Inheritance Coding with Gagné-Based Learning Hierarchy Approach to Developing Mathematics Skills Assessment Systems
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In this paper, authors proposed an inheritance coding with Gagné-based learning hierarchy approach (GBLHA) to building systems for assessing mathematics skills and diagnosing student learning problems. The proposed GBLHA combines Gagné learning hierarchy theory and inheritance coding approach. Moreover, the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) design model is used throughout the process of developing the assessment system. Finally, the experimental practical application of the assessment system developed by GBLHA confirmed that it can accurately diagnose student learning barriers and provide learning suggestions for students and teachers. But, (i) Authors need to explain “Diagnosing Student Learning Problems by Applying Gagné Theory” by using a simple theoretical framework or practical examples clearly; (ii) Authors also need to explain equation (3.1) clearly, again; (iii) How do authors explain hypothesis testing for the data?; (iv) Is the number of test questions ps or mi?, please explain the relation of ps and mi clearly; (v) Sections 4-5, authors need to rewrite them clearly; (vi) authors also need a good proof-reading by a scientific writer, etc.. Hence, I feel that the paper cannot be accepted for publication in this applied journal.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors,
below are my comments.
Warmest regards.
Proposed idea is promising and interesting. Proposed method is described in detail.
However, there are some deficiences of the paper that should be tackled.
1. It is not a good practice to include abbreviations and acronyms in the abstract. According to
my opinion, abbr. GBLHA and ADDIE should be removed. Abbreviations should be included with the
first mentioning in the main paper sections.
2. The authors should include research question, objectives and aim of the proposed research
in the Introduction section.
3. Web-based application was developed by using Microsoft ASP.NET, C# for backend and SQL with
MS SQL Server relational database management system (RDBMS). The authors should specify more details
related the developed app, for example, how many tiers does the app consist of? Why did they choose
Microsoft alternatives to for example combination of JSP/Servlets/Java, or Spring/Java?
4. Optional: Is there any other method that can be used for performance evaluations of the proposed method?
5. Conclusion should be expended to include some information about the future research in this domain.
6. Some references are missing parts, like pp., publisher, etc.
7. Some minor English language grammar and spelling errors should be tackled.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear authors,
In my opinion, the sample with just 5 students is very small to generalize the methodology. The paper can be improved.
Best wishes
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Paper Summary.
- In this paper, the authors proposed a new e-learning system for assessing mathematics skills and diagnosing student learning problems by designing an inheritance coding with the Gagné-based learning hierarchy approach. They call this approach GBLHA. In this approach, teachers generate test questions and learning path diagrams for a skills assessment system by utilizing the Gagné learning hierarchy theory. And then, the teachers use the inheritance coding approach to encode the test questions according to learning hierarchy paths. The authors implemented the practical system and conducted experimental studies involving five students to clarify the effectiveness of this approach.
Strengths.
- The topic is relevant to the theme of this journal.
- The authors implemented the practical system.
- The authors conducted experimental studies involving five students to clarify the effectiveness of this approach.
Weaknesses.
- The small number of subjects in the experiment, only five, leaves room for improvement in the evaluation method. Understandably, conducting such an experiment in a large scale setting is highly tricky, however, it is difficult to say that the developed system confirmed its capability to diagnose student learning barriers accurately, as claimed at P.1, L.27.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Authors have responded to my comments. I think that this revised paper can be accepted for publication in this applied journal.
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
thank you for responding to my comments.
