Children's perception of motivational design elements in educational websites

Abstract

This study builds on and extends the existing literature of motivational analysis of Web sites through the children's eyes. A new instrument called the Motivation Analysis Rating Kit (or, M@RK) was developed to assess the children's perception of Web design elements (that most strongly relate to the motivational quality of educational Web sites) and the Web features (most preferred in cool Web sites) were examined. It measures the children's reactions along the four categories (defined by Small in WebMAC), with the addition of a fifth category: "Overall Perception". Participants were required to view three Web sites in one session. The research employed a repeated measures design on a single sample (N-71), with two within-subjects factors ('Web site' with three levels, and 'motivational element' with five levels). Paired-sample t-tests were used to compare student ratings among the various motivational elements.