thisismytitle-theuniversityoftexasataustin（54页）.docVIP

EDC 385G Designs and Strategies for New Media Usability Study of Three Educational Websites for Undergraduate Students A Report by Isabel Braun April 6, 2006 Contents Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Type of Study 3 Selection of Sites 4 Description of Sites 4 User Profiles and Participant Recruitment 7 Questionnaires 8 Tasks 9 Setting and Procedures 10 Data Collection 11 Data analysis 12 Results 14 Demographics and Users’ Backgrounds 15 User Testing of Webgeo 16 User Testing of Visionlearning 19 User Testing of Discover Our Earth 23 User Satisfaction 28 Overview of Good and Bad Design Aspects 28 Discussion 30 Information Design 30 Interaction Design 33 Interface Design 36 Overall User Satisfaction 37 Limitations of This Study 37 Summary and Design Recommendations 38 Design Recommendations for Educational Websites Related to Geography 38 References 40 Appendix 41 Questionnaires 41 Task List 45 Task Scenarios 46 Orientation Script 50 Informed Consent Form 51 Data Collection Form 52 Author 53 Introduction With the World Wide Web expanding at an ever increasing rate, instruction and learning are rapidly moving from traditional face-to-face situations to web-based environments. Websites for instructional and learning purposes vary widely. The range of instructional and learning websites spans resource sites, supplementary course sites, full online courses and full online-delivered curricula (Aggarwal Bento, 2002). Online learning communities are also increasing in importance. In educational research, increasing attention has been directed at student diversity in abilities and skills over the last years. At German universities, this has been accompanied by a criticism of (mainly introductory level) lectures which often have to be attended by several hundred students at a time but lack sufficient teaching capacities. Web-based instruction and learning present several advantages to instructors and college students compared with such traditional forms