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Computer Assisted Assessment within a Virtual Learning EnvironmentG6DDIS MSc Dissertation
Author: Jonathan Marshall ID:1937840
The University of Nottingham
The School of Computer Science
& Information Technology
Computer Assisted Assessment within a Virtual
Learning Environment
G6DDIS MSc Dissertation
5th September 2004
Project supervisor: Elizabeth BrownAuthor: Jonathan Marshall
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Submitted September 2004, in partial fulfilment of
the conditions of the award of the degree M.Sc. in I.T.
Jonathan Marshall
School of Computer Science and Information Technology
University of Nottingham
I hereby declare that this dissertation is all my own work, except as indicated in the
text:
Signature ______________________
Date _____/_____/_____
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Abstract
A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an Information Technology tool to assist
traditional classroom based teaching and learning. VLEs are commercially available, but
the license to use these is becoming increasingly expensive, and would be costprohibitive to use on a small scale. This project has focused on developing a VLE to
assist teaching students studying computing courses within the Further Education sector.
The system is tailored specifically to meet the requirements of both the tutors and
students. Computer Assisted Learning has been integrated within the VLE to provide a
method for formatively assessing learning throughout the duration of the taught courses.
The results from the assessments are computed allowing timely feedback to be provided
in graphical and tabular format. Furthermore, two channels of communication have been
provided as a discussion forum and online form to improve interactions between the
tutors and students, and among students. The VLE also allows submission of assignments
via an uploading procedure to a data repository. Learning resources are also available for
students to download and print out. Usability testing has been conducted to measure
users satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness of the developed system. On the basis of
this study, practical implications of utilising a VLE within education were discussed, and
what constitutes an effective VLE was also suggested.
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Acknowledgement
My unreserved thanks to my supervisor for this project, Elizabeth Brown who has
stimulated my intellectual curiosity and inspired me to develop this work.
I am grateful for the financial support contributed towards my course fees provided by
my employer Broxtowe College of Further Education, and to my line manager Barbara
Mercer for the many alterations she made to my teaching timetable to accommodate
lecture times, without her help this MSc course would not have been possible.
I wish to thank my parents Margaret and Keith, and my parents in-law Yao-hsin and Yu-
Lan, without their help with my newborn child, Jasmine, this dissertation would not have
been possible; my gratitude towards all family members cannot be measured or
estimated. Their emotional support and love provided me with the strength to face all the
difficulties encountered during the last two years of study.
I cannot end my acknowledgement without mentioning my wife, Mei-I, who over the
years we have been together, has had a profound influence and unwavering confidence in
my abilities, without her support I would have never completed this qualification. I thank
her for her tolerance and patience for the many hours that I have spent studying; I strive
to grow and taste a fraction of her academic success; here words are but empty symbols
of inexpressible feeling.
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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 8
WHAT IS A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (VLE)?............................................................................ 9What constitutes a VLE?..................................................................................................................... 10What does a VLE do?.......................................................................................................................... 11
History ................................................................................................................................................ 13 Comparison to the traditional classroom ........................................................................................... 14Social Environment............................................................................................................................. 14Social Interaction................................................................................................................................ 15Online Learning.................................................................................................................................. 15
ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 16Multiple choice questions.................................................................................................................... 18
MOTIVATION FOR THIS STUDY .................................................................................................................. 20Rationale............................................................................................................................................. 21 What is the problem that is being solved; ........................................................................................... 26Student motivation .............................................................................................................................. 28
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................. 29
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE MODELS ......................................................................................... 30Model Comparison.............................................................................................................................. 30
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 33Student Profile .................................................................................................................................... 33Student requirements .......................................................................................................................... 35System administrator requirements..................................................................................................... 36Tutor requirements.............................................................................................................................. 37System requirements ........................................................................................................................... 38
SYSTEM SPECIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 40DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS ........................................................................................................................... 41
Context Data Flow Diagram VLE (Figure 3) .................................................................................. 43Level 1 DFD (Figure 4) ................................................................................................................... 44 Login/Logout Level 2 (Child Diagram) DFD (Figure 5) ................................................................. 45
Add/Read Message - Level 2 DFD (Figure 6) .................................................................................... 45 Add/Read Message - Level 2 DFD (Figure 6) .................................................................................... 46Create/Take Assessments Level 2 DFD (Figure 7) .......................................................................... 46Create/Take Assessments Level 2 DFD (Figure 7) .......................................................................... 47Generate Results Level 2 DFD (Figure 8) ....................................................................................... 48View Learning Materials Level 2 DFD (Figure 9) .......................................................................... 48View Learning Materials Level 2 DFD (Figure 9) .......................................................................... 49Upload Assignment Level 2 DFD (Figure 10) ................................................................................. 50
Input/Edit Personal Details Level 2 DFD (Figure 11) .................................................................... 50Input/Edit Personal Details Level 2 DFD (Figure 11) .................................................................... 51
ENTITY RELATIONSHIP MODELLING...................................................................................................... 52PLANNING ................................................................................................................................................ 54SOLUTION OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 54
Interface Design.................................................................................................................................. 54 Screen design layout ........................................................................................................................... 57System Flowchart................................................................................................................................ 60
Prototype............................................................................................................................................. 65 Database design.................................................................................................................................. 65
IMPLEMENTATION................................................................................................................................ 69
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOFTWARE....................................................................................................... 71Programming Languages.................................................................................................................... 72 Programming...................................................................................................................................... 77
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VLE Files ............................................................................................................................................ 79Problems encountered ........................................................................................................................ 81
EVALUATION........................................................................................................................................... 81
TESTING THE VLE WITH DIFFERENT AND ENVIRONMENTS ....................................................................... 84Usability testing. ................................................................................................................................. 85
STATISTICAL SURVEYS OF USER EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRES
.............................................................. 90Statistical analyses.............................................................................................................................. 91IMPROVEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 92
DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................................. 94
THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................................... 94LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 95HOW DOES THIS VLE COMPARE TO EXISTING SYSTEMS?.......................................................................... 95FUTURE DIRECTION .................................................................................................................................. 96
