M.A. thesis abstract

Screen captures as Instructional Tools in a Series of Introductory Computer Application Textbooks

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Arts in Technical Communication, Minnesota State University, Mankato

July 2004

This thesis addresses the use of screen captures in five editions of Microsoft Office: Introductory Concepts and Techniques by Shelly, Cahsman, and Vermatt. A sample of task that are common among the five editions were reviewed: changing the default font size in Word, entering text in Excel, and creating a table in Access. This review focused on two issues:

1. How have the authors of Microsoft Office: Introductory Concepts and Techniques used the design areas of coverage, position, size, and cues in their textbooks? The texts were anayzed using four characteristics presented by van der Meij and Gellevij (1998).
2. How have the authors of Microsoft Office: Introductory Concepts and Techniques changed the page layout or their use of screen captures over the life of the series? The texts were analyzed for the following characteristics: number of pages used, number of pages preceding, number of screen captures, size and coverage of the screen captures, amount of text for each task, and the types of skills (if any) that are not illustrated.

The results show that the authors employ three of the four characteristics of successful screen captures. There were no significant changes in page layout or use of screen captures between the editions. Although more study is needed to test the validity of this heuristic, the characteristics used here can be a tool for authors who wish to incorporate screen captures into their manuals and as a guideline for instructors who are deciding to adopt a textbook.