Muetbot designing and developing chatbot to support the learning of MUET reading skills

The study aims to design and develop a chatbot named MUETBot to support the learning of MUET reading skills. This study loosely employs multiphase mixed methods combined with Richey and Klein_s Design and Development Research (DDR) approach in constructing MUETBot. The study was conducted in three phases, namely need analysis, design and development, and evaluation phase. To identify the difficulties faced by ESL students in MUET reading skills, a needs analysis questionnaire was administered to 150 MUET test-takers in Phase 1. Phase 2 adopted the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) to identify the functionalities of MUETBot via a panel of 13 experts. In Phase 3, the validity and reliability of the developed MUETBot were obtained via content validation by five experts and User Acceptance Test by 30 students. The researcher investigated the effectiveness of MUETBot in supporting the learning of MUET reading skills among 80 university students through pre and post MUET reading tests followed by a semi-structured guided interview. The overall findings for Phase 1 revealed that the majority of students faced challenges in extracting relevant information for argument, managing time, and understanding the meaning of words. Findings from Phase 2 using FDM resulted in the development of MUETBot that consisted of 5 main menus: Exam format, note, practice, quiz, and ask me. In Phase 3, the findings based on the achievement in pre and post MUET reading tests revealed that there was a significant difference t(39)=.000, p < .05 in the MUET reading skills of students involved in the MUETBot intervention. Student responses from the interview indicated a positive attitude toward MUETBot, emphasizing its convenience and effectiveness in practicing MUET reading skills. This implies that MUETBot is a suitable learning support for MUET reading skills. The developed MUETBot can be adapted to other courses in future studies, and its evaluation can involve different participants.