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................... 97
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................... 98
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 103
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 105
APPENDIX 1 - SCHEME OF WORK........................................................................................................... 105APPENDIX 2 SCREEN DESIGN .............................................................................................................. 106APPENDIX 3 - VLE PROGRAM LISTINGS ................................................................................................ 116
Styles/styles.css (Cascading Style Sheet source code) ...................................................................... 116index.php (source code) .................................................................................................................... 117topheader.php (source code)............................................................................................................. 118leftnav.php (source code).................................................................................................................. 120
footer.php (source code) ................................................................................................................... 125 template.php (source code) ............................................................................................................... 126
subjectselection.php (source code) ................................................................................................... 126Assessment/assessmentChoice.php (source code)............................................................................. 127
Assessment/assessment.php (source code)........................................................................................ 128 dbConnect.php (source code) ........................................................................................................... 132Login/login.php (source code) .......................................................................................................... 132 Login/logoff.php (source code) ......................................................................................................... 132 LearningResources/SoW.php ............................................................................................................ 133 ContactForm/ContactForm.php (source Code)................................................................................ 134StudentDetails/personalDetails.php (source code)........................................................................... 137StudentDetails/accountFunctions.php .............................................................................................. 140StudentDetails/createAccount.php.................................................................................................... 141StudentDetails/results.php ................................................................................................................ 143StudentDetails/resultGraph.php ....................................................................................................... 144StudentDetails/submitWork.php........................................................................................................ 145StudentDetails/validateRTF.php....................................................................................................... 147
AboutMe/timetable.php..................................................................................................................... 149 AboutMe/personalProfile.php........................................................................................................... 151 AboutMe/cv.php................................................................................................................................ 152
APPENDIX 4 - TEST DATA ...................................................................................................................... 155APPENDIX 5 - USABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................ 157
Part 1 Functionality.......................................................................................................................... 157Part 2 User Input .............................................................................................................................. 157Part 3 System Output ........................................................................................................................ 157Part 4 User Guidance and Help ....................................................................................................... 158 Part 5 Consistency............................................................................................................................ 158
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Part 6 Flexibility............................................................................................................................... 159 Part 7 Error Correction/Handling and Robustness.......................................................................... 159 Part 8 Overall System Usability........................................................................................................ 160
APPENDIX 6 - HISTOGRAM OF USABILITY QUESTIONS ............................................................................ 161
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Introduction
The use of Information Technology (I.T.) within educational environments has
significantly increased since the arrival of the personal computer. I.T. has been used to
enhance teaching and learning within the classroom environment. It has been the rapid
expansion in the use of the Internet that has led to a new era in collaborative and
interactive learning that is dynamic and not restrained by geographical location (Ma,
Vogel, and Wagner, 2000). I.T. has affected all aspects of education not just teaching and
learning. Patalong (2003) identifies that recently there has been major transformations
throughout most stages of education, moving from talk and chalk tradition classroom
teaching to student centred, autonomous learning. There has been a large increase in the
student population which has also more diverse, and the significant reduction in the cost
of computing technology has seen a huge increase in the use of IT.
This project investigates how a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) may improve
teaching and learning, and identifies which aspects are most beneficial to students.
Furthermore, a VLE will be developed to be employed as a learning aid for students
within the Further Education environment. The Internet will provide a platform to deliver
the VLE as it has many benefits over stand-alone applications that are discussed later infurther detail. The main consideration being that the Internet is a cost effective
distribution method, but pedagogically, it is important that there is dynamic interaction
between the real and virtual learning environments (VLE) for quality student learning to
occur.
The term Online delivery refers to distributing learning materials over the Internet and
provides the opportunity to increase both the quantity and quality of interaction between
tutor and student and among students, and improve access to education and training. But
a critical success factor is the pragmatic access to I.T. such as equal access to computers
and the Internet for all tutors and students. Lo Choi Yuet Ngor (2001) states that the
Internet is widely available in educational establishments around the world offering new
and diverse possibilities for delivery and communications,and provides learners with a
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more flexible approach to learningat times and places to suit their lifestyle. Online
delivery also helps to reduce the cost and improve the cost-effectiveness of education. It
also empowers learners to improve their knowledge and to learn more quickly, by
accelerating the adoption of new information and new programs (ibid.).
For the student, an online learning environment is a convenient way of accessing a range
of material related with a course of study. Since the vast majority of all of the
asynchronous components of a typical course of study the study materials, the
administrative information and the exchanges between academic staff and students are
today electronic, an online VLE offers no more than a logical modular structure into
which these components can be fitted (Maccoll, 2001).
What is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)?
Since the rapid growth of the Internet in the early 1990s, many new software tools and
products have been developed to take advantage of its numerous benefits. Since the mid-
1990s the education community has seen the emergence of software products categorised
as VLEs that aim to support teaching and learning activities and these have harnessed
the potential of the Internet for their delivery (Virtual Learning Environments, n.d.).
A VLE is a teaching and learning tool designed to enhance the learning experience by the
inclusion of computers and the Internet in the learning process. To access the VLE users
are required to register their personal details and are assigned a student ID. The tutor has
additional user rights to create, upload and modify curriculum content and track student
performance.
The main components many commercial VLE software packages include curriculum
mapping which involves dividing the curriculum into manageable sections that can be
delivered and assessed, also they include monitoring students performance, online
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support, and electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussion forums, and Internet
links to outside curriculum resources).
What constitutes a VLE?
A textbook cannot be considered a learning environment. But, reading a book, attending a
lecture, discussing thoughts with other students, writing an assignment for the tutor, do
constitute a learning environment. Similarly, a set of static Web pages does not constitute
a VLE unless there is social interaction about or around the information provided. Social
interaction may be described as synchronous (e.g. discussion forums, chat rooms etc.)
versus asynchronous (e.g. electronic mail, bulletin boards) communication, between one-
to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many, and can use several mediums; text-based, audio
and video, and also includes indirect communication such as sharing files, although it canbe difficult to maintain data integrity when providing simultaneous write access to a file
(Dillenbourg, 2000).
Online interactions between students and tutors form the basis of an effective VLE and
offer the user a variety of communication and information presentation, and assessment
tools through the convenience of a conventional Web browser interface. Implementation
requires the use of a programming language that supports the generation of dynamic Web
pages from a server-side database that stores information and maintains user state and be
accessed via a standard Web server. Many educational institutions would benefit from the
advantages offered by a VLE provided over the network to support their teaching and
learning activities.Creating online resources that are motivating, interesting, intuitive and
educationally sound requires considerable expertise, and is time consuming and therefore
costly. Effective VLEs should allow tutors to create content-rich resources rapidly and
without the need to learn many new technical skills.A typical Web-based VLE should
provide an integrated set of information management tools, which facilitates easy upload
of learning materials and offer a consistent interface which may be customised by the
user to suit their requirements.
