Conference Presentation Lim, T., Yao, Z., & Dennen, V. (2014, November). Needs assessment of a mobile application for a graduate program. Concurrent session presentation at the meeting of AECT 2014 International Convention, Jacksonville, FL.

1. Needs Assessment of a
Mobile Application for a
Graduate Program
: A Case of FSU ISLT
Taehyeong Lim, Zhongrui Yao,
and Vanessa Dennen
Florida State University

2. How They Started
• Since MIT’s mobile app in 2008,
many universities in the U.S. have
released their mobile applications
(Aldrich, 2010).
University Mobile Applications

3. University Mobile Applications
Current App Designs
1. Events Calendar (72%)
2. Directory (72%)
3. News (68%)
4. Campus Maps (64%)
……
9. Course Catalog (28%)
……
22. iTunes University (4%)
Sample: 25 University Apps
(Aldrich, 2010)
Current Information Needs
1. News/Alert (38.7%)
2. Campus Map (35.5%)
3. Course Information (31.0%)
4. Campus Directory (27.9%)
5. News Feeds (25.0%)
……
15.Libraries (0.5%)
Sample: 3,526 Students, Faculty, and Staff
(Johnson, Means, & Khey, 2013)

4. Do university mobile applications meet
all of the mobile information needs
of the university community?
Most don’t.
How can we fill the gap?
Gap?

5. University-Level
(General Information)
College-Level
(More specific to the college)
Program-Level ?
(More specific to the program)
Different Level Mobile Apps @FSU

6. 1. How freqently do users use a university-level and a
college-level mobile application?
2. How do users perceive their needs for a program-level
mobile application for their academic program?
3. What kinds of features do users think are necessary in
a program-level application?
To examine the use of the existing university-level and
college-level mobile applications at FSU, and the needs
for a program-level mobile application of an academic
program at FSU
Purpose of Study & RQs

7. 34% (36 of 106) students
50% (3 of 6) faculty participated.
Target Population
106 students
6 faculty
2,000+ alumni
Method

8. Method
• Online Survey
17 closed-choice items (multiple choice, 5-6 point Likert)
1 open-ended question
• Survey Distribution (Feb 10th - 21th, 2014)
via Listserv, Facebook group page, class email
• Data Analysis
Descriptive Statistics(for the multiple choice items)
Content Analysis (for the open-ended item)

9. Results

10. • Do you have the university-level and the college-level apps?
University-Level App College-Level App
Results

11. • How frequently do you use?
College-Level AppUniversity-Level App
Results

12. • What features do you frequently use in
University-Level App College-Level App
Results

13. • Do you think the program-level mobile app would be useful?
Results

14. • How are you interested in the program-level mobile app?
Results

15. • What features do you think would be necessary
in the program-level mobile app? (5-point Likert)
Results

16. • What other features do you want to have in the app?
• From Current Students
Results

17. • What other features do you want to have in the app?
• From Alumni
Results

18. 1. Students sometimes use the university-level app,
but rarely use the college-level app.
2. More than half think that a program-level mobile app would be useful
(61% total, 64% students, 67% faculty, and 53% alumni).
3. Some features are highly preferred
: Course description, Social networks links, news, and materials.
4. Users’ mobile information needs are diverse based on their current
status.
Conclusions

19. 1. Small number of participants
: N=56; but only 34% (36 of 106) students participated
1. The program’s nature
: IDT field, only Graduate level (no undergraduate level)
Limitations

20. ● General app design guidelines for
program-level mobile applications
● Usability studies
: Usefulness, Satisfaction, etc.
● Design-based research
● Tool evaluation research
Implications & Future Research

21. Questions?

22. Aldrich, A. W. (2010). Universities and libraries move to the mobile web.
Educause Quarterly, 33(2), 5-5.
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/universities-and-libraries-move-mobile-
web
Johnson, D., Means, T., & Khey, D. N. (2013). A state of flux: Results of a
mobile device survey at the university of florida. Educausereview online.
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/state-flux-results-mobile-device-survey-
university-florida
Reference