CCE Theses and Dissertations

Elementary Educator's Experiences with Learning Object Repository Interfaces: Layered and Non-Layered

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences

Advisor

Timothy Ellis

Committee Member

Maxine S. Cohen

Committee Member

Yair Levy

Abstract

Learning object repositories (LORs) have the potential to improve education at the elementary school level. However, elementary educators are not effectively using LORs due to usability issues regarding their interface. The goal of this dissertation was to examine elementary educator experiences regarding a layered and non-layered interface.

This study was conducted over two academic quarters. A total of 49 elementary educators completed the study. Participants were divided into control and experimental groups. The groups were assigned a different LOR. Participants were asked to use the LOR and record their experiences of the LOR. Data were collected via a demographic survey, time diary, and interviews. Hypothesis 1, which examined the number of Learning Objects (LOs) incorporated into lesson plans between groups was tested using an Analysis of Variances (ANOV A); and a significant difference was found between groups. The experimental group had greater success in incorporating LORs into the lesson plans than the control group. Hypothesis 2, which examined the main effect of the number of times the LOR was used, the number of generated LOs, and the number of good quality LOs found between groups was tested using a Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA); and a significant difference was found between groups. The experimental group had greater success than the control group. Additional ANOVAs were conducted to individually examine the number of times the LOR was used, the number of generated LOs, and the number of good quality LOs found between groups. No significant differences were found. Hypothesis 3, which examined the correlation between age, gender, experience, comfort level and skill level, and the number of LOs incorporated into lesson plans, was tested using an Intra Class Correlation (ICC); no significant difference was found between groups. Data gathered through interviews were analyzed using the constant comparison method. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative findings and helped to identify additional factors including time and limited LOR knowledge that are affecting the usage of the LORs.

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