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Dillenbourg (2000) suggest that the principal components of a VLE should allow the
following features:
Mapping of the syllabus into convenient elements that can be easily assessed and
recorded;
Monitoring of student activity and accomplishment against the elements of the
syllabus;
Support of online learning, including access to learning resources, assessment and
guidance;
Online support from the tutor and peer group using asynchronous or synchronous
communication methods;
Other general communications, including email, discussion forums, bulletin
boards and chat rooms;
Links to other information systems, both internally and externally on the Internet.
What does a VLE do?
The principle functions that a successful VLE needs to provide are controlled access to
learning materials that have been mapped to the subject specification that may be
separately assessed and recorded. Student activity and achievement requires tracking
against the subject to direct, guide and monitor learner progress. Immediate guidance oflearning and assessment procedures to provide a mode of communication between the
learner, the tutor and other learning support specialists thus providing direct support and
feedback for learners, as well as peer-group communications- this helps to build a sense
of group identity and community of interest. Also, a VLE would benefit from having
links to administrative systems, thus reducing the change of data being redundant by
unnecessary duplication. The features of a good VLE is shown in Table 1.
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Features Examples
Communication between tutors and
students
E-mail, discussion boards and virtual
chat facilities which support various
types of communication: synchronous
and asynchronous, one-to-one, one-
to-many and many-to-many.
Self-assessment and summative
assessment
multiple-choice assessment with
automated marking and immediate
feedback
Delivery of learning resources and
materials
Through the provision of learning and
teaching materials, images and video
clips, links to other Web resources,
online discussion and assessment
activities.
Shared work group areas Allows designated groups of students
to upload and share files as well as
communicate with each other.
Support for students Could take the form ofcommunication with tutors or other
students, provision of supporting
materials such as course information
and Frequently Asked Questions.
Student tools Individual student Web pages, drop
boxes for the upload of course-work,
electronic diaries and calendars.
Management and tracking of
students
Usernames and passwords to ensure
that only registered students can
access the course; analysis of
assessment undertaken by students or
their use of materials within the VLE.
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Consistent and customisable look
and feel
A standard user interface that is easy
for students to understand and use.
Courses can be individualised with
colours, graphics and logos but the
essential mode of use remains
constant.
Navigation structure Structured delivery of information
supported by a standard navigation
toolbar. Most VLE software assumes
that students will work their way
through linear sequences of
instructional material. Others are
more flexible and will accommodate
alternative information structures,
e.g. multi-path case studies.
Table 1 Features of an effective VLE, resource from Virtual Learning
Environments (n.d.)
History
Dillenbourg (2000) mentions that the history of educational technology illustrates that
new technology (television, computers, hypertexts, multimedia, Internet, and virtual
reality) raise a wave of naive expectations regarding to the intrinsic effects of these
technologies. Still every medium has some specificity, but this specificity can only
expressed in terms of potential effects. A medium affords specific types of interactions:
computers enable individualised instruction but not all software is individualised,
computers are able to analyse the learner behaviour, to manipulate interactive models, but
most programmes do not perform this function.
As Maccoll (2001) stated that VLEs began to appear in the second half of the 1990s.
They were initially client software and not delivered via the Web. As the software needs
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to reach a wider audience the Web has gradually become the dominant delivery platform
due to the fact that it can be served and viewed on any platform connected to the Internet.
As the uptake in VLE has increased, it is proving less difficult providing networked
personal computers with Web browsers than it is providing the same computers with
specialised client software. However, one of the main advantages in developing courses
on the Web is the ability to hyperlink resources stored locally on an Intranet or externally
on the Internet.
Comparison to the traditional classroom
It is important to ask the question of whether computer-based learning is more effective
than learning in a conventional classroom. This question is deemed irrelevant for the vast
majority of those, who view technologies as a tool to assist the tutor and not as substitute(Dillenbourg, 2000).When comparing computer-based learning and the conventional
teaching method, we do not measure the inherent effectiveness of humans against
computers, but the quality of two learning methods as implemented by two techniques.
The conventional physical learning environment generally integrates courses, resources
such as libraries, laboratories, formal communication (question and answers, notice
boards) and informal communication, an administration (largely paper based) process etc,
where similarly, a VLE integrates a variety of tools supporting similar functions to those
that exist in the physical environment: information, communication, collaboration,
learning and management.
Social Environment
Hiltz, Coppola, Rotter and Turoff (2000) state that the instructional aspect of a VLE
refers to providing study materials and learning resources via the Internet that is relevant
to the pedagogical theories from educational research. Whereas, the interactive aspect of
a VLE refers to the opportunity for the students to be actively involved with online
collaborative (group) learning e.g. case studies, group discussions using forums, instant
messages, or chat rooms. In addition, students may use e-mail for one-to-one
communications between tutors and students, for seeking advice, clarifications, and
asking individual questions. The interactive aspect is pertinent to group interaction/social
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theories from social psychology and sociology. Understanding students perceptions and
skills within these two aspects is considered essential in assessing students readiness
toward online courses.
Social Interaction
Dillenbourg (2000) identifies the first obvious opportunity of virtual learning
environments is that they support social interaction, in many ways: synchronous versus
asynchronous, text-based versus audio or video, one-to-one versus one-to-many. Again,
these affordances define potential effects, not actual ones. For instance, we often
encounter tutors who believe that, since their students use e-mail, they will start to ask
frequent and intelligent questions. However, this is rarely the case as most email
conversation is about the management of learning (finding resources, negotiatingdeadlines, asking for an appointments etc.). The same applies to educational forums, in
which it is very difficult to sustain the flow of messages. The problem is not due to the
technology, but to the educational context. Students will not start communicating with the
tutor for the sake of communication.
Online Learning
It is relatively easy for students to submit assignments electronically and sit tests or
assessments online; this has led to many educational institutions exploiting the positive
aspects of computing technology to provide their courses online to relieve tutors from the
time related aspects of marking.
