Developing and using animations and simulations to teach computer science courses: the case of University of Dar es Salaam Joel S. Mtebe University of Dar Es Salaam, jmtebe@gmail.com Abstract Concepts in computer science courses are among the most complicated to teach and they pose considerable challenges to the majority of university lecturers particularly in developing countries institutions. Their complexity is due to the fact that they demand many demonstrations, practical exercises and normally involve many assignments. This becomes even more difficult where classes are large and facilities are few. Although, several studies indicate that the use of ICT particularly multimedia in education has a potential to alleviate these problems, its effective integration in improving the quality of teaching and learning remain a research issue. It is for this reason, University of Dar Es salaam (UDSM) through their Centre for Virtual Learning (CVL), and funded by Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA), decided to implement a pilot project for developing and integrating animations and simulations into computer science courses. The project assisted lecturers to redesign their course blue prints by identifying areas where animations and simulation can simplify understanding difficult concepts. . In addition to that, the project developed animation learning objects which were integrated into course blue prints, converted in eLearning format and made available via Moodle LMS and CDs for students’ access. Through this project, we conducted a study to provide a critical analysis of how the use of animations in computer science courses has enhanced subject matter concept mastery and improved course design at UDSM. The study shows that 67% of respondents (of 108 students) indicated that animations and simulations in courses enabled them to grasp difficult concepts more easily. Moreover, the study has shown that the process of developing animations and simulations improves the quality of course design. Lecturers strongly agreed that this process ensured that course goals, course content and methods of assessment were well planned and integrated in the courses, unlike before. However, it is essential that the pedagogical and instructional design principles be incorporated in the whole process of course development to realize the benefit and usefulness of the developed animations. 1 1. Introduction Concepts in computer science courses are among the most complicated to teach and they pose considerable challenges to the majority of university lecturers particularly in developing countries institutions. Their complexity is due to the fact that they demand many demonstrations, practical exercises and normally involve many assignments. This becomes even more difficult where classes are large and facilities are few. Moreover, many higher education institutions in developing countries are faced with a massive shortage of teaching staff particularly in science courses such as computer science. These challenges and many others may result in poor quality of graduates and discourage students from further studies. Several solutions gave been proposed to alleviate these problems such as increasing studentcomputer ratio, improving teaching pedagogy and increasing number of teaching staff. On other hand, several studies indicate that the use of ICT particularly multimedia in education has a potential to alleviate these problems and offer several benefits in teaching science courses. These benefits includes help to develop understanding of abstract and difficult concepts which are otherwise considered to be ‘invisible’[1] [2] that would be very difficult to grasp from words alone [3]. Despite these potential benefits ICT can offer, its effective integration in improving the quality of teaching and learning remain a research issue. In recognizing the potential benefits of ICT in improving teaching and learning, University of Dar Es salaam (UDSM) through their Centre for Virtual Learning (CVL), and funded by Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA), decided to implement a pilot project for developing and integrating animations and simulations into computer science courses. The project was implemented in collaboration with South Africa Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE) which targeted courses from the department of computer science. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, we conducted a study to provide a critical analysis of how the use of animations in computer science courses has enhanced subject matter concept mastery and improved course design at UDSM. This paper reports on the results obtained from the study which was conducted from 108 students who used animated courses for semester II, 2012. Moreover, data were collected from lecturers who were involved in the process of developing courses. 