Project Idea - UCWise

What is UCWISE?
UCWise is a teaching system used in introductory level computer science classes. It is a web-based, interactive, collaborative teaching and grading system. Specifically, it is a system developed at UC Berkeley employing the preexisting WISE (web-based inquiry science environment) system.

Current Project Space
Student side
A couple of usability experiments have been done on the student side of the system, and some improvements have been made based on the recommendations; however, there is still much that can be done to improve the student experience. One advantage to this project space is that there is a large pool of potential participants readily accessible on campus. Additionally, there are large bodies of sample data and survey data that has been collected as part of the course reviews over multiple years of use. One disadvantage is that evaluation methods involving interviews with users will likely fall under university CPHS review.

Instructor Side
No usability evaluations have been conducted on the instructor side of the system. There is a relatively small set of users on that side - specifically three professors and a handful of teaching assistants and graders. Happily, the professors involved are specifically studying the educational merits of the system and will be exceptionally helpful in providing interviews and data to improve the system.

Interesting Aspects
Particularly interesting in this project space is that the professors in charge of the system are interested in migrating to a new solution sometime in the not-too-distant future, at least on the instructor side; hence, methods such as a competitor analysis would be extremely helpful to them.