Usability and Learning Studies

⦁ Select a learning resource / learning object of your choice (your academic discipline, your hobby, where you already know what can / should be learned). There should be a challenge so that any PROBLEMATIC issues will become apparent. (Also makes your task of analyzing the data easier.)
⦁ Read the texts and view the videos that exemplify how the use of learning objects is studied and think about which learning object / resource you might want to analyze (think about recordings including the object, also think about how gestures need to be visible, we need to know the different ways in which the people communicate).
⦁ Have two people in your surroundings or from your group use the resource / object and record (e.g. on your mobile device). If you have individuals, ask them to “think aloud,” encouraging them whenever they do not speak (e.g.., say “Say what you are thinking,” “What are you looking at?”) Or have one or two people make the selection and then challenge the others in your group. You do not have to record much, 5 minutes, enough to give you something to work with.
⦁ Conduct an analysis of the session. Your analysis should be guided by questions such as, How do the persons interact with the learning object / resource? Where and what do the persons fail to get what they are supposed to get? Use what you learned in Block 1 and Block 2 to pose further questions directing your analysis.
⦁ Write a report. Because of the great variance in projects, there are no single hard criteria for length, content, or format. At a minimum, your report should include:
⦁ Some appropriate title, author/s of the report
⦁ Brief summary of the entire report (~250 words) and keywords
⦁ A brief introduction to the topic and knowledge domain (do as if you were teaching the reader the knowledge domain), including some references to the readings (~ 1–2 pages)
⦁ A brief description of the individuals using the resource / object, (1 paragraph), a link or copy of the resource that have been used
⦁ An analysis (with some transcription and screen prints or drawings, as you can see in the readings, or in the case of the Block 2 article on Bill Nye’s show. Try EMULATING what you see in the readings), (min 6 pages, more if lots of [large-size] images are used)
⦁ A discussion / conclusion section, and (~1 page)
⦁ A reflection where you state what you learned about usability and learning studies. (~300–500 words)
⦁ You should end up with 4,000+ words for the entire report
⦁ Submit report and the video you have taken (if download is difficult in BrightSpace, then download to Youtube or other site and provide a link)