2 2. Background The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) has made tremendous investment in ICT infrastructure to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Some notable achievements include the increased bandwidth to STM 1/155MBS, deployment of a Wireless LAN (Hotspot) at the main campus and establishment of public access rooms (PARs). Other achievements include the deployment of systems such as Human Resource Information System (HURIS), Financial Information System (FIS), Academic Register Information System (ARIS), Library Information System (LIBIS) and various eLearning Systems. Moreover, UDSM has also made considerable investment in eLearning initiatives since 1998. These initiatives include introduction of the Blackboard LMS through the Technology Enhanced Independent Learning (TEIL) project (1998-2003), and the Advanced Level End User Competence Upgrading Project (2004-2007) [5]. Most of these initiatives focused on installation of network infrastructure and capacity building for core staff to provide technical support to academic staff and students. Through these initiatives more than 2,000 staff members were trained on how to use the Blackboard LMS and a total of 415 courses were created and uploaded [6], but the effective integration of ICT in teaching and learning lies beyond mere access and ICT literacy [7]. According to Mtebe et al. (2011), little was done beyond improving the technological environment of the institution and equipping a few academic staff with educational technology skills. Moreover, most of 415 courses which were uploaded in the Blackboard LMS consisted of skeletal course guides or course hand-outs with minimum content, summarized in the form of PowerPoint or Word documents. These courses lack interactivity and were designed without considering eLearning pedagogical approaches. The problems highlighted above regarding poor quality of course design have directly impacted on the mastery of course concepts for students and ultimately affects the quality of graduates. It is in the wake of the above-cited problems that CVL decided to implement a pilot project for creating interactive course materials (courses integrated with animations and simulations) for computer science and other courses. The project developed multimedia enriched course materials for each selected course to improve the quality of course design and enable students to master subject content. It aimed to help staff to re-design their courses for eLearning, emphasizing student centered pedagogy. The project also assisted lecturers in developing interactive animations and simulations based on their requirements, integrating them into their courses, and distributing the resulting learning objects (LO) to students. The courses and embedded LOs were uploaded in the Moodle LMS and burned in CDs for students’ access. It was envisaged that the design of interactive courses would lead to improved quality of course design, improved quality of student learning and the opportunity to build student self-motivation devices into courses. The project had the following components: Identifying and capacitating experienced academic staff from the computer science department for creating quality e-content materials; Designing, developing and piloting interactive course materials (integrated with animations and simulations); 3 Developing the capacity of CVL staff in the area of multimedia and other educational technologies; Sensitization of staff and students to the use of developed course materials 3. Research problem This case study is a critical analysis of how the use of animations in science courses has enhanced subject matter concept mastery and improved course design at UDSM. This case study is premised on the argument that animations and simulations have the potential to enhance the quality of science course design and student engagement at UDSM . The main objectives of the study are to: Show how integration of animations and simulations in science courses improved the quality of the design of the courses. Determine if the inclusion of animations and simulations in science courses enhances concept mastery of subject contents 4. A theoretical framework and Related Work According to Henderson (1994), there is a growing interest amongst those who are involved in the teaching of computing to see opportunities for using computer animations or simulation to help present difficult concepts in the subject. This is because previous studies have shown that using animations and simulations in teaching science courses offers many benefits in improving students learning. These benefits include: help to develop understanding of abstract concepts which are otherwise considered to be ‘invisible’[1]; help to understand difficult and complex processes [2] that would be very difficult to grasp from words alone [3]. Moreover, animations are thought to support students with different learning styles by presenting content in a variety of multimedia (video, audio and sound). “By giving students different ways to learn concepts, it is possible to attract more novices, especially women and minorities, to computer science” [9]. These potential benefits sparked the interest of several researchers to conduct various studies and pilots to determine the role of animations and simulations in teaching various science courses. Some of the notable studies include the development and use of animations for teaching courses such as cell biology [10], operating systems [11], discrete structures [12], histology [13], molecular chemistry [14] and mathematical concepts [15]. The majority of these studies appear to indicate that animated learning materials are more useful in understanding difficult concepts than equivalent static learning materials. While most of these studies have focused on a single subject or discipline, our study has focused on more than one course in the specific domain of computer science. For animations to be effective, educators who use animations in education settings must understand the principles that govern their use [16]. These principles include integrating animations and simulations into their instructional design and be part of their pedagogical framework. Moreover, based on dual-coding theory by Paivio (1991), they should be coupled 4 with lecture notes, and should not be used alone. Szczerbick, Syrjakow, & Berdu (2000) stressed that “animations can be utilised to liven up a lecture, where lecturers can use interactive animations to better demonstrate and explain the behaviour of complex dynamic systems”. Secondly, they can be used to improve online versions of lectures where interactive animations presented in a lecture can also be offered on the Web. Developing quality digital animation is a complex task and requires highly qualified staff with both technical and pedagogical skills so that desirable learning experiences can be realized. Two factors are essential during the designing and developing of animations and simulations for education purposes. Firstly, they must be attractive, engaging and intuitive while enabling learners to navigate easily to learn content. If animations are not user-friendly, learners spend more time learning how to use them rather than learning the content [19] and are often cognitively very demanding, resulting in decreased learning outcomes [20]. On the other hand, intuitive interfaces and clear information design allow learners to focus on learning content. Secondly, despite their attractiveness, they must adequately meet the needs of the instructional process and support learners’ behaviors and actions [21]. It should be noted that “when the users of the technology are learners we don’t need interfaces that support “doing tasks” but interfaces that support “learning while doing tasks”” [22]. Addressing these issues will help learners find animations easier to use and also enable students to learn difficult course concepts [14].Therefore, developing useful animations requires technical staff to strike a balance between technological usability and pedagogical objectives. The LOs must also be designed based on known principles of learning [14]. The learning theories such as Gagné's (1985) nine levels of learning and Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy [24] should be incorporated in designing courses blue prints. These theories play a significant role in helping lecturers to construct measurable learning objectives and therefore ensuring the developed courses attains the intended programme goal. On other hand, the use of these models and theories in developing and integrating animations into courses ensures that developed LOs meet intended learning objectives and cater for different learning styles. 5. The Research Design Implementation 5.1 Methodology This case study employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data. Questionnaires were prepared and distributed to students, instructional designers and lecturers. Qualitative data collection methods included one-to-one interviews with lecturers who were involved in the process of developing course blue prints and focus group discussions with instructional designers and technical staff who were developing animations and integrating them into courses. Moreover, documentary evidence in the form of developed animations and integrated courses was used to assess the quality of developed courses based on proposed course design quality rubrics indicated in Appendix 2. Questionnaires were analyzed using Google doc tools. 5 5.2 Results The results of this study are divided into two categories, namely: To determine if the adopted process for course development improved the quality of course design To determine if animations and simulations enhanced concept mastery of subject contents 5.2.1 Improvement in Quality of Course Design In order to determine if the process of developing animations and simulations had an impact on improving the quality of the course design, we conducted two tasks to collect information. Firstly we developed Course design Quality Metrics as shown in Appendix 1 which provided guidelines on how the quality of a course design should be judged. These metrics were adapted from course development template (given to lecturer during course development) and Quality Matters Rubric Standards 2011-2013 (extracted from www.QMprogram.org). Secondly we distributed questionnaires to lecturers to obtain their opinion on the usefulness of the use of animations and simulations in improving the quality of course design and enhancing concept mastery. Task 1 From the table metrics developed (Appendix 1), it shows that in most of the courses the overall course information was made transparent to the student at the beginning of the course. The information included the