EVALUATING THE USABILITY OF CANVAS AS A MOBILE EDUCATION APPLICATION: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF GRADUATE STUDENT EXPERIENCES
Keywords:
Canvas Application, Graduate Student Experience, Learning Management System (LMS), Mobile Education, Usability Evaluation.Abstract
The study aims to examine the usability of Canvas as a mobile education application among graduate students, employing Nielsen's usability framework. The research utilized a quantitative approach, questionnaire based to assess Canvas's effectiveness based on Nielsen's usability principles involving 75 students from various academic disciplines. Data were collected through surveys and web scraping, ensuring a comprehensive analysis of user experiences. The study's reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.961. Results indicate high user satisfaction across multiple usability dimensions, including system visibility, the match between the system and the real world, aesthetic design, recognition rather than recall, workload reduction, flexibility, user control, consistency, and efficiency. Participants particularly appreciated Canvas's accessibility in diverse settings, organizational benefits, and inclusive features. While error management received slightly lower scores, it still garnered favorable ratings. The findings suggest that Canvas effectively meets the needs of graduate students, offering a user-friendly, efficient, and consistent mobile education experience. However, minor concerns about interface ergonomics were noted, indicating potential areas for future improvement.
