Development of learning object for engineering courses in UTeM.

2009 Intenational Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED 2009), December 7-8, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Development of Leaming Object for
Engineering Courses in UTeM
Ummi Raba'ah bt Hashim

Aida Fazliana Abdul Kadir, Azrita Alias,

Faculty of Information and Communication Technology
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melka (UTeM)
Melaka, Malaysia
ummi@utem.edu.my

Elia Erwani Hassan

Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)
Melka, Malaysia
fazliana@utem.edu.my, arita@utem.edu.my,
erwani@utem.edu.my
community re involved in the development cycle including

lecturers as SME (Subject Matter Expert), Instructional
Designer, Graphic Designer, Multimedia Developer, Voice
Over Talent as well as Language Editor. The roles of UTeM's
academician as SME is critical throughout the leaning object
development. Apart rom being a content expert, the SE also
takes pt in other stages of development to ensure content
quality of the leaning object. SME's involvement in the
quality assurance process is crucial to ensure that the lening
object being developed is reliable in content, reusable in other
domain as well as ensuring that the lening object really
achieves its intended leaning outcome.

Abstrat-This paper views e-Iearning initiative in UTeM with a
focus on the development of learning object for engineering
courses in UTeM. Having a learning management system called
SPeL, UTeM further promote e-Iearning culture by encouraging
knowledge sharing through SPeL's learning object repository.
UTeM is gradually building a collection of reusable learning
objects to be shared across faculties. The paper discusses the
concept of learning object in UTeM context, roles of Subject

Matter Expert (SME), UTeM's learning object design strategy
and the development stages of learning object in UTeM. The
paper further stated briely on the beneits of learning object to
UTeM.

Kwors-e-leaning; leaning object; subjet mater pet;

II.

SPeL; engineering couses

I.

There are vrious defmitions of leaning object. Wiley [9]
deined lening object as any digital resource that can be
reused to support lening. Boyle [2] stated that lening
object should be tied to only one lening outcome to allow
reusability between disciplines where one lening object cn
be used to achieve the same lening outcome in diferent
disciplines. IEEE Lening Technology Standard Committee

[5] defmed leaning object as a digital lening resource that
facilitate a single lening objective and which may be reused
in a diferent context. In UTeM context, leaning object is
deined as the smallest lesson unit with a single lening
outcome as shown in Figure 1.

INTRODUCTION

The advent of e-Iening has created a new educational
trend among Malaysian universities. Most of the universities
in Malaysia have started to utilize lening management
system (LMS) as an effort to facilitate teaching and lening
process. E-Leaning initiative in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia
Melaka (UTeM) has stted around 2006 since it is called
Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM).
To ther encourage the use of e-Iening, UTeM has adopted
a lening management system called SPeL (Sistem
Pengurusan E-Lening). SPeL offers a blended lening
solution, where conventional method is integrated with the use
of virtual instructional environment to facilitate teaching and

lening process. SPeL also allows collaboration between
lecturers and students in the form of online discussion and
content sharing. One of SPeL's mission is to promote
knowledge management and knowledge sharing cultre in
UTeM's community by having lecturers rom various faculties
contributing to the development of leaning objects. The plan
is to gradually build a repository of sharable and reusable
lening objects across faculties.
There are few stages/processes involved in developing
lening object in UTeM. The processes include content
chunking, lening object design and development of MML
(Multimedia Lesson). Various parties rom UTeM's

978-1-4244-4844-9/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE

L ENNG OBJECT CONCEPT

Figure I. Lening Objects

191

2009 Intenational Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED 2009), December 7-8, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ater the process of identiying list of LOs to be
developed, the SME will then work on each LO by selecting
suitable content with appropriate instructional strategy for the
LO. In this design stage, SME is responsible to ensure that the
LO will be independent, reusable in other relevant subjects
nd could promote self lening.
In the next stage of development process, SME works
closely with Instructional Designer (ID) by reviewing the
stoyboards produced and also the inal product, lening
object in the form of Multimedia Lesson (MML), to urther
improve the quality of the LO. The collaboration between
SME and ID is important to enable sharing of ideas and views
to achieve a reliable evaluation [4, 8].

In the initial stage of lening object development in
UTeM, subject is broken down to smaller topics nd urther
down to smaller leaning unit called Leaning Object (LO).
Figure 2 shows example of two different subjects offered by

two diferent faculties which has been broken down to a list of
LO for each subject. Each of the LO listed is attached to a
single leaning outcome. It cn be seen that, some of the LO
rom diferent subjects have similar title and share similar
lening outcome. Therefore, in this case, only one LO is
being developed and can be shared among common subjects.
Subject & Code

: nciples ofElecical nd Electroics I BENE Illl

Falty

: Falty ofElectroics Engineeing & Computer Engineeing

IV.

