we identified problems in existing studies including lack of theoretical framework/model, inconsistent usability definition and evaluation methods, and lack of power analysis for sample size calculation. Results Discussion The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 20-item Health-ITUES comprising four factors that demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability: quality of work life (QWL), 3 items, α=.94; perceived usefulness (PU), 9 items, α=.94; perceived ease of use (PEU), 5 items, α=.95; user control (UC), 3 items, α=.81. The confirmatory factor analysis showed that a general usability factor accounted for 78.1%, 93.4%, 51.0% and 39.9% of the explained variance in QWL, PU, PEU, and UC respectively. The structural equation modeling supported the predictive validity of Health-ITUES, explaining 64% of the variance in intention for system use. Contribution The results of the dissertation contribute to enhancing the methodological breadth and rigor of health IT usability evaluation studies. Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Background 2 Definitions of Usability 3 Aspects of Usability 7 Definition and Scope 8 Health IT Usability, Acceptance, and Adoption 10 Health IT Usability Specification and Evaluation 11 Problem Statement 12 Purpose 13 Study Aims and Research Questions 13 Significance of the Study 15 Chapter 2. Methodological Review of Health Information Technology Usability Specification and Evaluation Studies 16 Background 16 Usability Model 17 System Development Life Cycle 17 An Integrated Usability Specification and Evaluation Framework 18 Methods 23 Search Strategy 23 Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: 23 Data Extraction and Management , 24 Results 27 Types of Health IT Evaluated 32 Summary of studies categorized in each stage 33 Stage 1: Specify Needs and Setting 35 Stage 2: System Component Development 37 Stage 3: Combination Components 38 Stage 4: Integrate Health IT into the Real Environment 40 Stage 5: Routine Use 41 Study Design and Data Analysis in Stages 4 and 5 41 Discussion 45 Methodological Problems in Existing Studies 45 Objective versus Subjective Measures 47 Environmental Factor Not Evaluated in the Early Stages 49 Inadequate Measure 49 Limitations 50 Conclusion 50 Chapter 3. Health IT Usability Evaluation Model and Scale Development 65 Background 65 Health IT Usability Evaluation Model 70 Definition of Concepts 74 Health IT Usability Evaluation Scale Development 76 The web-based communication system 76 Item selection, creation, and modification 78 Health IT Usability Evaluation Scale Psychometric Evaluation 82 Research Questions 82 Methods 82 Results 84 Discussion 92 Limitations 94 Conclusion 95 Chapter 4. Health-IT Usability Evaluation Scale Confirmatory Analyses 96 Background 96 Research Questions 96 Methods 97 Setting and Sample 97 Sample size 97 Data collection procedures 98 Data Analysis 98 Results 99 Descriptive analysis 99 Power Analysis 100 Construct validity 101 Predictive Validity 104 Discussion 106 Construct and Predictive Validity 106 Methodological issues in existing model testing studies 106 Limitations 107 Conclusions 108