Do the solutions meet the requirements?

The following table shows the solutions that were discussed in the state of the art in comparison with their meeting the requirements. The solutions were tested on how many of the requirements of section3.3 they met. In the colored rows the require- ment topics are mentioned with the amount of requirements that were stated in3.3.

For instance ”Help seeking (2)” has two requirements that need to be met, in the column the amount of requirements the technology met are stated. The whiteboard technology scores 1 out of the 2 requirements, because the technology does lower the threshold for question asking, but it does not improve the level of help seeking.

Low tech Help seek-

ing (2) User re- quirements (6) Hand rais- ing problem (3) Help giving (4) Total 1. White- board 1 2 2 2 7 2. Code of conduct dice 1 3 3 2 9 3. Paper cups 1 3 3 2 9 4. META- card 2 4 1 1 8

High tech Help seek-

ing (2) User re- quirements (6) Hand rais- ing problem (3) Help giving (4) Total 5. Eurekos 2 1 2 1 6 6. Future- Learn 2 2 2 1 7 7. Canvas 2 2 2 1 7 8. TA- HelpMe 1 3 3 2 9 9. Discus- sion board 2 2 2 1 7

Table 3.1: Testing the SotA technologies on how many requirements they meet from section3.3

Requirement evaluation for TA-HelpMe

As can be seen in table 3.1 TA-HelpMe is the technology that meet the most re- quirements. The results of the testing of this technology will be discussed below. For spatial reasons the results of the requirement testing of the other technologies will not be explained.

Help seeking

3.4. STATE OF THE ART 65

• No, it does not improve the level of help seeking. Students are not en- couraged to ask more specific questions.

2. Does the technology lower the threshold for help seeking?

• Yes, students can put themselves in the online queue. As was mentioned in2.2.3 the use of online requesting for help can lower the threshold and increase the amount of questions that are asked.

User requirements

1. Face to face interaction, because the TAs mentioned that they value this the most.

• TA-HelpMe is made to facilitate face to face tutorials, where the TA is no longer obliged to shout the name of the student, but the web application keeps track of the queue and the TA can choose who they help.

2. Fair system, the students and TAs mentioned that the system should be fair, it should treat everyone equally.

• The online queue is a fair system, the TAs answer the queue in a FIFO fashion. However, students can still put themselves in the queue before they have a question.

3. Share questions, several teachers mentioned that they would like the students to share questions.

• Questions and strategies are not shared in TA-HelpMe. 4. For the students to ask better questions.

• The requirement is not met, see previous explanation.

5. Give insights of the most occurring problems, teachers want to learn from the problems to improve their courses.

• TA-HelpMe is still quite simple, the TAs are able to make lists, students put themselves in lists, TAs choose who they will help. Insights that can be gathered from this system are how many questions were asked and how long students were an entry in a list.

6. Give the instructions at the moment the student has the question, not earlier, not later. This was mentioned by an experienced teacher who did not want classical instructions because it would discourage students that were working at a different pace

• By asking a question when the student has one and helping every ques- tion individually this requirement is met by TA-HelpMe.

Hand raising problem

1. Does the technology solve the physical constrain? • Yes, the students do not need to raise their hand.

2. Does the technology facilitate a fair system for help seeking and giving? • The FIFO queue is considered as a fair system.

3. Does the technology allow the students to continue to work while they are waiting for help?

• Yes, students can continue to work, when a TA picks their request for help the student gets a notification that it is their turn and that they should raise their hand so the TA can find them.

Help giving

1. Does the solution safe time?

• No, the lists do not safe time, they only make a fair queuing system. 2. Does the technology facilitate delayed attention?

• Yes, students enter a list, and then experience delayed attention, because the help giving only comes when the TA decides to help them.

3. Does the technology enable the distribution of expertise of help givers?

• No, the TAs do not know what type of question or what subject the stu- dents in the list are busy with, so the TAs are not able to distribute exper- tise.

4. Can the teaching staff help students who are at the same exercise and have a question simultaneously?

• No, it is not visible who have the same question, so simultaneous help is not possible.

3.5. IDEATION 67