Book-app as course literature in CDIO-based project courses- Students' perspectives

Paper in proceeding, 2018

Course literature should aim to provide relevant information regarding the fulfillment of course objectives and be adjacent to students’ needs and preferences. The course literature in the “Integrated Design and Manufacturing” (PPU175) course at Chalmers University of Technology consisted of a printed book, which was used as a guide to projects’ implementation. However, the high price and low transferability of the book pinpointed the need of an alternative option. The solution was a book-app created by digitizing and adjusting the content of the existing book.

This paper follows the development of the book-app and it examines its applicability as course literature in a CDIO-based project course considering students’ perspectives and preferences. The first version of the book-app was similar to a PDF whereas the second was enhanced with navigational features. Students’ attitudes towards the use of the book-app instead of a printed book as well as their opinions and suggestions about content formulation and app's features were collected after completion of the course through a dedicated survey and a focus group interview.

The outcomes supported that although students were positively predisposed regarding the use of a book-app as course literature, they were not satisfied with the first version of the book-app due to its delayed response and low navigation capabilities. Regarding the second version, they were satisfied with its content and depth of the explanations but they encountered compatibility and navigational issues which affected their overall opinion. The paper concludes that students are ready to use a book-app as their course literature and it suggests design and content features that will enhance the usability and students' satisfaction with the book-app.