Online software tutorials help a wide range of users acquire skills with complex software, but are not always easy to follow. For example, a tutorial might target users with a high skill level, or it might contain errors and omissions. Prior work has shown that user contributions, such as user comments, can add value to a tutorial. Building on this prior work, we investigate an approach to soliciting structured tutorial enhancements from tutorial readers. We illustrate this approach through a prototype called Antorial, and evaluate its impact on reader contributions through a multi-session evaluation with 13 participants. Our findings suggest that structuring tutorial contributions has positive impacts on both the number and type of reader contributions. Our findings also point to design considerations for systems that aim to support community-based tutorial refinement, and suggest promising directions for future research. / February 2017

Information literacy is a relatively new concept in Turkey and is most accessible to English Language Learners. This article-format dissertation identifies the information needs and habits of English Language and Literature majors at a major Turkish university, discusses the development of an online intervention to teach information literacy to these students, and tests the efficacy of using Turkish subtitles to teach information literacy skills to these English majors. Article 1 surveyed students majoring in English Language and Literature about their attitudes towards library usage and sources. Student attitudes revealed a preference for internet sources over library sources and a belief that internet sources are more likely than library sources to provide students with the information they need. In response to the need for increased information literacy instruction, an online tutorial was developed to teach information literacy skills that focus on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Article 2 discusses the design and development of this tutorial. Article 3 tests the most effective language configuration for students to learn these information literacy skills, finding that students that completed the tutorial with an English-language soundtrack and Turkish subtitles finished tasks at a statistically significant faster pace than other groups and with statistically significant more success. Overall, Turkish English majors showed a need for increased information literacy skills. A subtitled tutorial is one way to provide this information literacy training.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The use of technology in mathematics education has many potentially positive outcomes. There is, however, little evidence to show where the use of technology has made a significant impact on mathematics education in South Africa. This study aims to address the issue of how computer tablets are currently used in the mathematics classroom. The researcher drew a comparison between learners who were taught with computer tablets and learners who were taught in the traditional way by evaluating the learners' progress after being taught on the topic of 3D images. This assessment was done in the form of a pre-test and a post-test that were administered to both classes on a topic of 3D images that was taught during this allocated time. The research is located in the third-generation activity theory. It is based on the socio-cultural theory of Lev Vygotsky, but it is blended with modern western theories as described by Engeström. The researcher made use of a mixed methods approach starting with a qualitative survey, followed by a pre-test, observations and concluding with a post-test. The pre-test and post-test determined whether cognitive knowledge was gained. The participants in the study were a group of 15-year-old learners at a private school where the one class was taught using computer tablets in the mathematics classroom, and the other class was taught the same content without computer tablets. A qualitative survey was sent to 27 schools within a particular school group where teachers indicated the popular Apps that were used in the mathematics classroom in this school group. Teachers also gave reasons why these were the Apps of choice and elaborated on how they were using these Apps. The quantitative part of this research was guided by the results of the survey and the 5 most popular Applications (Apps) were used in the teaching experiment. The quantitative part focused on two classrooms within the same school where the one class were taught with computer tablets and the other class were taught without the use of computer tablets. The t-test for this research showed that the group of learners who were taught with computer tablets achieved significantly better results than the class of learners who were taught using hard copy textbooks with traditional methods of teaching. This study showed that having computer tablets in schools can be effective in the mathematics classroom. The recommendations emanating from this study indicates that school who are planning to use computer tablets in the mathematics classroom should first plan their wi-fi capabilities with enough access points and internet access. These schools also need to decide on a type of computer tablet and what operating system to use. This decision has implications to the accessibility of quality Apps, battery life and storage space of the computer tablet. Schools are recommended to have a plan for training teachers in the use of this computer tablets especially regarding the pedagogical practice when interacting with learners. A last recommendation is to nurture a culture of computer tablet use amongst the learners to discipline themselves to charge and maintain their computer tablets and apply it to educational use. This study includes a pedagogical framework in respect of the effective use of computer tablets in the mathematics classroom.