�6

cr
Topic

Prominent educators [6, 7] claimed that leaning is better
inluenced by the instructional strategy used in the leaning
materials than by the type of instructional technology used to
deliver instruction.
The purpose of e-Ieaning is to promote interactive
lening, self leaning and to enhance student's understanding.
Hence, lening objects should be desined with appropriate
instructional strategy to encourage leaning and knowledge
transfer. Leaning activities crated in lening objects could
encourage active processing of information and facilitate
storage of information in long-term memory [6]. Since
lening objects have content, context, and structure, the
content of the lening objects should be presented to the
lener in a clear manner, its structure adapted to the context,
nd its context should relect the lening needs [ 1].
In developing mass repositoy of leaning object, time and
SME prticipation is the main concen. In order to expedite
nd simpliy design process, the following common
instructional strategy is used in UTeM:

Leaning utcome

71

ACGenerator

Able to recognize the AC Generator

72

ACGenerator: Constuction

Able to explan the constuction of

AC Generator: Operation

Able to explan the operation ofA'

A:oenmtnr

r

13

generator to produce AC voltage
'tn

e.Ilan the ge

.�
�

""I
"
.

Subject & Code

Electical Tehnology I BEPI423

Falty

: Faulty of Electil Engineing

Slar
Lng
Outcome

Topic
Introduction to altnatng voltage
Generating AC voltage

•
•

Figure 2. Lening Object List

•

III.

LENING OBJECT DESIGN STRATEGY

SUBJECT ATTER EPERT ROLES

Introduction (gaining leamer's attention)
Content Presentation
Activity (allowing the leaner to recall things they
have leaned rom content presentation)

Introduction is a crucial component of a lening object.
A well designed introduction could attract leamer's attention
nd motivate leaners to len. An introduction may contain
statement of lening outcome, a general outline of the LO's
content , prerequisite of the lesson, problem statement and also
other engaging form of related content such as video montage
or animation. Figure 3 shows an example of the introduction
part in a lening design document for a speciic LO.

Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a person who is an expert
in a particular subject rea. In e-Iening environment,
particularly in leaning object development, SME is someone
who has speciic expertise and knowledge in certain ield such
as engineering. In development process, SE is responsible to
review, improve and approve technical work, to guide others,
and to teach.
In UTeM context, SE refers to the lecturers who are
expert in their ield and involved closely in teaching and
lening activities. SEs play an important role in the
development of lening object. They help to crat the lening
outcomes, create content, review the content for accuracy and
provide valuable feedback.
During the initial development process, SE is
responsible to chunk the content of subject into smaller
lening units and produce speciic leaning outcome for each
unit. These lening units are known as leaning objects (LO).

192

2009 Intenational Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED 2009), December 7-8, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Introducion

P raciceInteracve Acvih'

Raone :

2.0

his unit introduce basic concpt of gnrating AC voltage. It

'Iultiple Answer Question
\Vhat happen when the coil tm rates in a

shows how AC is gnrated using letromagntic indution nd

generator incr.ases?

shows simple AC wavefoms.

r Voltge decreases
P Voltge ncreases

Leang Outcome :
At the nd of this lesson unit, you should be able to undrstnd

PAC Frequency ncreases

simple men of gnrating AC volage

r Frequency decreases

Assumed Pr-knowledge:

:'eed back : According to 'raday·s Law, the

Before sttng this lesson it, you should be fir with

magnitude of the induced e.m.f is propotional to
the rate at which iL" ines re cut. herefore,

Fraday's Law.

when the coil tns faster, requency nd voltage
of the AC increase.

Figure 3. Example ofintroduction Pt in a Lening Design Document

3.0 True or False Quesion

In the content section, lening information is presented
using various strategy integrating various multimedia
elements, for example, simulation, interactive nimation, and
problem solving lesson. Lening information is being
summarized (chunked) to allow faster processing of key
information and encourage leners to explore nd len on
their own. Example of content presentation prt in a lening
design document is shown in Figure 4.

Look at the above pictre. he coil position

indicates that mimum AC voltage is induced.

o Tue
• Flse

Learnng Informaion aDd Content

COil tums to

90·

Figure 5. Example of Activity Pt in a Lening Design Document

position cutting flux tine at m(lmum voltage

Current direction is out of slip ring A
Bulb lighted
Graph line moves up from

A to

COil end

A

IS

parallel with B

v.

B

270"

The process low chart in Figure 6 shows the process of
developing engineering leaning object in UTeM. Key
processes are producing lerning design, storybording and
multimedia authoring (development). The process of
developing LO started with lesson chunking where SME is
responsible to break down their lesson/subject into
independent leaning units identiied as leaning objects. The
list of leaning objects will then be reined by the SME by
attaching each of the leaning objects with appropriate
achievable lening outcome.
The SE is also responsible to produce leaning object
design document for each of the leaning object. Lening
object design document is an outcome of a critical process
where SME careully design and plan a suitable instructional
strategy, appropriate level of content detail, engaging activities
as well as attention-grabbing introduction to be included in the
lening object. Normally, in common practice of instructional
design, instructional designer (ID) will be responsible for all
the design process, where SME is only responsible to provide
content. However, in UTeM case, SME is strategically
involved in part of the design process. Soon, the SME will be
included in each of the development process to gradually
educate them in developing their own multimedia lening
object.
The next process of developing lening object is
storyboarding. Storybord is a document containing the

360

''''

Coils tuns

10 180·

position: Coil again cutting no flux. Induced voltage is zero

Graph line moves down from A to B

!70"

L ENNG OBJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS F LOW

360"

Figure 4. Example of Content Pt in a Lening Desin Document

In the practice/interactive activity section, suitable activity
is designed, allowing the leners to recall the information
presented in the content section. Activities crated at the end
of a lesson could promote new knowledge acquisition [4] and
provide leners with a self assessment tool to self measure
their achievement. Figure 5 shows an example of activity pt
in a leaning design document.

