Qualitative Findings from Usability Testing of an E-learning Tutorial

Abstract

An interactive e-learning tutorial, Relations, was designed for a module in Theoretical Computer Science at a distance-education university. In innovative research, usability-testing technology was employed to investigate the learning behaviours and styles of students using the tutorial. This paper presents qualitative findings from observation, video recordings and post-session interviews. Cognitive and usage aspects are addressed, as well as the combination of electronic and paper resources, think-aloud articulation, and users’ preferred learning strategies. Findings highlight the variety of ways in which the different users interacted with Relations and indicate the value of multiple modes of presentation, visualisation and feedback in supporting learning by e-learning.