titles of modules, course objectives or outcomes, pre-requisites, list of assignments, lecturer contact information, student evaluation and grading criteria. Although these guidelines are always available in departments, students are not given them in advance of face to face settings, unless they request from the head of the department. Based on the course development template given to lecturers, they were able to fill in and provide all the information. Moreover, a course calendar was developed and provided in almost all courses. The course calendar is very important because it helps students to learn at their own pace and plan their learning time accordingly. Students learn better when they control the pace of their learning [25]. With the presence of the calendar, students can plan when to submit assignments and when to undertake tests or exams. The challenging part was the development of animations, embedding into various modules and ensuring that animations and simulations are based on promoting the achievement of the stated learning objectives. The metrics shows that developed animations and simulations presented a variety of perspectives on the course content. Also most lecturers were able to develop learning activities/practical exercises that encourage reflection. Task 2 The second task involved eliciting their opinions on the use of animations and stimulation to improve the quality of course design and enhanced concept mastery in their courses. 71% strongly agreed that animations and simulations are useful in enhancing students’ mastery of difficult course concepts while 29% agreed and indicted that the process was also useful. They 6 also indicated that the use of animations and simulations in their courses makes explanation of difficult concepts easy. When asked about the usefulness of the project and the use of the animations and simulations in general, they suggested that CVL and departments need to look at how this process can be a continuous process; it should not end up only with these very few courses. Other departments within the University should follow this example and make use of CVL who are well equipped with facilities and skills in developing these animations More courses should be integrated with multimedia for easy concept mastery The exercise is time consuming; in particular, more time is needed to work with CVL instructional designers in developing storyboards for animations 5.2.2 Animations and simulations in enhancing concept mastery of subject contents To determine if the use of animations and simulations enabled students to understand difficult concepts, we developed questionnaires and distributed them to students at the end of Semester II, May 2012. In these questionnaires, we were interested in finding out about a) perception on interface design and content arrangement and presentation in courses, and if they were appropriately designed for independent learning b) determining their perception of the usefulness of animations and simulations in making difficult concepts easier to understand c) mentioning some examples of the concepts which were made easier as a result of animations and simulations d) their opinion on the overall usefulness (in terms of course mastery) of animations and simulations materials in learning science courses. The questionnaires were completed by 108 students, where 86 were male (80%) and 22 were female (20%). Out of these respondents 27 were in their first year of study, 46 were second year and 35 were third year. Firstly, when asked on a 5 tier scale about their perception on interface design and content arrangement presented in courses, and if they were well designed appropriately for independent learning, the results showed that 78% (52 agreed and 32 strongly agreed) of respondents indicated that the animations were well designed with content properly arranged to foster independent learning. On other hand (12) 11% were not sure, (12) 11% disagreed and no respondent strongly disagreed. The results are shown in Figure 1. 7 Figure 1: Perceptions of students on interface design and content arrangement in fostering independent learning Secondly, when asked about their perception on the usefulness of animations and simulations in making difficult concepts easier to understand on a 5 tier scale, the results showed that 67% (49 agreed and 23 strongly agreed) of respondents agree that animations and simulations made difficult concepts easier, (26) 24% were not sure, (8) 7% disagreed while (2) 2% strongly disagreed. The summary of results are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: Perception of students on animations and simulations in making difficulty concepts easier Thirdly when they were asked to mention specific examples of animations and simulations which made some of course concepts easier, respondents mentioned the following animated concepts: The concept of deadlock in operating systems In networking, animations and simulation help to understand how traffic travels from one device to another. In networking, understanding the flow of data from sender to the receiver by the OSI seven layers was made easier to understand through that simulation because it shows how data changes from top layer