Requirement elicitation techniques for an improved case based lesson planning system

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-12-2016-0080
Pages19-32
Published date12 March 2018
Date12 March 2018
AuthorAslina Saad,Christian Dawson
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Information systems,Information & communications technology
Requirement elicitation
techniques for an improved case
based lesson planning system
Aslina Saad
Department of Computing, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris,
Tanjung Malim, Malaysia, and
Christian Dawson
Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University,
Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
Abstract
Purpose This paper presents a recommendationon how one requirement elicitation technique supports
the other techniques in dening system requirementfor a case-based system. A case-based lesson planning
system aims to assist teachersin constructing quality lesson plans through its cyclewhich begins with case
retrieval. To retrieve relevantlesson plans, appropriate inputs should be used and the intended outputneeds
to be identied via suitable requirement elicitation techniques.The use of a single technique might result in
inadequate requirementspecication, thus affecting the quality of the output requirements as well as quality
of the nal informationsystem.
Design/methodology/approach Requirement elicitation was carried out in three phases: phase I
involved document review, phase II was an interview and phase III used a survey. Respondents of the
study comprised experienced teachers as well as new teachers. This research used both qualitative and
quantitative approaches to answer the research questions, which involved semi-structured interviews,
document review and survey to collect the relevant data. Documents were reviewed by analysing lesson
plans from three different countries. In addition, a review of lesson plans prepared by teachers and the
standard syllabus were carried out. Findings from the document review were used in structured
interviews using a teach-back technique, sorting and matrix of attribute-values. A questionnaire was then
constructed based on th e interviews and document r eview.
Findings The ndings of this initial study, as part of a larger research investigation, would help in
knowledge modelling and representation. This will contribute to effective case retrieval via good design of
the system input and output. The study identies important elements of a lesson plan according to their
ranking. Keywords that were used by teachers as input for retrieval were identied together with the
expected output.
Research limitations/implications The main goal of requirement elicitation is to specify complete
and detailed requirementsof the proposed system. There are two main types of requirement: functionaland
non-functional requirements.This paper only focuses on functional requirementsspecically case retrieval
with appropriateinput and output.
Practical implications Various requirement engineering (RE) techniques can be applied in different
phases of requirement elicitation. Suitable technique should be chosen at different phases of RE, as it is
important for triangulation purposes. Incomplete RE will affect the modelling part of system development,
and, thus,affect the design and implementation of an information system.
Social implications Software engineer or anybody involved in system development should plan
accordinglyfor the RE process. They should be creative and reasonable in selectingsuitable RE techniques to
be applied.
Originality/value This study aims to gain understanding of the various aspects of lesson planning.
Crucial knowledgein lesson planning that was gathered from the elicitation phaseis modelled to have a good
understandingof the problems and constraints among teachers. The ndings of this initial study,as partof a
Case based
lesson
planning
system
19
Received22 December 2016
Revised30 October 2017
Accepted31 October 2017
Journalof Systems and
InformationTechnology
Vol.20 No. 1, 2018
pp. 19-32
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/JSIT-12-2016-0080
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.htm

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