Supporting Computer Science Student Reading through Multimodal Engagement Interfaces
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Supporting Computer Science Student Reading through Multimodal Engagement Interfaces
Matthew Pike,
Kejia Shen,
Dave Towey
IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) | 2019
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Abstract
While many computer science (CS) curricula increasingly address the demand for more communicative and ethical graduates, reports of CS student difficulties with non-technical subjects, such as Professional Ethics, persist. These difficulties seem compounded for students learning through a second or foreign language. This paper explores the impact that multimodal engagement interfaces can have on content comprehension. A study with 30 participants of varying English language abilities tested four different engagement conditions: baseline reading, guided reading, audio-only, and multimodal presentation combining text and audio. Results indicate that guided reading produced the best performance, but received the poorest subjective evaluation, highlighting the tension between learning effectiveness and user preference. The findings suggest strategies for designing engagement interfaces tailored to support readers based on their language ability and learning goals.