to the bottom layer. Other concepts mentioned include: E-R Diagram, Boyles law, B-+trees( insertion and deletion ) as shown in figure 5 8 Data encryption and decryption using DES algorithm, Data Structure (Recursion, concept of Towers of Hanoi), Applications of gates in digital circuits, Finally we requested their opinion on the overall usefulness (in terms of course mastery) of animations and simulations materials in learning science courses on a 5-tier scale. The results showed that 84% (38 agreed and 53 strongly agreed) of respondents indicated that animations and simulations are useful in science courses. On other hand, (12) 11% said they are somewhat useful, (5) 5% indicated they are a little useful while no respondent said they are not useful at all. The results are shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Usefulness of animations and simulations materials in learning science courses Figure 5: Snapshots on B+ tree Insertion Animation in Database implementation course 6. Discussion & Lessons Learned This study has shown that the process of developing animations and simulations improves the quality of course design. Lecturers strongly agreed that this process ensured that course goals, course content and methods of assessment were well planned and integrated in the courses, unlike before. However, it is essential that the pedagogical and instructional design principles be incorporated in the whole process of course development to realize the benefit and usefulness of the developed animations. CVL developed a course design template which was given to lecturers 9 when they were developing course blue prints. This template was developed in collaboration with instructional designers and experts from the School of Education (SoED) and addressed specific questions relating to educational technology. It is through this template that all pedagogical considerations were incorporated. The template incorporated important pedagogical aspects from Gagne’s Nine Levels of Learning [23], Bloom’s Taxonomy [24] of learning objectives and other related principles. We also examined the effect of animations and simulations in enabling students to master course content and making difficult concepts easier. The study has revealed that “animations can serve as effective multimedia tools to engage these students while facilitating and enhancing the student learning experience by explaining difficult concepts through visual means instead of the traditional way of heavy textual based presentation” [4]. They also enabled students to learn difficult concepts and master course contents. This conclusion comes from the fact that 67% of respondents indicated that animations and simulations in courses enabled them to grasp difficult concepts more easily. Other researchers also came to the same conclusion [10],[15], [26], [13], [11] on the potential benefits of animations and simulations in science courses. On other hand some students had different opinions, although 24% were undecided and only 9% indicated that animations were not useful and did not have positive effect in learning difficult concepts. The study also revealed that some lecturers were using the same animations and simulations to complement face to face teaching. This shows that animations and simulations are not only useful in online or independent learning but also enable lecturers to easily explain difficult concepts in face to face classrooms. 7. Conclusion and Future Work This study has shown that the use of animations and simulations assists students to better understand complex and difficult concepts in various computer courses. Although the project focused on computer science courses, the same benefits can be attained in any science course. In addition, this process enabled quality course materials to be made available to students, improved course design and ensured the availability of teaching resources even when some experienced staff member retires or leaves the university. The challenge remains of sustainability, especially how to ensure these courses are reviewed and updated regularly. Due to advancement in technology and availability of equipment, the possibilities for educational animations and simulations are endless. We recommend that future research in the development of animations should look at some available technologies to assist students with disabilities such as the Voice and auditory User interfaces. The current animations are mostly web based with some audio and video complementing the text course notes. 10 8. References [1] M. Steinke, T. Huk, and C. Floto, “Helping teachers develop computer animations for improving learning in science education. C. Crawford et al. (Eds.),” in Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference, 2003, pp. 3022-3025. [2] V. Stoffa and N. Slovakia, “Modelling and Simulation as a Recognizing Method in Education,” Educational Media International, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 51-58, 2004. [3] A. Woodcock, J. Burns, S. Mount, R. Newman, and E. Gaura, “Animating pervasive computing,” 23rd annual international conference on Design of communication: documenting & designing for pervasive information. ACM, Coventry, United Kingdom, 2005. [4] V. Aravinthan and J. Worden, “Animations as a tool for enhancing teaching and learning outcomes in Civil Engineering courses,” 2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), p. T4C-1-T4C-6, Oct. 2010. [5] J. S. Mtebe, H. Dachi, and C. Raphael, “Integrating ICT into teaching and learning at the University of Dar es Salaam,” Special Issue: Distance Education for Empowerment and Development in Africa, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 289-294, 2011. [6] UDSM, “Blackboard Courses Audit Report.” 