ClientAmes Community School

District

Faculty AdvisorsDr. John LamontProf. Ralph PattersonDr. Gregory Smith

Application TeamJustin BrownAmy JoinesSean BoyleAdam Wise

Framework TeamPaul Hartwell Duc Ho Nathan TaucherTony

Standardized test scores indicate that students need to improve their problem-solving and geography skills. The purpose of this project is to provide software to supplement classroom learning in these areas for 3rd-6th grade students. Mathematical Teaching Software System (MTSS) provides math problems for students to solve. Uncle Sam’s America (USA) and Globey’s World (GW) provide information and games about US and world geography. The Software and Support Framework (SASF) team provides student performance monitoring with grade book and assignment creation tools. These groups combine to form the K-12 Teaching Application Software and Support team.

The Ongo-08 senior design team is developing applications to assist teachers in improving their students’ problem-solving and geography skills by providing web-based internet applications. This semester, the focus was improving software quality and usability and adding grade book functionality. By utilizing the software along with classroom instruction, the students will be better prepared for standardized tests, ultimately resulting in higher test scores.

Figure 2: Gradebook Screenshot

Figure 2: USA “Name That Flag” gameFigure 1: MTSS Problem Solve

Grade book Design:• PHP pages interacting with MySQL database• Teacher section home page shows sections

belonging to that teacher• Clicking an assignment takes teacher to the

grade summaries for the assignment• Teacher can view histograms of student

grades on each assignment to analyze data• Teachers can also view individual student

scores• Teacher assignment home page lets teacher

create or edit assignments

ONGO-08

Semester Schedule

Problem StatementStudents from the Ames Community School District generally score above norms on national standardized tests. However, students' scores in mathematical problem solving and geography are generally lower than their scores in other academic areas. As a result, Ames teachers would like to improve students' performance in both mathematical problem solving and geography.

Proposed ApproachTeachers and ISU teamed together to develop a web-based software program which Ames teachers can use as a supplemental teaching device in mathematical problem solving and US and world geography.

Project StatusThis project began in 2001. It is now in the final stages of development and implementation for initial release. The MTSS, GW, and USA applications are designed and implemented.

Semester GoalAt the end of the semester, the team plans to release a stable suite of applications for classroom use. The semester focus will be user interface upgrades, finish grade book tool, and fixing defects,

System Requirements• Software is accessible via an internet • Usable for 3rd to 6th grade students• Aesthetically pleasing• Provide support documentation

Deliverables• Stable release of K-12 teaching application• Developer Documentation• User manual

Functional Requirements• Ability to create, edit, delete, solve, and

search problems in each application• Games and comparison tools in

geographical applications

Grade book Functional Requirements• Allow teachers to create assignments,

create sections, and manage assignments• Tools to view, track, and analyze student

grades

Unit TestingPerformed during coding by developers to ensure each component and page works.

Functional TestingPerformed on system by team after integration to ensure that components function correctly together. Compliance with all customer requirements verified in this phase.

Testing Tools• Software Defect tracking tool created.• Lists all defects and their status

Figure 1: Gradebook page structure

Design Methodology:• Set component (page) level requirements• Component-level rapid prototyping• New components integrated in iterative

process• Team reviews new functionality, enters

desired changes in defect tracking tool

Gradebook Homepage

Assignment Homepage CreateAssignment.php

Gradebook Support Page

SectionSelect.php

ModifyAssignment.php

Gradebook Help Page

ViewSectionResults.php

ViewAvailableAssignments.php

ViewAssignmentStatistics.php

ViewStudentAssignResult.php

viewQuestionResult.phpCreateSection.php

AssignmentWalkthrough.php

AddSectionStudents.php