Informatics Publishing Limited

Rajermani Thinakaran ¹, Rosmah Ali ¹, Morina Abdullah ¹, Kamilah Radin Salim ¹, Suraya Yaacob ¹

Affiliations
1 Advanced Informatics School, UTM Razak School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia International Campus, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, MY

Abstract

Motivation is a key success factor in learning programming. However, motivation aspect has not been fully addressed in Programming Tutoring System. This paper proposed a Motivation Assessment Model for Programming Tutoring System. The aim is to detect and measure students’ motivation level so that the tutoring system can deliver the tutorial materials accordingly, much like a human tutor does. In this study, various motivation factors, variables and techniques for measuring students’ motivation in tutoring system were investigated. Based on self-efficacy theory, Effort, Choice of Activities, Performance and Persistence were proposed as motivation factors. Parameter(s) for each factor and Fuzzy Logic as a prediction technique were also discussed. As for future work, the proposed model will be implemented in Java platform and tested on programming students using Moodle.

Keywords

Fuzzy Logic, Motivation, Motivation Assessment Model, Programming Tutoring System, Self-Efficacy Section

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Yousif Al-Raheem ¹, Rosmah Ali ¹, Nurulhuda Firdaus ¹, Nor Zairah Ab Rahim ¹

Affiliations
1 Advanced Informatics School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, MY

Abstract

Software help systems are content viewers which are integrated into operating systems designed to assist users in learning to use software applications. Help systems provide information directly from the developers of software applications. Help systems have been neglected for a while and often replaced by unofficial resources. This research aims to review the limitations of the current help systems and find the reasons why users are less likely to use the integrated help systems to obtain information. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to collect data from all studies that investigate the limitations of help systems. The data collected were statistically analyzed to draw conclusions on the probable causes. The SLR reviewed 602 studies from 2010 to 2017 from nine online databases. 13 studies matched the selection criteria and were therefore included in the study. The data asserted the fact that users rarely use the integrated help systems and often preferred alternative methods. The analysis pointed at three major limitations of the help systems that caused users to underutilize the systems. These limitations include the inability of the help systems to adapt to users’ learning styles, difficulty in locating information, and overall ineffectiveness of the help systems. Addressing these limitations in help systems will help create a system that can reduce the need for unofficial resources, and therefore reducing the risks of cyber-attacks.

Keywords

Help Systems, Learning Styles, Software, Software Documentation, Software Learnability, Systematic Literature Review

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