The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Purdue University Global provides opportunities for development, collaboration, networking, and community building online. The CTL hosts an annual professional development conference, provides synchronous and asynchronous development opportunities, and supports several online events for the university. As a result of the pandemic, our expertise was put into action to assist the university system in moving a face-to-face forum completely online. The challenge of engaging discussion sessions in the online environment was met with the use of interactive web-based tools and thoughtful facilitation.

This interactive presentation will provide attendees the opportunity to experience these tools first hand while engaging with the group to discuss the challenges of collaborating online. The process and tools in this session are a great fit for team-based projects, expanding online event opportunities, community engagement, and more.

Elementary health education can strongly impact children’s well-being outside of the classroom. However, limited instructional time and resources impede schools’ efforts to provide quality health education. Thus, the purpose of this project was to design and evaluate a game-based instructional resource that teaches fourth grade students about nutrition. To accomplish this goal, a video game called Monster Mealtime was created by adapting the stages of the content centric framework for game design (Larsen, 2018). Research regarding children’s developmental needs and how to design games for children was referenced during the design process.

Once the game was developed, it was evaluated using a usability study. Through usability testing, the game’s ability to support children in learning how to play the game while providing a satisfying learning experience was assessed. The study consisted of three rounds of usability testing. Twelve adults (n = 12) with elementary teaching experience participated in the study. The game was revised between each round of testing to improve its design. After three rounds of testing, the game was perceived as moderately satisfying for the target population. In addition, the study’s data suggested the game’s learnability could be further improved. Misconceptions about the game’s mechanics persisted throughout the evaluation period. In the end, strategies for effectively communicating game instructions must be explored further to improve the quality of educational video games.

The shortage of certified Career and Technical Education teachers in Hawaii impacts middle school students’ learning and acquisition of 21st Century skills. These skills are exceedingly necessary to enter the workforce or higher education. To address this problem, this project designed and evaluated an online learning module to help parents and guardians of middle school students help their child learn about the “4Cs”: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. The ARCS model was used to guide the design of the learning module and its content delivery. Each lesson of the module contained activities where parents and guardians shared their experiences related to the 4Cs. From there, The module asks parents and guardians to share the information with their children, collecting their feedback for an e-portfolio. To evaluate the online module, 15 (n = 15) parents and guardians used the learning materials for one week. The participants took a pre-survey and a post-survey in order to evaluate the four lessons. Data collected indicated that the participants were satisfied with the content and motivated to help their child learn the 4Cs. There were some flaws in the design of the module which can be fixed through further revisions. As a whole, the project was a success supporting parents’ efforts to build their children’s 21st Century skills.

The purpose of this project was to create a resource website for incoming Health Information Technology (HIT) students at Leeward Community College (LCC). The website was created using WIX, a cloud-based web development service, YouTube videos, and customized Loom videos, with resources and networking links directly related to the HIT program. The site's design was based on the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS) Model of Motivational Design (Keller,1984). The  goals were to improve the ease of use, quality of content, and navigation of the site.

This usability study involved fifteen participants (ages 18 to 85). Data was collected through pre-screening questionnaires, exit surveys, and testing. After the first two rounds of usability tests, data was analyzed and revisions to the site were made according to the participants feedback. Think-out-loud questions and exit surveys were also taken into consideration with regards to the revisions between usability rounds. The data analysis demonstrated encouraging results in the achievement of investigator’s research goals. Over 80%  of the participants felt they could confidently use the site again, found the site  “very easy” to navigate, and found the quality of the content to be useful. After completing the study, the success of the project’s objectives appeared to benefit the HIT program. The recommendation is to incorporate the theories and design of this site within the LCC website.

The purpose of this project was to design and evaluate website for a testing center at students at a community college in Hawaii. To design the website, the researcher applied principles of user-centered design to ensure the target audience—community college students—would be able to find information about the testing center quickly and easily. Using Gestalt principles, the website was designed to work to help students by being functional and user-friendly. To evaluate the website, a usability study was conducted with 18 (n = 18) college-aged adults. During the study, the participants completed three usability tasks designed to measure and found the website easy to navigate. The usability study evaluates the participants’ navigation, satisfaction, and interest. Data were collected through questionnaires and think aloud sessions. In addition, the usability study used the Design-oriented Evaluation of Perceived Usability (DEEP) framework to assess the website's navigation, content, structure, and labeling. Results from the study found that participants were satisfied with the website and felt it was easy to navigate. This presentation will discuss the project’s findings and make recommendations for future study.

This project created a specialized collection of web pages called a ‘wiki.’ The wiki contains a knowledgebase of information about technical resources available to the Atmospheric Sciences Department. The purpose of the wiki is to improve the process of obtaining technical resources and assistance for the faculty, students, researchers, and staff of the Department. The wiki knowledgebase grows organically with input from the members of the Department and the curation of the IT Specialist. The wiki was evaluated by a usability study to determine its effectiveness and suggest improvements.

