Andrew Slatton, Kathryn Dwyer Vanderbilt University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Nashville TN ♦ Robert Roselli and Larry Howard of ISIS worked together as co-investigators on the VaNTH ERC to make an HTML interface that allowed for the construction of problem sets through the CAPE (Courseware Authoring and Packaging Environment) programming language. Professor Roselli designed and coded a preliminary version of the form-based authoring system and Larry Howard converted it to a web-based authoring tool ♦ The interface has four views: Assessment, in which the author can pose problems and questions to the learner; Feedback, in which the author defines incorrect and correct cases of the questions and the appropriate feedback; Data, in which the author can define data to recognize student responses, randomize the problem, and add dynamic content; and Resources, in which the author can upload multimedia resources (e.g. images) to the problem sets. ♦ Helped improve a User-Friendly, HTML encoded Interface that is: Easy to manipulate More accessible than CAPE A time-saver for authors ♦ A User’s Manual to accompany the Interface that includes: Written instructions Narrated tutorials A “Big Picture” Overview Development of a User-Friendly Manual for Use with an HTML Interface Overview of the Interface Figure 1: Screenshot of Opening Screen of Interface ♦ Widen access to CAPE: More teachers will be willing to use this simple Interface than to learn an entirely new programming language. ♦ Improve Student Experience: Students will get automatic feedback on homework sets, can learn from mistakes quicker. Project Objectives ♦ Provide assistance to authors as they design assignments with diagnostic feedback in the form of an online manual and tutorials ♦ Write User’s Manual to accompany Interface ♦ Test Interface & Manual Market Analysis ♦ Can be used in any university setting ♦ Applicable in any classroom (e.g. Science, Engineering, Mathematics) ♦ This Interface will benefit both students and professors: Students will get immediate feedback and professors will not have to spend so much time grading homework. ♦ The User’s Manual was designed in the “Treeview” style – a hierarchal organizational method. It was created in CAPE using a template constructed by Larry Howard. Sections include, but are not limited to: Overview/Introduction Creating and Deleting a Problem The Assessments View The Feedback View The Data View The Resources View Importing/Exporting Problem Set Description of the User’s Manual Figure 3: Screenshot of an Adobe Captivate tutorial ♦ To provide additional assistance to authors, visual and audio tutorials were constructed with Adobe Captivate, v An all-encompassing problem was selected to be the model for the tutorials. After the problem was captured with Adobe Captivate, it was sectioned off into individual mini-tutorials and added to the appropriate sections of the manual. Tutorials include, but are not limited to: Creating a New Problem Adding a Resource Adding a Randomized Variable Referencing Resources/Data Using the Rich Editor Creating Progressive Feedback Creating Questions ♦ Initial testing was done with a Biomedical Engineering student, Jacob Connelly and Dr. Stacy Klein of the BME Department at Vanderbilt University. ♦ Jacob Connelly constructed a circuits problem using the Interface. His points of confusion were mainly in the Feedback and Data Views. More thorough tutorials on these two views were created, catering to his issues. ♦ Dr. Stacy Klein had the most trouble with creating a Multiple Choice question, so a separate tutorial was made to address her issue. ♦ The initial testing proved valuable, as both representatives from the student body and the BME faculty provided us with constructive feedback with which we used to enrich our User’s Manual CAPE Workshops ♦ Three workshops were offered this semester, instructing several professors from various universities in the CAPE programming language. ♦ These workshops support our theory that the Interface will be well-received. Many professors were flustered and confused over the complex programming language – which is a huge deterrent. The Interface will provide a much easier way for the professors to construct the same problem sets. ♦ The Interface was first introduced in a workshop on April 17 th, 2007 and was extremely well received because of its simplicity and ease-of-use. Acknowledgements Testing ♦ Alpha testing was done by Professor Roselli, Andrew Slatton, and Kathryn Dwyer. A QuotaLinks webpage was set up by Larry Howard to allow for this. ♦ Initial tests showed errors with the Data View and server issues were found to be associated with the Rich Editing environment. ♦ Points of confusion were also addressed. Syntax issues in the Feedback View and the Data View were discussed and resolved and incorporated into the manual. Results Conclusions ♦ Design of the User’s Manual involved both choosing the types of tutorials we wanted to include as well as its organizational structure. Additionally, feedback we received throughout the semester helped refine the Manual and showed us that different perspectives offer new insights into what the User’s Manual should focus on. ♦The CAPE Workshops demonstrated which teaching methods worked best. Professors understood concepts more when one-on-one audio instructions were given – either by a student or by Larry Howard. Therefore, instead of silent tutorials with simple captions, the harder route was chosen– narrated tutorials. Additionally, the tutorials come with playback controls so authors can listen and pause as often as they like. ♦ The User’s Manual was written in the Treeview style for easy manipulation. A hierarchal display of subject matter is easy to understand. Also, the User’s Manual includes several pictures of buttons and views to help facilitate understanding of the Interface. Pictorial representations of these items help authors locate them easier on the Interface itself. ♦ The User’s Manual will be employed in a May workshop. ♦ In conclusion, the User’s Manual that has been designed and created to accompany the Interface will facilitate the learning of how to use the Interface. ♦ We would like to thank Larry Howard and Professor Roselli for designing and creating the Interface. ♦ We would also like to thank Paul H. King for his advice on our project throughout the semester. ♦ Lastly, we would like to thank Jacob Connelly and Dr. Stacy Klein for testing the Interface and enriching our User’s Manual Figure 2: A screenshot of the CAPE Documentation, done in Treeview Style Social Impact