Developing an Understanding of How College Students Experience
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, Educational Administration, Department of and Student Research Spring 4-20-2015 Developing an Understanding of How College Students Experience Interactive Instructional Technology: A UX Perspective Adam Wagler University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedaddiss Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Instructional Media Design Commons, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons Wagler, Adam, "Developing an Understanding of How College Students Experience Interactive Instructional Technology: A UX Perspective" (2015). Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 228. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedaddiss/228 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Educational Administration, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS EXPERIENCE INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: A UX PERSPECTIVE by Adam Wagler A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Educational Studies (Instructional Technology) Under the Supervision of Professor Allen Steckelberg Lincoln, Nebraska March, 2015 DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS EXPERIENCE INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: A UX PERSPECTIVE Adam Wagler, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2015 Adviser: Allen Steckelberg Technology is increasingly mobile and social, resulting in dynamic digital and interactive environments. The ubiquitous nature of interactive instructional technology presents new paradigms for higher education, creating challenges for instructors to compete for time and attention as students are bombarded by information in a digital, media rich world. The problem being studied, with all of these technological advancements, is how instructors can approach these challenges from a user experience (UX) perspective. A macro level view sees college students taking multiple courses at a time, over many semesters, and using different interactive instructional technology that mix with other forms of online media consumption. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to describe the experiences with interactive instructional technology from the perspective of college students at a large Midwestern university. A combination of cognitive load theory, communications strategy, and UX perspective is used to provide a structure that higher education faculty and administrators can use to approach content strategies, technological advances, and student perceptions throughout their college education. Focus groups with college students found communication is the number one priority when using interactive instructional technology. However, as more social media is adopted, the line between personal and professional lives is being blurred for better or worse. Technological advances introduce layers of separation between student and faculty, as well as student and course content, which all impact motivation. Students want faculty to be comfortable with the technology to build trust and confidence with their interactions. There will always be technology problems, but students now need to actively solve problems when technology isn’t working. The significance of this study informs educators of issues they could expect when teaching with technology and offer ideas to integrate it in appropriate ways. Students offer a number of suggestions and UX tools are provided to improve student experiences with interactive instructional technology. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv Figures and Tables ............................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1 – Introduction ..................................................................................................1 Rationale for the Study ............................................................................................ 4 Rationale for Qualitative Methods .......................................................................... 6 Statement of Problem .............................................................................................. 6 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2 – Literature Review .........................................................................................9 What is User Experience? ........................................................................................ 9 Cognitive Processes and UX ................................................................................. 14 Attention. ...................................................................................................... 15 Cognitive Load. ............................................................................................. 16 Cognitive UX Interplay with Affective Theories .................................................. 19 Interactive Instructional Technology in Higher Education ................................... 21 Moving Forward with a UX Perspective ............................................................... 24 Chapter 3 – Methodology ................................................................................................28 Case Selection and Participant Sampling .............................................................. 30 v Data Collection ...................................................................................................... 30 Focus groups. ................................................................................................ 31 Learning environment observation. .............................................................. 33 Institutional resources. .................................................................................. 34 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 34 Validity ................................................................................................................... 35 Reflexivity. .................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 4 – Findings .......................................................................................................37 Communication as the Number One Priority ........................................................ 38 Prioritizing communication. ......................................................................... 38 Follow through. ............................................................................................. 40 Professors don’t use tech the same way students do. .................................... 41 Line between Personal and Professional Lives ..................................................... 43 Line between personal and professional. ...................................................... 43 Setting boundaries. ........................................................................................ 44 Part of our everyday lives. ............................................................................ 45 You need to Twitter. ..................................................................................... 46 Interactive Instructional Technology Creates Layers of Separation ..................... 50 Layers of separation. ..................................................................................... 50 Zero interactivity. .......................................................................................... 51 vi Three hours long, that is absurd. ................................................................... 53 Couldn’t have done it at my house. .............................................................. 55 Educating each other. .................................................................................... 56 Familiarity with the Interactive Instructional Technology Used .......................... 58 Be familiar with tech you are using. ............................................................. 58 More motivation if tech works. ..................................................................... 60 Don’t fake it. ................................................................................................. 61 One experience is all it takes. ....................................................................... 63 Ask for help. .................................................................................................. 63 Building Trust with Interactive Instructional Technology .................................... 65 How can I trust you? 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