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Mess to Mastery: User-centric redesign of psychomotor teaching experience

November 13th, 2024

This master’s thesis builds on the Psychomotor Feedback Engine (PFE) and the IMPECT framework [1], [2], [3], aiming to improve the graphical user interface that teachers use to implement rules and feedback elements in psychomotor learning.

This thesis aims to address those usability issues by redesigning the teacher interface and integrating the IMPECT framework to introduce a more comprehensive feedback mechanism. The IMPECT framework introduces two core concepts: “feedback cards” and exercise stages. Feedback cards provide structured guidance on how exercises should be performed, while exercise stages break down training into a series of sequential tasks. Together, these elements can create a more dynamic and responsive feedback system, offering learners timely, actionable feedback during their training sessions.

Thesis Type
  • Master
Status
Open
Supervisor(s)
Stefan Decker
Advisor(s)
Michal Slupczynski
Contact
slupczynski@dbis.rwth-aachen.de

The project will tackle several key challenges. First, there will be a comprehensive redesign of the teacher interface, making it more user-friendly and aligning it with the feedback card system proposed by IMPECT. This will involve linking rules to specific feedback cards, adding additional feedback elements that help teachers guide their learners more effectively, and providing functionality to create multi-exercise training sessions. For example, a session could start with 10 bicep curls, followed by 5 jumping jacks, and so forth, providing a more coherent and structured training plan.

In terms of the learner’s experience, the interface will be enhanced to display feedback elements based on the feedback cards in a timely manner. This means that learners will no longer face blank screens or receive delayed instructions. Instead, they will be given clear, structured guidance while they perform their exercises, helping them to adjust and improve their movements on the spot. The redesign needs to be evaluated extensively by sports experts.

This thesis will explore two primary approaches to achieving the proposed goals: extending the existing PFE system with IMPECT’s features or enhancing the IMPECT framework to incorporate the functionality of PFE. Whichever route is chosen, the outcome will be a more cohesive and user-friendly system capable of delivering structured, timely feedback to support physical training exercises.

By integrating these concepts, this thesis aims to create a system that not only improves the usability of the teacher interface but also enriches the feedback experience for learners, ultimately contributing to the broader field of educational technology in physical training contexts.

Expected Contribution:

This thesis will result in an integrated, user-centered feedback system that provides structured, real-time guidance to learners while supporting teachers in setting up effective training sessions. By combining the usability improvements of the redesigned GUI with the structured feedback elements introduced by IMPECT, this research will contribute to best practices in educational technology for psychomotor training. Additionally, the technical insights gained from integrating real-time feedback mechanisms into a web-based system may inform further developments in cloud-supported learning technologies.

 

If you are interested in this thesis, a related topic or have additional questions, please do not hesitate to send a message to slupczynski@dbis.rwth-aachen.de and ks@colognegamelab.de
Please apply with a meaningful CV and a recent transcript of your academic performance.


Prerequisites:
  1. Experience in User Interface Design and Evaluation – Skills in GUI/UX design, including usability testing and analysis, with familiarity in end-user centric approaches.
  2. Background in Cloud Communication and Web Integration – Experience with integrating frontend systems with backend services, especially for real-time data exchange.
  3. Proficiency in Web Development – Skills in frontend and backend development, ideally with JavaScript frameworks and cloud-based web applications.
  4. Interest in Educational Technology and Data Logging – Familiarity with tracking learning interactions and outcomes, with a focus on feedback mechanisms in educational tools.
  5. (optional) Knowledge of Feedback Systems – Understanding of psychomotor learning requirements and real-time feedback in educational contexts.