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CALL 2006, BEIJING

Courseware quality control Strategies

• Presenter: YAO Chunzhen

• E-mail: yaochunzhen@gmail.com

• QQ: 15638599

• Research Interest: CALL, Applied Linguistics, management

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

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Overview• 1.Identify key points in developing high quality

courseware for EFL learners.• 2.Implement quality management and software

engineering in courseware development and optimization

• 3.Use CMM and ISO9000 in process management• 4.A Case study and demonstration• 5. Courseware evaluation

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

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Outline• 1. Introduction

• 2. Basic concepts of courseware and quality

• 3. Literature Review

• 4. key points in quality control

• 5. Quality Control Approaches and Development ---A Case Study

• 6. Findings and Discussions

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1. Introduction • 1.1 Wide use of various course-wares

• 1.2 Problems reported

• 1.3 Course ware assessment

• 1.4 Definition of quality

• 1.5 Quality management, testing,

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2. Basic concepts• 2.1 Courseware• 2.2 quality : management, control .etc.• 2.3 Learning path, cognitive style, SLA• 2.4 CMM• 2.5 ISO9000• 2.6 needs analysis• 2.7 software engineering• 2.8 Testing and QC

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2.1 varieties of course ware• Function • Purpose • Object and orientation• Technology • EFL SLA• ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇• Learner ware • Teacher ware• Courseware , testing prep ware, etc.• Single computer and net-work based

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2.2 course ware quality

• 2.2.1Definition of quality

• (David Garvin)

• 2.2.3 Quality control

• 2.2.4 Quality management

• 2.2.5 Quality planning

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What is Quality?

• Degree or grade of excellence

• The extent it satisfy customers needs.

• I define quality of Courseware as:

• The qualitative value of its fulfillment of objective and goal in serving the learning of a course and cultivation of competence of that course.

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http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/basic-concepts.html

• Assurance: The act of giving confidence, the state of be

ing certain or the act of making certain.

• Quality assurance: The planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled.

• Control: An evaluation to indicate needed corrective responses; the act of guiding a process in which variability is attributable to a constant system of chance causes.Quality control: The observation techniques and activities used to fulfill requirements for quality.

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http://www.well.com/~bbear/garvin.html#eight

• I separate quality into eight dimensions: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality.

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2.3 CMM

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2.4 ISO9000

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Four Theoretical Models • The discrepancy philosophy

• The democratic philosophy

• The analytic philosophy

• The diagnostic philosophy

Stufflebeam, McCormick, Brinkerhoff and Nelson (1985)

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

2.5 Needs Analysis

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More

• Situational needs vs. language needs

• Objective needs vs. subjective needs

• Linguistic content vs. learning processes

Brown (2001)

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3. Literature Review

• Courseware development

• Technology first or Learning Effectiveness first

• Process management

• Quality Control

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4. Key points in Quality Control

• 4.1 general process of course-ware development

• 4.2 identification of critical process

• 4.3 participants

• 4.4 team building and performance

• 4.5

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5. Control Approaches• 5.1 Customer satisfaction approach

• 5.2 Cognition approach

• 5.3 Software engineering approach

• 5.4 Management approach

• 5.5 Testing Approach

•

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• Six Sigma Improvement Frameworks

• DMAIC • Define – Measure – Analyze – Improve – Control • used to improve existing processes and products • DMADV • Define – Measure – Analyze – Design – Verify • a process of “Design for Six Sigma” (DFSS) -there is not

unified approach to DFSS across industry

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Learner recognized needs• Long term and short term needs

• Subjective and objective needs

• Internal and external needs

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5.3 Software Engineering Approach

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5.4 Management Approach• general manager • （ Project Manager ） • （ Translation ） • （ Editing ） • （ Proofreading ） • （ Quality Assurance ） • （ Test Engineer ） • DTP & QC

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• ISO9004 Self-evaluation

• ●   it can be applied to the part or the whole process ；

• ●   it can be applied to the whole organization or any section

• ● it can be completed in a short time ；

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• Project management Softwares

• Primavera:P3 、• Gores: Artemis 、• ABT: Work Bench

• Welcom: Open Plan

• TimeLine: TimeLine

• Scitor: Project Scheduler

• Primavera: Sure Trak

• Microsoft: Project 2000

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Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

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Team performance• ● understand the project clearly

• ● roles and responsibilities are set

• ● goal-oriented ；• ● trust and cooperation

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• Team Member Tasks

needs

General

design

Detailed

designCode

Unit test

plan

customer √ √

analyzer √ √

designer √ √ √ √

programmer √ √ √

tester √ √ √ √ √ √maintenance √ √ √Quality assurer √ √ √ √ √ √

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Task management • 1. identify different types of tasks first.• 2. general manager analyzes and assign

different tasks• 3. Task fulfillment report • 4. task coordination

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5.5 Testing Approach • Test of compatiblity

• Test of functions

• Test of practicality Tools for testing

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• The best features most often mentioned were:

• clear structure • presents information clearly and

concisely • includes review and consolidation • good technical content • good on-line help • uses imaginative learning

strategies • flexible • allows exploratory learning • Offers good feedbackhttp://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/cti/ucisa2.html

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6. Quality Control Approaches(A)

• 6.1 Process Management

• 6.2 Task Analysis

• 6.3 Teamwork

• 6.4 Content Selection

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6. Case Demonstration (B)• 6.1 Project Introduction

• 6.2 Project Requirements • 6.3 Team Building • 6.4 Process management • 6.5 Pedagogical Design• 6.6 Instructional Design/Learning

Flexibility• 6.7 Technical Design

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• Textbook based

• Learnable and teachable

• Learning-effectiveness

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• http://www.carnet.hr/ . Retrieved on 29th. May, 2006

• Juran on Quality by Design. The New Steps for Planning Quality into Goods and Services. [M] 1992. Juran Institute

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Reference