A framework to enhance the mobile user experience in an Mlearning interaction
- Authors: Botha, Adele
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Educational technology , Information technology , Educational innovations , Teaching -- Aids and devices
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:9753 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008163 , Educational technology , Information technology , Educational innovations , Teaching -- Aids and devices
- Description: The new millennium is witness to a telecommunications world that is vastly different from even the recent past with developments in the mobile sector having dramatically changed the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape. Mobile cellular technology has proliferated faster than any previous technology and is now the most ubiquitous technology in the world. The focus of this thesis is the development of a framework to enhance the Mobile User Experience in an Mlearning interaction. This research is contextualised by the goal-oriented use of mobile cellular technologies in a formal educational environment. As such the study, although residing in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), acknowledges issues arising in the Education Domain as a specific field of application. The aim of the research was to investigate the components of a framework to enhance the Mobile User Experience in an Mlearning interaction. The development of the framework was facilitated by the exploration of: the Mobile User Experience factors and their impact, on the Mobile User Experience of learners participating in a goal-oriented Mlearning interaction. These critical factors were documented in terms of the Mobile User Experience components, and the relationships of these components to each other as well as the Mobile User Experience of an Mlearning interaction. The research, grounded in a phenomenological research philosophy, applied an inductive reasoning approach, and was operationalised through a single case study methodology. A qualitative research strategy was considered appropriate, as the phenomenon of User Experience is linked to the hedonistic attributes of the interaction. This study was conducted in four phases with focus on three embedded units of analysis. The three units of analysis were identified as: The learner as end user in an Mlearning interaction; The educator as designer of the Mlearning interaction; and The Mlearning interaction. The research revealed that the Mobile User Experience of an Mlearning interaction is affected by the mobile user, mobile use, mobile device, mobile business practices, mobile networks, mobile interaction and mobile context. Within the Mlearning interaction the significant components are the learners as mobile users, the enhance interactions, removal of barriers to the interaction, goal-oriented nature of the interaction and the ducational context. Identifying these components and their associated Mobile User Experience factors and impacts, present the main contribution of this thesis. In conclusion, the limitations of the study are documented and topics for future research are outlined.
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- Date Issued: 2011
An intervention for enhancing the mathematics teaching practices of grade four teachers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area
- Authors: Botha, Adele
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics , Mathematics -- Handbooks, manuals, etc , Mathematics teachers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:9499 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008176 , Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics , Mathematics -- Handbooks, manuals, etc , Mathematics teachers
- Description: Mathematics is regarded as a driving force in economies worldwide. The performance of South African learners in mathematics over the past decade has highlighted that problems are being experienced across all grades. This situation needs to be addressed with urgency. The South African Department of Education stated that quality learning must be the objective for all grades. The implementation of good teaching practices plays a crucial role in improving the quality of education and in guiding learners towards quality learning. To achieve quality mathematics teaching and learning it is imperative to determine what good mathematics teaching practices are. The identification of good mathematic teaching practices will provide a yard stick to measure the mathematics teaching competency of teachers. This study identifies a set of good mathematics teaching practice indicators and evidences applicable to teachers in the Intermediate phase as a first contribution. These indicators and evidences frame the second research contribution: an assessment instrument entitled “A Classroom Observation Tool for Observing Mathematics Teaching Practices in Primary Schools”. As a third research contribution a generic profile of a Grade four mathematics teacher has been built. This generic profile has been built through an analysis of data gathered by means of self-assessment questionnaires completed by the research sample, as well as through applying the observation tool. The value of the generic profile lies in the identification of shared strengths and shared improvement opportunities in the mathematics teaching practice of the sample and as such, it forms the basis of a theory on Grade four mathematics teaching practice. The fourth research contribution is the design and application of an intervention that addresses the shared improvement opportunities. The research study concludes by comparing pre-intervention classroom observation data with post-intervention classroom observation data and reporting on the impact of the intervention.
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- Date Issued: 2011