Course Registration Systems: Importance of Subjective Data in Interpretations of Usability
Abstract/Description/Artist Statement
Course registration systems are crucial components of university students’ academic journeys. However, there is a gap in the literature exploring how students recover from errors in these systems. The present study investigated a linked error message type to explore the usability of these systems and how students handle error recovery for difficult course registration tasks. Twenty-two college students (Mage = 21.45; 18 female) were recruited. The experiment consisted of three task trials on a low-fidelity simulation of a university course registration interface. Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ) engagement scores (related to alertness, motivation, and self-efficacy) were analyzed to quantify student stress. Effectiveness (errors made) and efficiency (duration in task) were analyzed to quantify system usability. Preliminary results showed that, using a repeated-measures t-test, participants scored significantly lower on engagement after completing the linked task compared to their pre-test scores (MD = -1.95, SDD = 3.64), t (21) = -2.52, p=.01, d= -0.54, 95% CI [-3.57, -0.34]. Interestingly, engagement scores were not significantly correlated with effectiveness or efficiency metrics. This potentially indicates that while students’ stress was impacted from linked task completion, it isn't necessarily reflected in usability data. These results can inform future usability studies of these systems, as care should be taken to include subjective/qualitative data in analysis to gain a clearer picture of students’ experience using the interface that may not be reflected in typical quantitative usability metrics.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Dr. Xiao Yang
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Email
x2yang@odu.edu
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department
Psychology
College/School Affiliation
College of Sciences
Student Level Group
Undergraduate
Presentation Type
Poster
Course Registration Systems: Importance of Subjective Data in Interpretations of Usability
Course registration systems are crucial components of university students’ academic journeys. However, there is a gap in the literature exploring how students recover from errors in these systems. The present study investigated a linked error message type to explore the usability of these systems and how students handle error recovery for difficult course registration tasks. Twenty-two college students (Mage = 21.45; 18 female) were recruited. The experiment consisted of three task trials on a low-fidelity simulation of a university course registration interface. Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ) engagement scores (related to alertness, motivation, and self-efficacy) were analyzed to quantify student stress. Effectiveness (errors made) and efficiency (duration in task) were analyzed to quantify system usability. Preliminary results showed that, using a repeated-measures t-test, participants scored significantly lower on engagement after completing the linked task compared to their pre-test scores (MD = -1.95, SDD = 3.64), t (21) = -2.52, p=.01, d= -0.54, 95% CI [-3.57, -0.34]. Interestingly, engagement scores were not significantly correlated with effectiveness or efficiency metrics. This potentially indicates that while students’ stress was impacted from linked task completion, it isn't necessarily reflected in usability data. These results can inform future usability studies of these systems, as care should be taken to include subjective/qualitative data in analysis to gain a clearer picture of students’ experience using the interface that may not be reflected in typical quantitative usability metrics.