Undergraduate Research in Engineering at Rice
Graham Richard Hull, Junior Electrical and Computer Engineering student
Refining and Testing the Connexions Roadmap Software
with Dr. Richard BaraniukIn the fall, the work of the summer on the Connexions Project continued. By the end of August, we had 'rolled out' the first version of the Roadmap navigational software for browsing Connexions modules on the web. It went into limited used in two courses at Rice that were teaching from Connexions modules.
The major issue of this semester was refinement and testing. We made modifications to the code, including a re-writing to make use of Object Oriented design techniques. This made it easier to make future additions and improvements to code that had gotten tangled and confusing.
Since all major features had been implemented, there were no additions to the functionality of the Roadmap, but we embarked on an ambitious testing program. With the aid of a psychology gradutate student, we ran several test subjects in controlled experiments. We gave them lists of relevant tasks to attempt, like finding a given modules, and recorded the processes they used. Personally, I was responsible for finding student test subjects and being a second observer during the tests themselves.
Our usability expert drafted a report based on the observations, and we returned to the Roadmap to resolve problems. This will mostly entail a number of cosmetic changes to make certain functions more obvious, and will provide me with things to do for another few months.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Back to Undergraduate Research page
|
About the School | Academics & Research | Departments | What's New Alumni | Calendar | Contacts | SE Web | Duncan Hall Conference Room Reservations |
 
|
||