‘preferred over the plain background. They also claim that the text and graphics per screens
are in proper balance. Students have emphasised this fact in the questionnaire data, by giving
a cumulative of 100%, (60% agreeing and 40 % strongly agreeing) saying that various media
used in screens complement each other. Students especially valued the limited amount of
information included per screen. When the questionnaire asked about whether the content is
broken into units that are small enough to be readily learned, a cumulative of 91% of them
agreeing (39.50% agreeing and 51.30% strongly agreeing) and only 6% disagreed asking to
reduce the units further. During interviews it was also revealed that text in each screen are not
crowded or cluttered:
‘I have learned all these by studying course material. But here it is displayed on the screen in a
simple clear manner…everything is laid in front of my eyes, in a very short period of time and I
was able to recap the concepts in a firmer grasp.… Not like in a textbook, the limited number
of information given in a specific screen, induce me to go to the next page seeking for more
information. Studying like this is not boring’. (S25/F)
However, some students suggested reducing the text content on one of the screens viz.
‘bacterial genetic make up’. On the other hand, some students claim that it is better to
incorporate some more explanations using text in screen on ‘conjugation’.
It was also revealed that the ‘contents page’ of the IMM is simple and clear. Commenting on
the design of the inner pages, students preferred the existing layout with the buttons on the left
side of the screen. Also they preferred the placement of the media elements such as the audio
buttons, graphics, text and animations on the screens. Some students suggested the idea of
an optional ‘auto run’ button.
Observational study witnessed, several students miss viewing the ‘objectives’ under the menu
option on the content page. While interviewing when they were inquired about the miss
viewing, they preferred to have the ‘objectives’ also on the same list of buttons of the ‘content’
page.
Almost all students commented on the existing fonts of the IMM programme during the
interview. Most of them were happy with the serif fonts used (‘Bookman’) in the programme
saying that these are quite legible and clear on the screen and they did not find difficulty when
reading on the screen. Questionnaire data also supported having 54.77 % agreeing and
33.33% strongly agreeing (a cumulative of 88%) that the written texts on screens are easy to
read. However, 11.99% of students disagreed to the same fact and it was revealed at the
interview that, they were not happy with the sans serif font (‘Century gothic’) font that was used
in certain parts of this IMM. Those who opposed of this font suggested to have it in bold face if
use the same font ‘Century Gothic’. One student (S3/M) explaining his views:
‘The font type used in the ‘plasmid’ section (Century Gothic font) is difficult to read. I found it
difficult to differentiate ‘U’ and ‘V’ in that.’ (S3/M)