2023: Improved Assessment Workflow of Exercises on Mobile Devices

Master's theses

Student
Tarlan Ismayilsoy

Supervisor(s)Advisor(s)

Abstract

Artemis is an interactive learning platform used across multiple universities. One of its key features is support for exercise assessment through its web client. However, the web client’s usability on portable devices, such as iPads, is suboptimal. This limitation poses a challenge for tutors in providing prompt feedback to students, ultimately hindering their learning process. To address this issue, the development of Themis, a dedicated iPad app, was initiated, and a prototype focusing on the assessment of programming exercises was developed. While the initial prototype has already mitigated the issue, it still lacks support for text, modeling, and file upload exercises. It also has room for improvement in terms of the user interface and experience. This thesis contributes to the solution of the aforementioned problem by extending the capabilities of the Themis app. The new version of Themis incorporates support for additional exercise types and several improvements that significantly enhance the assessment process. We start by identifying shortcomings within the system’s current implementation. Afterwards, we delve into the internal structure of the system through various models and provide an in-depth discussion of the implementation details for the suggested system. To enhance usability, we incorporate and refine specific user interface elements within the app. Furthermore, we conduct a user study to assess the effectiveness of the new implementation and uncover additional areas for improvement.