Initial computer-based learning programs tended to be electronic books that did not meet
the original claims of interaction or user-centred learning. Technology is now
commonplace which allows authors to design and produce teaching materials which
offers the learner a choice of learning methods and routes, implementing a range of
audio, visual, and text materials, and opportunities to interact meaningfully with the
content, unfortunately the resulting course materials are often prohibitively time
consuming to prepare, and require considerable educational design expertise.Sharing
computer-based teaching material within groups is difficult to achieve, although the
Internet, and CD-ROMs overcome interoperability problems in sharing computer-based
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data, but it is the quality of teaching material is a the major concern. Students that are
familiar with using online learning tend to rely heavily on the Internet for their research,
rather than using books, journal articles, encyclopaedias etc., this can have an adverse
affect on the final quality of their work as materials published on the Internet are not
regulated for quality.
On-line courses using a resource-based model have an underlying aim of learning how to
learn; which encourage knowledge management skills such as selecting and searching for
information which helps the learners discover how and where to find answers and
understand solutions, and to transform and present ideas. The Internet provides both the
cause and an ideal means for doing this.
Therefore, contemporary approaches to teaching and learning are dominated by the
importance of interactivity in the learning process, the requirement for knowledge
management skills and the capacity for team working, and the trend towards resource-
based rather than packaged learning.
Assessment
Each subject area will have a self assessment associated with it, which will enable the
students to monitor their learning progress and provide an opportunity for formative
feedback relating to the areas of knowledge that require further work (Patalong, 2003). At
the end of each assessment, hyperlinks to Web pages will be provided to those questions
that were answered incorrectly to promote students knowledge in the area of difficulty.
Additionally, suggestions on how to search for the particular subject area will be made
available for students who were still unsure, and as a final stage, answers to the
incorrectly answered questions will be provided at the end of the assessment with
statistical feedback, thus allowing students to monitor their progress. An opportunity for
reassessment will be provided for the formative assessments, but this will be provided
before the answers are given to encourage the students to research the answers by
themselves. Assessment will be online, multiple-choice questions, which will be
automatically marked and graded by the VLE. It is not intended that these assessments
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will replace face-to-face teaching; the objective is for them to supplement teaching and
provide the students opportunity to consolidate the learning that has taken place within
the conventional classroom.
Black and William (1998) use the term Assessment as referring to the group of
activities undertaken by both tutors and students in assessing themselves, providing both
grades and feedback to modify teaching. They consider assessment to be Formative
when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet the students needs. It is
generally accepted that summative assessment is a tool with the primary objective of
grading the student.
Recently, Farrell and Leung (2004) suggests that assessment plays a critical role in the
educational process as both a means of grading and supplying valuable feedback to the
student. The embracing of technology as an integral part of the delivery of education has
increased the availability of effective assessment tools to be utilised by the student,
encouraging self-assessment at all stages of the learning experience. It is accepted
wisdom that testing for the purpose of feedback should be a routine part of the ongoing
classroom activity rather than an interruption. Traditionally both formative and
summative methods of assessment have been reliant on the tutor to supply the feedback.
With the ever-increasing demand on the tutors time unintentional delays in supplying
feedback to the student can occur to the disadvantage of both the student and the tutor. To
maximise the effect and value of the feedback it must be instantaneous, which is an
inherent characteristic of online assessment tools due to the nature of the encompassing
technology. The formative assessment feedback cycle should occur early in the learning
experience and often for the duration of the subject.
Moreover, Sclater and Howie (2003) categorise assessment into three types
1. Credit weighted (summative) assessment which may be either formal
examinations or continuous assessment;
2. Self (formative) assessment which may be authenticated self-assessment or
anonymous self-assessment;
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3. Diagnostic assessment; enabling a student and/or tutor to evaluate the students
knowledge by pre-testing before the course is commenced or post-testing in order
to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning.
Therefore, the system developed in this study will use an innovative approach to a Web
based self-assessment tool based on the traditional multiple choice questions format. The
generated students score is designed to reflect their understanding of the reviewed topic.
Additionally, the aforementioned three types of assessment will be integrated into the
system.
Multiple choice questions
Farrell and Leung (2004) argue that multiple choice questions are extensively employed
in education for both a formative and summative assessment. The acceptance and use ofmultiple choice questions as an assessment tool can be attributed to their ability to assess
broad fields of learning in a compact system whilst being quick to assess and provides
reasonable feedback to the students with minimal associated costs. Computer Assisted
Assessment (CAA) is most commonly associated with multiple-choice questions, due to
the fact that it is relatively easy to adopt the multiple choice questions format to the
digital environment, and also having the appeal of being able to produce fully integrated,
automated tests.
On completion of the multiple choice questions test the resulting score with the identified
correct answers is instantaneously provided as feedback. The incorrect answers are also
identified with a brief explanation. It is also possible to guide the student to the
appropriate source for further study. This method is effective but is dependent on the
student answering the questions honestly, without guessing. The resulting data will be
recorded directly to a database. It is advantageous to collect the data using this method as
the technology is ideal for collecting and analysing raw data.
Marking open-ended questions
Computers can easily assess and grade closed type questions; the responses being closed
and therefore restricted to a finite answer limiting the possible responses. Open-ended
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However, Bull and Danson (2004) suggest that there is a certain amount of scepticism
about the ability of multiple-choice questions to test anything more than fundamental
understanding, and that multiple choice questions assess declarative knowledge, usually
by the least demanding process of recognition.
As a system that assesses open-ended questions would be beyond the scope of this project
it was decided that a system that allows assessment by multiple choice questions would
be more suitable. Other functionality could be provided to allow the collection of
assessments that contain open-ended questions; this could be implemented by allowing
students to upload assignments to a data store.
Motivation for this studyThe reason behind selecting a project of this nature is to assist with my present
employment. I currently work as an I.T. Lecturer within Further Education and for
several years used HTML to create static Web pages to deliver online materials to the
students. The initial motivation for using the Internet to distribute resources is that many
of the students do not keep (or fail to file) printed materials from lessons. Organising the
lesson content allows the students to access all materials used throughout the duration of
the course, and reduces the need for printing duplicate materials. I have found this
method successful and wanted to further develop the use of the Internet to assist teaching
and learning.
Futhermore, my teaching is very focused towards summative assessment methods with
less regard to formative assessment. Therefore, utilising a VLE that incorporates online
assessment enables the students to undertake more formative assessments, and thus
provide both parties with valuable feedback. The feedback would enable the content of
the course to be adapted to suit the needs of the students, and provide a predictive
indication of future achievement.
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Rationale
The motivation to employ Information and Learning Technologies (ILT) is not to cover
more material within the duration of the course, but to engage students with significant
intellectually learning resources to assist them in achieving higher levels of learning, and
thus enhanced results.
