PHP Basics

Polly, Sanser and Young

R547, Fall 2002
Online Prototype
 PHP Basic online prototype
 Please ask questions at the end of the
presentation.
Learner Analysis
 Distance Masters and Residential
Students taking R547.
 Prerequisites:
 Meet technology competencies set by IST
http://www.education.indiana.edu/ist/programs/masters/dm/requirements.html

 Be able to use HTML tags, and create a

webpage
 Access SSH, and web development tool
such as Homesite.
Context Analysis
 To reduce the class time taken to teach
basic PHP.
 An online tutorial, that has instructor
support.
Instructional Objectives
 to help the learner get started using basic PHP
scripting language
 be able to access the tools and software that are
used at IU to create dynamic web pages.
 to create elementary PHP applications as a part of
web-based instruction, that is, give feedback to the
users after they complete a quiz
 to input and retrieve information from an online
survey
 to debug a PHP program that has syntax errors. The
learners are given a model example of what the
program can do if it is working correctly.
Merrill’s 5 Star ID Rating
 Present in context of real world problems?
 Activate prior knowledge or experience?
 Show examples of what is to be learnt?
 Practice and apply new knowledge?
 Integrate and transfer new knowledge?
Design Decisions
 Provide relevant tasks
 Reference prior knowledge of HTML
 Show examples
 Easy to understand
- Use screen shot instead of lengthy text
 Practice and apply
Give tasks following the instruction to reinforce learning
 Easy navigation
- Using navigation style similar to Amazon.com
- clear navigation
 Overview of the instructional Web site
- Site map on the second page
Paper Prototype
 The prototype had 72 pages
 Had a linear structure
Usability (paper prototype)
 Authentic Users ?
 Three users, all residential graduate students.
 Two had taken R547, one did not.
 Authentic Task ?
 They reviewed the paper prototype, and worked on
the tasks online using the tester’s mentor account.
 Authentic Conditions ?
 Two usabilities were conducted on campus, one was
done at home.
 The usability test lasted 2 hours per session.
Usability Findings (Paper)
Instructional Effectiveness Satisfaction with
Instruction
Subject Pre-assessment Post-assessment Reactionnaire
Mastery Level (Total Mastery Level Mean Score
Score = 100) (Total Score = 100)
S1 1 22 3.76

S2 1 25 3.07

S3 11 66 4.36

Overall Mean Std Dev Mean Std Dev Mean Std Dev
4.3 5.6 37.6 24.5 3.76 0.65
Usability Findings (Paper)
 Users preferred screenshots but wanted less
text
 Users liked going through the practice
sessions.
 Users wanted the learning to be scaffolded
Examples:
 Quickly troubleshooting the errors
 Being able to copy and paste the text rather than
typing the code.
 Reducing personal anxiety: one user was against
learning a new software: Homesite
Usability (Online)
 Authentic Users ?
 Three users, all residential graduate students.
 All were taking R547, and they just had lectures on
PHP in their class
 Authentic Task ?
 They reviewed the online instructions, and worked on
the tasks by using their mentor account.
 Authentic Conditions ?
 All usabilities were conducted on campus.
 Users spent 2 hours per session.
 Users were not able to spend enough time for each
section and could not complete the entire tutorial.
Usability Finding (Online)
Instructional Effectiveness Satisfaction with
Instruction
Subject Pre-assessment Post-assessment Reactionnaire
Mastery Level (Total Mastery Level Mean Score
Score = 100) (Total Score = 100)
S1 34 64 4.14

S2 42 90 3.71

S3 0 30 4.50

Overall Mean Std Dev Mean Std Dev Mean Std Dev
25.33 22.30 61.33 30.08 4.12 0.39
Usability Result (Online)
 In terms of instructional effectiveness –
is high for all users
 In terms of satisfaction rate -Novice
user was more satisfied than the
advanced learners (4.50 vs 3.70).
Usability Observation (Online)
 Homesite on campus crashed during the
usability tests (the work around, save files on
the desktop and upload using SSH).
 Users skimmed through the materials. They
felt they need to spend more time on the
materials and complete the tasks
 As they encountered problems they chose to
go through the materials rather than
troubleshoot the errors
 Users used the “next” and “previous” button
over the menu bar
Usability Feedback (Online)
 Users liked the examples used in the
instruction as they were similar to real life
tasks (Quiz, Survey)
 Users found the site map useful
 Users wanted more meaningful variable
names and descriptions for the functions,
operators and other attributes
 They wanted to be reminded to do the tasks
Questions