2010. [7] J. Peeraer and P. V. Petegem, “Factors Influencing Integration of ICT in Higher Education in Vietnam,” vol. 84, no. 2005, 2000. [8] W. D. Henderson, “Animated models for teaching aspects of computer systems organization,” IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 247-256, 1994. [9] G. D. Blank, S. Roy, S. Sahasrabudhe, W. M. Pottenger, and G. D. Kessler, “Adapting multimedia for diverse student learning styles,” Computing Sciences in Colleges, vol. 18, no. 3, 2003. [10] B. J. Stith, “Use of Animation in Teaching Cell Biology,” Cell Biol Educ, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 181– 188, 2004. [11] B. M. English and S. B. Rainwater, “The effectiveness of animations in an undergraduate operating systems course,” Computing Sciences in Colleges, vol. 21, no. 5, 2006. [12] M. Zhang, “The Use of Computer Animation in Teaching Discrete Structures Course.” Computer Science Department , Winona State University, 2000. [13] M. A. Brisbourne, S. S. Chin, E. Melnyk, and D. A. Begg, “Using web-based animations to teach histology.,” Anat Rec, vol. 269, no. 1, pp. 11-19, 2002. [14] D. Falvo, “Animations and simulations for teaching and learning molecular chemistry.,” International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 68–77, 2008. 11 [15] M. Taylor, D. Pountneya, and I. Malabara, “Animation as an aid for the teaching of mathematical concepts,” Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 249-261, 2007. [16] J. G. Ruiz, D. a Cook, and A. J. Levinson, “Computer animations in medical education: a critical literature review.,” Medical education, vol. 43, no. 9, pp. 838-46, Sep. 2009. [17] A. Paivio, “Dual coding theory: retrospect and current status,” Can. J. Psychol, vol. 45, pp. 255– 287, 1991. [18] H. Szczerbick, M. Syrjakow, and J. Berdu, “Interactive Web-Based Animations for Teaching and Learning,” in 32nd conference on Winter simulation, 2000. [19] R. Lanzilotti, C. Ardito, M. F. Costabile, D. Informatica, U. Bari, and A. D. Angeli, “eLSE Methodology : a Systematic Approach to the e-Learning Systems Evaluation,” Learning, vol. 9, pp. 42-53, 2006. [20] R. N. B. D. Koning and H. K. Tabbers, “Attention Cueing as a Means to Enhance Learning from an Animation,” vol. 746, pp. 731-746, 2007. [21] M. A. Rentróia-bonito, T. Guerreiro, A. Martins, V. Fernandes, and J. Jorge, “Evaluating Learning Support Systems Usability An Empirical Approach,” no. September, pp. 7-8, 2006. [22] P. Zaharias, K. Vassilopoulou, and A. Poulymenakou, “Designing On-Line Learning Courses: Implications for Usability,” 2002. [23] R. M. Gagné, The conditions of learning and theory of instruction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston., 1985. [24] B. S. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Book 1: Cognitive Domain. 1956. [25] R. E. Mayer and P. Chandler, “When learning is just a click away: does simple user interaction foster deeper understanding of multimedia messages?,” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 93, pp. 390-397, 2001. [26] M. Taylor, S. Duffy, and G. Hughes, “The use of animation in higher education teaching to support students with dyslexia,” Education + Training, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 25-35, 2007. 9. Appendices Appendix 1: Proposed Course Design Quality Metrics 12 A:GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION CH 240 IS 263 IS 273 Course Title Physical Chemistry for Engineering Students Introduction to Database Unix Systems Database Administration Systems in Linux Implementation Operating System IT Security Course Code YES YES YES YES YES Lecturer(s) Introduction YES YES YES YES YES Course Overview YES YES YES YES YES Course Outcomes/Objectives YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES Course assessment and YES Grading options YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES Clearly stated outcomes course YES YES YES YES YES Objectives stated YES YES YES YES Pre-requisites Course Calendar IS 353 IS 364 B: INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS Module Xi: are 13 clearly and written from the students’ perspective. The instructional YES materials contribute to the achievement of the stated module/unit learning objectives. YES Content pitched at level matching course outcomes YES YES YES YES YES YES Animations and YES simulations present a variety of perspectives on the course content. YES YES YES YES There are learning YES activities/practical exercises that encourage reflection YES YES NO NO NO YES YES YES The learning activities promote the achievement of the stated learning objectives. Further readings are YES provided and promote the achievement of the stated learning objectives. 14