An action research approach to the design, development and evaluation of an interactive e-learning tutorial in a cognitive domain

Abstract

The teaching and learning of a complex section in Theoretical Computer Science 1 in a distanceeducation context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called Relations, which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and practice functionality in a classic computer-aided instruction (CAI) style and offers considerable learner control. A participative action research approach was used to design, develop, evaluate, and refine the application over a longitudinal period. In this process the application was formatively and summatively evaluated by different methods – questionnaire surveys, interviews, heuristic evaluation and a post-test. This article explains the purpose, structure, and operation of Relations and notes how the various evaluation methods resulted in iterative refinements to its functionality, learning content, and usability. The findings lead to reflection.