As McCray (2000) mentioned the potential of ILT as an effective alternative medium by
which to carry out some of the activities undertaken in the conventional classroom
setting, especially content delivery. Some of the activities can be successfully transferred
outside the physical classroom releasing valuable class time that may be reallocated to
more beneficial learning activities to improve the overall learning outcomes.
Benefits
Using a VLE to assist teaching within Further Education would provide many tangible
benefits to both the students and tutor.Some of the reported benefits of the use of ILT
within teaching and learning include improved cognitive learning processes and enhanced
educational outcomes.
Winn (2002) found that research into the educational effectiveness of VLEs shows that,under the right environment, it can have a positive impact on students of varying ages,
studying a wide variety of subjects. The learning activities within a VLE are important
components of the course and they promote learning and move students towards the
programme objectives.
Reported benefits (Inglis, 1999) to Students of using a VLE:
Remote access to learning materials;
Allow electronic submission of work, reducing the need for paper wastage;
Real-time communications allowing peer support and additional tutor support;
Discussion forum provides a reference for students who may be encountering
similar problems;
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Can monitor performance from both the online testing and summative results
posted by tutor;
Timesavings - Reduced search time, less travel time to fetch or deliver materials.
Improving access to education and training Internet provides access (anytime
and any place) to information that might have been mislaid;
Scheduling flexibility - Allows organisation of own time and inclinations with
respect to educational interaction;
Improved communication - Increased access to tutors and fellow students outside
of the classroom;
More ways to contribute and achieve better grades - Improved opportunities to
contribute knowledge to the benefit of the group which is not limited to in-class
discussion;
Anonymity - Ability to comment anonymously without the scrutiny of direct face-
to-face communication.
Reported benefits for Tutors and educational establishments:
Improving the quality of teaching, learning and services - online delivery allows
the increase of both the quantity and quality of interaction between tutor and
student and among students;
Long term time savings - Reduced time to compile materials due to a higher level
of reusability and sharing of learning materials;
Better teaching quality a more structured approach to classroom delivery has a
direct impact on the quality of teaching;
Improved student performance based on a greater personal choice; which also
leads to better teaching evaluations;
Scheduling flexibility - The opportunity to interact and help engage students
without the rigidity imposed by conventional class scheduling; Better student response - Students perceive a higher teaching quality;
Reducing the (long-term) costs of education;
Improving the cost-effectiveness of education;
Empowering learners to know more and learn faster.
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Benefits to tutor(s):
Allow easy distribution of materials;
Provides a simple method to formatively test;
Improved motivation as students performance can be monitored.
A VLE is used to enhance (rather than replace) conventional teaching, so the students
will therefore receive more input than they did when they only had a traditional
information skills session. Patalong (2003) suggests that by imposing exam conditions for
the Computer Assisted Assessment (CAA), academic staff indicated to students that the
ability to retrieve, evaluate and provide a considered answer is a serious exercise.
More than this, Dillenbourg (2000) states that as the students can easily retrieve more
information from a larger variety of information sources via the Internet, although this
does not guarantee effectiveness of learning.This affordance differentiates Web-based
environments from previous systems. The effectiveness depends upon the way the
designer take advantage of this opportunity, which raises two questions for the designer
of VLE content:
1. How to address the problems concerning quality control and difficulty to findinformation; either to pre-select information by gathering the information
considered as relevant, or to provide access to the Web but to demonstrate how to
search for information and be critical with selection;
2. What role does the designer allocate to information access in the learning
process? There is a risk that designers confuse setting up a learning environment
and providing access to information. The risk of simple knowledge transmission
is quite high if one looks at University Web sites, but it is not present at primary
school level.
CAA allows automation of the marking process and more instantaneous results; marks
(statistics and/or graphically) being automatically displayed to students immediately upon
completing the assessment (Jacobsen & Kremer, 2000).
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Disadvantages
Patalong (2003) highlights the concerns about academic honesty; online assessment
should only count for a small portion of the overall course grade. Unless direct measures
are implemented to prevent communication between students, online assessment is bettersuited to formative assessment that does not contribute to the final course grade.
Summative assessment needs to have more rigorous control measures to eliminate people
from seeking assistance, Zhang (2002) mentions about mixing the questions up
randomly, to prevent students communicating electronically by referring to question
numbers or having the same questions as those on their neighbours screens. The
assessment can be password protected so that it could not be accessed beforehand. On
arrival to the assessment room students can present some form of identity and complete
attendance forms, once these have been complete and are ready to begin the test, the
password was may be released. Soon as everyone has begun the test, the password for the
test can be changed, to prevent anyone trying to text message via mobile phone the first
password to friends for assistance. Also, students should be prevented from leaving the
room until the password had been changed.
There is the problem of combining online assessment with a discussion forum, the
students undertaking the assessment could use the discussion forum to distribute the
answers. Methods to combat this problem would be either to prevent access to the
discussion forum whilst undertaking the assessment, which does not prevent the students
from using other external discussion forums, or to randomise the order of the questions.
The second method is preferred providing that the students are not aware of this measure,
as it provides a minor barrier that is easy to implement. But this is the main reason for not
using a system of this nature for important summative assessments.
Lee (2002) states one of the chief advantages of using Web-based teaching is that it
provides real-time information, and many processes of communication and collaboration
between students and tutors are increasingly computer-based. From the students
viewpoint, perhaps the most significant and detrimental factors to the success of a VLEs
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are stress, association with the use of technology, and dissatisfaction towards the
technology itself. It is suggested that the success of any VLE depends on the level of
computing skills and attitudes of students. Students with anxiety towards new
technologies or are less prepared for computer use are most likely to experience
difficulties in a VLE.
As a result, Brace-Govan (2003) attempts to look at how it is possible for the tutor to
monitor and gauge educational activity within discussion forums. It was found that it is
difficult to monitor students communications in a text-based discussion forum,
especially if an online discussion is successful and has significant contributions.Rovai
(2000, p. 290 in Brace-Govan) argue, online instructors must deliberately structure
interactions to overcome the potential lack of social presence and noted how critical
timing is in this.
