Advancing Sociotechnical-Pedagogical Heuristics for the Usability Evaluation of Online Courses for Adult Learners

Online courses often include interface designs that do not support a positive learner experience. Literature shows a variety of heuristics to detect issues of online courses. While heuristic-based inspection of usability is a dominant method for evaluating digital systems, these methods cannot be easily transferred to online courses. To close this gap, we identified an initial set of social, technical, and pedagogical related items (STP) heuristics based on literature. Next, we analyzed this set using empirical data from two online courses. In total, we analyzed 195 problems with the goal to substantiate a final set of 14 STP heuristics. This new set allows for efficiently evaluating online courses by supporting evaluators and instructional designers in uncovering the most crucial issues and improving the learner experience. Finally, based on this work, we discuss a definition of learner experience for the emerging field of learner experience design and research.

For Visual Attention, are there any Tendencies in Form Interpretation?

We examined if there is any intrinsically "hard-wired" tendency in the subject's Visual Attention. When asked to spontaneously decide preferences for shape or grouping of shapes, distinct patterns of preference in human test subjects were found. These preferences were consistent among ages older than 20 years adulthood and both genders. These findings could result in broad practical applications ranging from interface designs to visual alerts.

Metal-organic framework membranes with single-atomic centers for photocatalytic CO2 and O2 reduction

The demand for sustainable energy has motivated the development of artificial photosynthesis. Yet the catalyst and reaction interface designs for directly fixing permanent gases (e.g. CO2, O2, N2) into liquid fuels are still challenged by slow mass transfer and sluggish catalytic kinetics at the gas-liquid-solid boundary. Here, we report that gas-permeable metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes can modify the electronic structures and catalytic properties of metal single-atoms (SAs) to promote the diffusion, activation, and reduction of gas molecules (e.g. CO2, O2) and produce liquid fuels under visible light and mild conditions. With Ir SAs as active centers, the defect-engineered MOF (e.g. activated NH2-UiO-66) particles can reduce CO2 to HCOOH with an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 2.51% at 420 nm on the gas-liquid-solid reaction interface. With promoted gas diffusion at the porous gas-solid interfaces, the gas-permeable SA/MOF membranes can directly convert humid CO2 gas into HCOOH with a near-unity selectivity and a significantly increased AQE of 15.76% at 420 nm. A similar strategy can be applied to the photocatalytic O2-to-H2O2 conversions, suggesting the wide applicability of our catalyst and reaction interface designs.

Admins, Mods, and Benevolent Dictators for Life: The Implicit Feudalism of Online Communities

This essay considers how social networks train users to interact with each other through certain widespread interface designs. I argue that an “implicit feudalism” informs the available options for community management on the Internet’s most popular platforms for online communities. This pattern grants user-administrators absolutist reign over their fiefdoms, with competition among them as the primary mechanism for quality control, under rules set by the meta-absolutism of platform companies. Through experience in communities so constituted, users may be learning to trust effective absolutism, even if it is relatively rare, and distrust their own capacity for self-governance. In light of alternative management mechanisms with more democratic features, it becomes all the more clear that implicit feudalism is not a necessary condition.

Admins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities

Online platforms train users to interact with each other through certain widespread interface designs. This article argues that an “implicit feudalism” informs the available options for community management on the dominant platforms for online communities. It is a pattern that grants user-administrators absolutist reign over their fiefdoms, with competition among them as the primary mechanism for quality control, typically under rules set by platform companies. Implicit feudalism emerged from technical conditions dating to early online networks. In light of alternative management mechanisms with more democratic features, it becomes all the more clear that implicit feudalism is not a necessary condition.