A user-centred approach to understanding the support needs of university teachers using a Learning Management System: A Pilot study

Abstract

Providing effective, timely and relevant Learning Management System (LMS) support to teaching staff working within the higher education context is challenging, yet essential in order to meet learning and teaching goals. Crucial to the success of an effective support model, is understanding the needs of teaching staff, together with their enablers and barriers to using technologies. This paper reports on the work-in-progress of a user-centred project initiated by a large university faculty located in Victoria, Australia. The aims of the project are to: 1) gain insights into the way teaching staff use and understand the LMS in their learning and teaching context; 2) use these insights to assist in developing a service support model which improves the experience of teachers using the LMS. The project adopts design thinking and thematic analysis methodologies. This paper reports on the first aim of the project.