In addition, Zhaos (2003) empirical studies show that there are a few common problems
that online students have encountered with VLEs, which include:
Technical problems, including limitations with bandwidth, problems with browser
software, etc.;
Inaccessible instructors- it is not always possible to coincide online activities; Lack of relevant and/or comprehensive online course materials;
Reduced intimacy associated with face-to-face traditional delivery methods in
classrooms;
The feedback received was delayed;
Reduced interactivity and interaction with the tutor;
Tutors inability to monitor prompts from students;
Course contents and assessments remains unchanged to suit the different learning
style;
Online students needs are different;
Undertaking a generic approach without considering appropriate learning design
in the application of information technologies.
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Dillenbourg (2000) mentions that the Internet is growing exponentially and it provides
tutors and students with unlimited access to vast quantities of information. This offers
many advantages but also some negative issues that often go unconsidered. The quality of
information is unchecked; there is often no validity assessment to determine the accuracy
of the published information. Theremay also be an overflow of information making it
difficult to locate relevant information. Unless a specific Internet filter is used, students
may encounter pages that contradict the taught ethical and moral values. The information
on the Internet is unstructured, there is a distinct lack of meta-information (e.g. the
author, if the source is reliable, the period the information remains valid, whether this
version is the latest etc.), and the Internet has become a large unorganised file repository.
The semantic Web movement has evolved to combat many of the weaknesses of the
Internet and to provide an inherit structure to its content.
The problem that needs to be addressed
This project needs to include several features that are apparent in many commercially
available VLEs: A detailed VLE comparison has been extensively examined by Eduserv
chest (2003). The features need to allow communication between all users of the system,
asynchronous communication implemented as email, and synchronous communication
implemented as a discussion forum. It is preferable to provide a form to enable users to
email the tutor, although this does not allow a copy of the email to be saved as
conventional email systems (i.e. the sent items folder), it does have the benefit of
providing instant communication (rather than having to open their own personal Web-
based email account) which would encourage students to ask more questions. A copy of
the message would be appended to the reply, which minimises this drawback. The
mailto html command was discarded due to the fact that not all users have an
operational default mail application.
Learning materials also should be distributed as Web pages that can be viewed, saved to
the local hard disks or printed out. As the materials are displayed as HTML, Cascading
Style Sheets will be utilised to control the dimensions of the displayed output, this also
minimises the effort required to change the style of the site. Creating hyperlinks to word-
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processed documents or even Adobes Portable Document Format (pdf) is uncomplicated
but usually results in longer download times and increased network traffic, which may
result in unacceptable waiting times if students are accessing the materials
simultaneously. Learning materials have previously been organised according to an
outline scheme of the course; this is displayed as a table showing the week number,
theoretical content of the lesson, practical tasks including assessments, and downloadable
resources (Appendix 1).
In order to monitor students progress informal formative assessment will be provided,
these are undertaken whilst logged into their account allowing results to be computed and
immediate feedback provided. The results will be retained for progress monitoring, and
be displayed both graphically and in tabular form. Jacobsen and Kremer (2000) state that
a VLE needs to provide useful statistical and graphical summaries of individual
assessments, current course grades and group results. This information is useful for tutors
in analysing student learning and to gauge the effectiveness of individual assessment
questions.The online assessment will be composed of closed questions in the form of
multiple-choice questions. If open question answers are required then the students can
download a Rich Text File from the Learning Resources area, complete the questions and
then submit the work by uploading the document from the local machine to a data store in
the VLE.
As the VLE will contain personal details about the users a certain level of access security
is required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. A secure login with a username
and password text field (the characters being replaced by a symbol) will be sufficient. If
the user forgets their password then an email facility will provide a reminder to prevent
the user from being locked out from the system.
It is also important to consider other non-functional aspects to the VLE, Zhao (2003)
states that there are four requirements that are important in providing quality online
teaching and learning courses; these being effectiveness, technological infrastructure to
support adequate access, student and academic satisfaction.
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Although effectiveness is difficult to quantify, is may be measured with usability testing.
It would also be beneficial to gather opinions of users after they have been using the VLE
for a short period of time and adapt the VLE to suit their needs.
Student satisfaction depends upon many variables within the physical (and virtual)
learning environments; these include the quality of the course, adequate interaction with
the tutor and appropriate peer collaboration, and appropriate service from I.T. technical
support. Both asynchronous (e-mail) and synchronous (discussion forum)
communications between students and tutors, and amongst students, are central to online
learning in VLEs; well-timed feedback, whether from tutors or peers are vital to the
success of learning, including learning online.
It is essential to consider the benefits of either buying commercially available software or
whether to develop the VLE in-house. Ellaway, Dewhurst, and Cumming (2003) identify
some of arguments for using a commercially available VLE, these include: known
purchase price as opposed to development costs of creating in-house which may be
considerable more that first estimated, an ensured level of interoperability between
known and reduced redundancy as it is likely that standard systems will be upgraded and
developed in the future. Also, applied pedagogy, good practice and experience are easier
to share between users of the same brand of VLE. The reasons for developing a VLE in-
house include: matching the needs of the individual educational institution, maintaining
control of the design and development process, and preserving in-house knowledge and
expertise.
Student motivation
The role of tutors working within education is to provide students with the necessary
knowledge whether theoretical, practical or technical to equip them with the skills
beneficial in their future careers. De Lange, Suwardy, and Mavondo (2002) demonstrate
that student satisfaction with using a VLE for this knowledge transfer is significantly
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linked with the provision of: lecture notes, discussion forums, on-line assessment and
other tools including discussion forums and video summaries.
Moreover, Becta ICT Research (n.d.) points out that disaffected and less confident
students may be motivated by encouraging them to join in online discussions to share
ideas, which ultimately helps to improve the quality of their work and to allows them to
voice an opinion, whereas this might not happen in the traditional setting. A VLE
encourages self-study and helps foster a higher level of learning, enabling students to
engage in online discussions and improve their written communicative skills.
Systems Analysis
Before developing the system, the hardware and software requirements had to be
analysed to ensure that there are sufficient resources to allow the production of the
required software. After checking the University resources and available free trail
versions of software downloaded from the Internet, it was decided that no additional
hardware or software would need to be purchased.
Correct planning and preparation is an essential first stage to any software-programming
project. This becomes more complex with a larger project involving multiple teammembers. One of the initial activities is to look at the skills base of the people involved
with the project; this is straightforward exercise with a single team member.