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2009 Intenational Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED 2009), December 7-8, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
LO list wi

low/sequence of leaning object produced by instructional
designer (ID) based on leaning object design document. In
this process, ID is responsible to plan the lesson low, layout
and navigation design, placement of appropriate multimedia
elements as well as producing voice over script for the
multimedia lesson.
Based on the storyboard, a team of multimedia developers
will then develop a ully unctional multimedia leaning object
using multimedia authoring sotwre. There are many sub
processes involved at this stage such as image editing, sound
editing, video editing and voice over recording using vrious
tools such as image editing sotware, sound and video editing
sotware. Finally, the lening object is then packaged using
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)
standard. SCORM standard speciy on how a lening object
should be packaged to ensure reusability of the lening
object.
The whole development process also includes quality
assurance measures in the form of formative evaluation
(evaluation conducted during the development process) and
summative evaluation (evaluation of end product). Leaning
object is evaluated on 3 criterias; content accuracy,
presentation design and usability. Content accuracy includes
review on appropriate level of content details and achievement
of leaning outcome. Presentation design includes review on
appropriate use of visual and auditory elements (text, graphic,
animation, video, sound). Usability review includes review on
progrm unctionality, clrity of instruction and clrity of
media elements. Suitable criterias are used selectively in
review processes at every level of development such as
storyboard review and MML(Multimedia Lesson) review.
Language review is another essential review conducted by
appointed language editor ater the storyboarding process. The
purpose of language review is to check on language accuracy
of the text and voice over element in the storyboard.
The fmal product, MML, will then be uploaded to SPeL's
lening object repositoy. From the repository, lecturers rom
various faculties will select suitable LO to be included in their
online classroom.
From the low chart, it can be shown that SE is highly
involved in the whole LO development. The SE in UTeM
takes part in most of the development stages rom designing
and planning to review processes. The beauty and uniqueness
of LO development process in UTeM lies in the strong
collaboration among UTeM academician (lecturers and
students). Aprt rom being SME, they also contribute as
language auditor, voice over talent, designer as well as being
part of the multimedia development team.

Leaning
Outcome

I
SME

SME

ID

* U

Storyboard
Review (SME)
Content Quality

SME

Presentation Design

Email

ID/SIID

I Face to face

(Depending on complexity)

Language Editor 1S.ID

MML
Development
Graphic Design

MML
w/oVO

Programming

U

Developer

Voice
Over

U

U

Sound Engineer va Talent

MML
w/VO

U

Developer

MML Review

VO:

(Intemal)
Clarity

&

Frame

Synchronization

S.ID

SME

Developer

Figure 6. Lening Object Development Flow Cht

VI.

BENEFIT OF LEANING OBJECT

Lening objects has the potential to signiicantly change
the way instructions re delivered. By having a lening object
repositoy, students and instructors are able to share and
access lening objects at anytime and anyplace. Reusability
implies that lening objects may be used in multiple contexts
for multiple purposes. Instructors across faculties will be able
to select, reuse and assemble lening objects to create their
own lening path in their virtual classroom. A centralized
repositoy of lening object also allows easier maintenance of
lening object and promotes n eficient version control.

194

2009 Intenational Conference on Engineering Education (lCEED 2009), December 7-8, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
VII.

REFERENCES

CONCLUSION

[ 1]

A good lening management system is meaningless
without content. This paper has looked at UTeM initiative in
developing a collection of lening object to ully utilize one
of the most important components in SPeL, which is the
lening object repositoy. The university stressed on the
importnce of having a collection of lening object to
promote knowledge sharing culture in UTeM. Therefore, in
UTeM, instructors are encouraged to design lening objects
related to their content expertise and pticipate in the lening
object development process. In the development process,
subject matter expert (SME) plays an important role, not only
as content provider but also to ensure the overall quality of
lening object. SME ensures that the lening object is
creully designed to achieve desirable lening outcome.
Hence, the SME cooperation is deinitely crucial to ensure the
success of e-Iening in UTeM.
SPeL ofers an instructional altenative to support
teaching and lening process. Aprt rom the beneits of
sharable and reusable lening objects in the repository, SPeL
also encourage self paced lening, collaboration and self
assessment. To ully beneit rom SPeL, constraints nd
limitation in implementing the system have to be overcome or
reduced. Apparent problems include lack of SME
paticipation, low level of e-Iening awareness as well as
problems in supporting network facility (slow access to SPeL).

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]
[6]

[7 ]
[8]

[9]

195

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