Practical Application of an e-Learning Support System Incorporating a Fill-in-the-Blank Question-Type Concept Map

Abstract

E-learning, which can be used anywhere and at any time, is very convenient and has been introduced to improve learning efficiency. However, securing a completion rate has been a major challenge. Recently, the learning forms of e-learning require learners to be introspective, deliberate, and logical and have proven to be incompatible with many learners with low completion rates. Thus, we developed an e-learning system that incorporates a fill-in-the-blank question-type concept map to deepen learners' understanding of learning contents while watching learning videos. The developed system promotes active learning reflectively and logically by allowing learners to answer blank question labels on concept maps from video content and labels associated with the blank question labels. We confirmed in the laboratory experiment by comparing with a conventional video-based learning system that the developed system encouraged a learner to do more system operations for rechecking the learning content and to better understand the learning contents while watching the learning video. As the next step, a field experiment is needed to investigate the usefulness and effectiveness of the developed system in actual environments in order to boost the practicality of the developed system. In this study, we introduced the developed system into the two class of the uviversity course and investigated the level of understanding to the learning contents, the system operations, and the usefulness of the developed system by comparing with those in the laboratory experiment. The results showed that the developed system provided to support the understanding to learning content and the usefulness of each function in the field experiment, as in the laboratory experiment. On the other hand, the students in the field experiment gave lower usefulness of the developed system than those in the lab experiment, suggesting that the students who attempted to thoroughly understand the learning contents in the field experiment were fewer than those in the lab experiment from their system operations during the learning.