The project then was decomposed, breaking the work into activities and identify tangible
milestones (dates/targets) and deliverables associated with each of the activities. The
main tasks of a software development project being as follows:
Project planning & feasibility study;
Systems analysis, requirements definition/gathering;
Systems design describes desired features in detail, including screen layouts;
business rules, process diagrams, etc.;
Finalise design;
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Prototype/interface design;
Development/coding;
Testing; checks for errors, bugs and interoperability, user interface refinement;
Maintenance throughout the rest of the software's life: changes, correction,
additions etc.
System Development Life Cycle Models
After the initial project planning stage it was important to select a suitable design model,
this then would allow the project plan to be revised to a higher degree of accuracy, and
enable a more detailed schedule to be produced. Five suitable models as Catholic
University of America (1999) suggest are introduced and compared below:
Model Comparison
Waterfall Model
The waterfall lifecycle model (Fig. 1) is the most straightforward and controlled of the
models considered. The software development is a series of ordered processes. Once a
process is completed, the changes can only be made through a formal process. It is best
suited for large projects where requirements are known, stable and understood. Its
weaknesses include inflexibility for change, length of time before anything usable by the
customer is produced and the implied requirement to complete every process correctly
the first time.
Incremental Model
The incremental lifecycle model produces some results to the customer sooner. The
initial processes of system requirements & feasibility, software requirements and generaldesign are performed in sequence. A partitioning into increments then occurs, where a
number of different development efforts are identified. It is suitable for large projects
with requirements that are known. It is the best choice when early release of some parts
of the software is beneficial. When requirements are known and understood, but are not
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stable, it is a logical choice because later releases can incorporate changes that surface
during the earlier development efforts
Evolutionary Model
The evolutionary lifecycle model applies in sequential aspects of the waterfall model, but
adds the evolution or the discovery of requirements. The system requirements &
feasibility and software requirements processes are not performed once for the entire
project, but they are revised at the start of each cycle to incorporate the latest
requirements. This is the preferable lifecycle model when requirements are not fully
known. Benefits include the early delivery of some functions and the early testing of
some assumptions before the entire system is built around them. The major weakness of
this model is related to the inability to plan in detail at the outset of the project. Because
the requirements are not fully known, inaccurate estimating and less than optimal
architecture are possible. The predominately sequential nature of this lifecycle makes it
not particularly rapid or cost efficient for complex systems.
Spiral Model
If the processes within the cycles of the spiral model were drawn in a cascading fashion
like the waterfall, the standard processes from requirements & feasibility through
operation & maintenance would fall in the same order and would be performed in
sequence, just as in the waterfall model. While all projects have some risks, not all
require extensive use of risk resolving techniques such as prototyping, simulation,
benchmarking, administering user questionnaires, etc. The main benefit of the spiral
model is in controlling project risks, preventing inadequate or unusable software from
being built. The shortcomings of the spiral are that the additional processes are not as
well defined as the standard processes, and there are not as many methods, techniques
and tools to support them.
It was decided to use a variation to the waterfall model (Fig. 2), the model is simple to
understand and implement, it is a proven technique that allows relatively straightforward
planning, and is still commonly used for software development. The variation called the
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Prototyping b model (due to it physical shape) is essentially a waterfall model that
allows a prototype to be built in sequence with the actual system. This model shows some
inherent flaws, as the results from the prototype do not feed into the system development.
This was addressed and the prototype was built in close conjunction to the system.
Needs
Planning
Analysis
Design
Implementation
System
Waterfall model
Figure 1 Waterfall model
Needs
Planning
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Prototype
Design
Implementation
System
Prototyping b model
Figure 2 Prototyping b model
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Requirements analysis
Several methods were used to gather the requirements of the project
Informal discussions with the target audience
Observation of students using the current Web pages Comparison of existing VLEs.
Student Profile
The main users of this VLE will be post-compulsory education students that are both
male and female and aged between 16 21 years and are studying either an Intermediate
(level 2) GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualification) or AVCE (Advanced
Vocational Certificate of Education, level 3) at Broxtowe College of Further Education.
Other users will be students over 21 years and are studying towards a HNC or HND
(Higher National Certificate/Diploma) in Computing, and to a lesser extent, part-time
students that are studying a short course in the evening, with an age range between 20 to
those that have retired. The majority of these students have previous computing
experience and all have used the Internet in some capacity.
There will also be users of this system that are visually impaired; ranging from one
student that is completely without sight, those that are colour blind, those that may suffer
from disabilities preventing them from reading or comprehending text properly (for
example dyslexia), and others that may not be able to read small text (which affects a
large segment of the population).
It is important that all designers of interfaces for the Internet are aware about the
importance of making websites accessible, aiding visually impaired users and the HTML
guidelines to creating universally acceptable design solutions.
There is commercially available software to help the visually impaired to use the Internet,
but the success of these still depend upon good interface design concepts. Poor design is
the biggest impediment for visually impaired users accessing and using websites.
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Browsers and tools developed for disabled people read the source code of the Web page
and then render it providing speech or other (e.g. Braille) output. If the Web page is
poorly constructed the alternate browser will encounter difficulties with interpretation
and prevent the Web page from making sense to the user.
Using standard HTML syntax helps to avoid important errors that may appear in the
source code. Syntax errors prevent interpretation of the source code by alternate browsers
and make it difficult to the user to take in the information. A validation service is
available from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which allows the HTML of the
Web page to be externally checked by opening an image hyperlink that connects to the
service. This will be placed on every page to ensure that the source code conforms to this
standard.
The use of tables requires extra care due to the way that table cells and rows are actually
constructed in the source code; it is important that the source code interpreter extracts the
information in logical order which makes grammatical sense. For example, it is
preferable for text to be placed in vertical columns instead of a row, which may create
confusion due to the source code first displaying the cells in a row before reading the
second column cell.
Visually impaired users are often unable to see images; they rely upon descriptions
associated with them. Alternative text (ALT) tags for images and TITLE tag for other
elements are essential to allow all elements of the page to be described.
Graphics intensive Web interfaces are good for the able sighted Internet user but the
visually impaired person has little or no ability to fully understand the message
communicated by graphics, even when using an ALT tags. Using a reduced amount of
graphics reduces download time for all users and is less distracting and stressful on the
eye and makes the site more accessible for the visually impaired.
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Therefore, the VLE should not use an abundance of graphics and should ensure that
hyperlinks are text based, rather than image based. Where images are required then
alternative text should be provided to describe the image. The VLE will need to be
validated using the software that Broxtowe College currently distributes to the visually
impaired student (JAWS for Windows), and the usability tested with a visually impaired
student.
