CS376 Autumn 2005
Project Proposal
I.
Deepak Kumar - deepakk@stanford.edu
David Tu - dtu05@stanford.edu
Research Goal – The goal of the research is to align the proper delivery of E-Learning
coursework with the learners’ learning needs. The emphasis is on the delivery
mechanism, part of the interface between the learner and the content.
Theory – Just as the alignment of the right content with the right learner for the right
goal is important, it is equally as important to have the right mechanism of delivery.
Hypothesis: When the learner and the content are the same, there will be statistical
differences in the learning performances if the delivery of the content is different.
II.
Interface – The interface of interest is the mechanism of delivery. The media of delivery
have been chosen to be computers and web-based applications, since those are the
platforms most E-Learning coursework are based on today.
Particularly, the different mechanisms of delivery are the following:
1. Linear Locked – Traditional model where the coursework is presented linearly
and the learner is forced to go through every page, including assessments.
2. Linear Unlocked – Same as 1 except that with a menu bar present, the learner may
go through the otherwise linear content in whichever sequence she wants.
3. Tree – Adaptive model where once a learner picks a particular interest and
therefore moves down to a particular node in the tree, the sequence of
presentation will be modified.
4. Reverse Learning – Exploratory model where the learner, instead of being pushed
content, will be looking for the content. For example, instead of saying a dog is
an animal, the learning can pull out “what is” from her tool set, click on the dog,
and be presented “is an animal”.
III.
Learner – For the purpose of this study, the learner of choice are graduate students, who
by anecdotal observations are interested in not the factual information, but in how
concepts are linked together. Additionally, the particular set of graduate students will
need to be less familiar with the subject, so that cognitive learning can be assessed more
properly. Lastly, we note that for robustness, it is imperative to test on other segments of
the population – but for this limited study, only limited user testing can be conducted.
IV.
Evaluation – Evaluation will be multi-faceted. Prior to testing, the user will fill out a
survey which asks them to self-evaluate what their learning goals are. This is to test the
hypothesis that graduate students are interested in conceptual understanding. Then,
testing occurs, which involves the user sitting down, without a facilitator, and going
through one of the E-Learning presentations. Lastly, post-evaluation will be conducted,
which will include 1) multiple choice assessment (for factual understanding), 2) shortanswer Q (for conceptual understanding), and 3) an interview on the product design and
self-assessment of the learning.