The Effectiveness of Course Software in Logic Design Learning for System Development

Abstract

Development of an application system will go through each phase of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model. Students of the Diploma in Information Technology (Digital Technology) need to understand each phase in SDLC as enshrined in the course DFC3043 (System Analysis and Design) and DFT6014 (Integrated Project) in producing their final semester project. The design phase is a major phase are reviewed and understood by students in ensuring the flow of system design to be developed according to the needs and requirements of the user. The main problem faced by the students is difficulty in drawing logical design Schematic Context (CD), Data Flow Diagram (DFD) and linked Entities Relationship Diagram (ERD) as well as translate the logical design that has been drawn, into the development phase system for completion of their final project. Therefore, the courseware entitled Design Logic for System Development was developed to help teaching and learning processes for the course DFC3043 (System Analysis and Design) and DFT6014 (Integrated project). The courseware was developed using the software application Adobe Flash as the main platform and combined application programming language. ADDIE model was used in software development this course. Studies were also conducted to identify whether there are differences between the tests mean achievement between students who follow learning method using the courseware than students who follow learning aid PowerPoint. The sample for this study consisted of 60 students who follow the Diploma in Information Technology (Digital Technology) who take the course DFC3043 (System Analysis and Design) in Kuala Terengganu Polytechnic (PKT). Group experiments using the courseware and the control group using PowerPoint as an aided learning material have been created to assess the effectiveness of the teaching methods used. An instrument for this study is a set of test questions, which contains multiple choice objective questions items and short structure questions. Data analysis made using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. The result of the study shows that there are significant differences in the mean achievement tests students who follow the teaching methods using courseware with students who follow learning aid of PowerPoint. The use of courseware proven to increase student academic achievement. Thus, it is hoped that more courseware developed at Polytechnic Kuala Terengganu as it can improve student’s academic achievement.