Student requirements
Sclater and Howie (2003) state that theprimary requirement for all users of VLE system
is that it is intuitive to operate and requires no formal training, although it is assumed that
users will have a preliminary knowledge in the use of computers.The system will bedelivered through a standard Web browser and therefore users with special needs should
find that data is as accessible as that on regular Web pages. If the subject is of a highly
visual nature, it is not always appropriate to provide non-visual alternatives for learners
with visual impairment. However, modern text recognition technologies and speech
synthesis are available that are compatible with Web browsers.
As a result, Sclater and Howie (2003) identify requirements that VLE users expect when
using the CAA:
Be able to view all available assessments;
Be granted access to earlier results;
Receive email reminders about times, dates and locations of assessments in
advance;
Be allowed to continue from the point where they left unfinished assessments;
Points for each question should be clearly identified;
All questions should be answered before completing the assessment;
Results should be computed and displayed instantaneously;
Grades should be allowed to be combined with marks from other assessments;
Grades can be compared with group averages or ranked;
Assessment questions, responses with correct answers can be printed out;
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Operating instructions are clear and easy accessible from all locations within the
VLE;
Time taken, and if applicable, times remaining are clearly visible;
Students can revisit and adjust answers to questions before submission;
Regular saving of responses throughout assessments rather that at the end of the
test;
Submissions which are late require a reason and automatically provides an email
warning.
System administrator requirements
The VLE will be accessible via a typical free to download platform-independent Web
browser software without the use of additional plug-ins (software that extends the
capabilities of the Web browser). It also will be backwardly compatible so that learning
material will be available for those with earlier versions of Web browsers (Dalziel &
Gazzard, 1999). All assessments and personal data will only be made available to users
who have the relevant access permissions, and these users will be assured that no
unauthorised persons will be able to access personal details held on a server.Time-
consuming and convoluted login procedures would discourage adoption of the system,therefore a username and password should be a sufficient level of security considering
the sensitivity of personal details that will be stored on the server. A reliable network is
crucial for the effective use of online assessment and a VLE. It would be appropriate to
allow records to be updated continuously during the session rather than once at the end,
this prevents assessment data being lost if the network fails, and would allow the student
to continue from where the session ended.
Sclater and Howie (2003) also state that systems administratorsexpect that new software
should have the following requirements:
Easy to install on the server, with a clear installation guide;
Multi-platform and operate on both Windows and UNIX operating systems;
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Control the number of attempts taken at the assessment;
Can inspect results of all assessments taken by a student;
View mean and average assessment scores;
Time taken to complete each assessment can be seen for both individuals and
overall average for all students;
Allow the results tables to be ordered in a variety of ways;
Marks displayable as grades and percentages;
All attempts at assessments can be viewed;
Individual and overall group responses to questions can be viewed;
Results can be viewed per group to identify weak areas;
Grades can be computed over a series of assessments;
Results of different groups can be compared;
Group performance in different subject areas can be compared;
Results can be exported to statistical analysis software (e.g. SPSS) or
spreadsheets;
Allow a hard copy of the results table to be printed.
System requirements
Ellaway, Dewhurst, and Cumming (2003) describe that the database is an essential tool
for a complex software application. It is at the centre of the VLE and is the basis from
which everything is built upon. Therefore, it is essential to carefully design the
architecture, to ensure fast and efficient access, processing, data retrieval, and robust
security. The database must be flexible to be modified to meet changing conditions and
be capable to be integrated with other systems to communicate information, such as
student records systems, and possibly with other VLEs. The database requires a highlevel of normalisation to facilitate this.
In addition, Becta ICT Research (n.d.) suggest that most VLEs utilise Web-based
architectures and are often accessed at the client level via a Web browser served over the
local area network (LAN); this reduces the necessity for users to have high-bandwidth
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Internet connections. LAN infrastructures are often robust and reliable which is crucial
for a VLE if the local implementation is to be successful. Some VLEs require specific
versions of browsers to be used; this is restrictive as it may limit users wishing to access
the VLE from home, although it is worth noting that the majority of Web users operate
Internet Explorer. Some particular type of course material, especially multimedia may
also require a plug-in to be downloaded from the software distributor or a media player to
view the content.
Becta ICT Research (n.d.) indicates that a VLE should include most of the following
features:
The VLE should be available to students from wherever they can obtain access to
a computer connected to the Internet;
Information about the syllabus, student and (non personal) staff information,
course related notices, and associated documentation, together with clear
descriptions to facilitate location and retrieval of information;
An intuitive collection of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools,
including threaded message discussion forums and virtual chat rooms;
Group areas that include collaborative tools, which enable sharing of documents
and notes; Designated areas for external Internet links, with include brief descriptions to
prevent users from having to follow the links to discover their content;
A variety of tools for assessing learning, ranging from automated multiple-choice
questions to a virtual space for depositing exercises or assignments;
A range of organisational tools for the student, including a calendar and a simple
Web page generator to create a home page.
From the comparison of existing VLEs the following technical requirements are
recommended. This study was necessary to ensure that the developed system would be a
feasible option for current students.
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Client side computers requirements
Processor (CPU) from 233 MHZ with minimum 64 MB RAM (corresponding,
analogous requirements for Apple Macintosh).
Minimum 56kbps modem. Screen resolution of minimum 800x600 pixels.
Operating system:
o Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Linux, Unix.
o Apple Macintosh OS 8 or later.
Internet Explorer: from version 5.0 or Netscape: from version 7.01, Safari,
Mozilla etc.
Web server requirements
Unix or Windows system.
Suitable Web server.
A SQL Database.
Internet connection upload speed of 1Mbps.
Substantial (preferably hardware) firewall.
Server class computer a higher specification would allow a faster response to
client requests.
System specification
Once all of the requirements have been gathered the formal specification may be
constructed. This specification is moderately basic but encapsulates most of the user
requirements. A test suite can then be designed at a later date to measure if the softwaremeets the specification and user requirements, thus producing a high quality solution.
The final software should allow:
The creation of a new user account;
Secure login facility using a password and username;
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Access to learning resources;
Online assessments;
View previous and current assessment results;
Asynchronous (email) communication with the tutor;
Synchronous (discussion forum) with the tutor and other users;
View and edit personal information;
View timetable for tutors availability;
Scalability to an estimated hundreds possibly thousands of accesses per week;