The project was developed within the existing Departmental website using the WordPress website engine, the Spacious theme, and the Knowledgebase wiki plugin. Usability was studied using survey and interview instruments. In general, the usability study indicates that the wiki is useful, helpful, and easy to navigate. Users found it a bit challenging to contribute to the wiki. The most important recommendation is to make it as easy as possible for others to contribute. It is an important addition to the Departmental website, supports a learning community, and contributes to making the Department a learning organization.

This project designed and evaluated a web-based training module that leveraged engaging visual graphics and interactive tasks to introduce Google Docs to Home-Based Academic Mentors. Home-Based Academic Mentors are adults who play a significant role in supporting the academic success of a school-aged child outside of the classroom. Such mentors may include parents, grandparents, extended family members, and close family friends. The purpose of the project was to support Home-Based Academic Mentors’ comprehension and confidence in the ability to apply the concepts of the Google Docs interface. Because daily routines often place a barrier on mentors’ participation, the learning module was designed to be completed in bite-sized chunks to fit within the mentors’ busy lives. Data was gathered from twelve (n= 12) members of the target audience using a pre-survey and pre-assessment, a post-instruction culminating activity, and finally a post-survey. Results indicated that the combination of text, narrative, and graphics promoted learner engagement and enhanced comprehension; however, additional scaffolding may need to be incorporated into the instruction of the module’s design during the culminating activity.

It is crucial for college students pursuing a degree in graphic design-related fields to get as much work experience possible to help them in their professional careers. Thus, there is a need to substantially provide training for students interested in a graphic design position or are currently employed in the field. However, getting the proper knowledge and skills to start college job opportunities can be difficult for beginning students. This is because students with no formal training lack the accessibility gain this information. To meet the needs of these individuals who are pursuing student graphic design positions, the researcher created resource website through Wix. This online website provides training in four introductory sections: research & imagery, composition & layout, typography, and color. This usability study measures the ease of navigability, organization of the site, and the usefulness of the content. Three iterations of testing occurred with participants, who were a combination of content experts and individuals from the target audience. Qualitative analysis of information received from the study walkthroughs and quantitative analysis through surveys helped benefit learning strategies and future modifications to the site. The results showed a need for visual examples to be included alongside the information and the organization of information to be broken up to digestible chunks. With further revisions to be made to the site, the researcher hopes this resource can be used in college job opportunities for design training.

The purpose of this project was to design and evaluate a web-based workshop created to help first-year college students learn how to write meaningful and organized personal statements for scholarship applications. The project was motivated by the needs of students in The Waiʻaleʻale Project, a First-Year Experience Program at Kauaʻi Community College, who often believe college is not for them because of various personal challenges. For example, during the 2019 – 2020 school year, less than 14% of the program’s students received scholarships requiring a personal statement. To address this problem, a web-based workshop was designed combining Hawaiian culture with storytelling to promote connections between students’ personal experiences and the requirements of personal essay writing. The instruction was evaluated by having 14 (n = 14) students from the program participate in the workshop. The results indicated that the web-based workshop, grounded in culture, improved participants’ levels of confidence in creating a personal statement and increased the prospect of students submitting higher-quality scholarship submissions. This presentation will discuss making connections for students using cultural significance and storytelling to help first-year at-risk college students to find growth mindset through as they complete their personal statement for scholarship applications.

https://sites.google.com/hawaii.edu/your-story

Consistency in branding and communications play an integral part in the success of any organization. Branding gives a clear sense of purpose for what an organization does, while external communications help shape the public's perception of who the organization is and what they do. The University of Hawai'i Maui College (UHMC) has had a diluted brand due to the absence of a Marketing Director. They had no clear marketing consistency, resulting in a weakened UHMC identity and limited community presence. To support a consistent brand and concise messaging, the researcher developed a website to act as a marketing and communications hub for UHMC. This usability study aims to design and evaluate a brand and a communications toolkit for the faculty and staff at UH Maui College.

The study assessed the navigation, usability, and effectiveness of the tools and resources contained within the toolkit website. Data were collected from 15 participants through quantitative surveys and qualitative walkthroughs to measure how easy or difficult it was to navigate the toolkit and how useful it was to UH Maui College faculty and staff. Results collected from the usability study have shown a progressive improvement in website navigation, with all participants finding the toolkit's content to be helpful. Based on this study's results, the researcher will integrate the toolkit into the UH Maui College website as a resource for improved brand identity and consistency. The researcher plans improvements which include video tutorials and an expanded asset library to further enhance the toolkit website and overall user experience.