Learning objects for collaborative learning in engineering programmes

The importance of collaborative learning for engineering students to succeed in their programmes and in their professional careers is widely recognised. Many undergraduate engineering programmes include a variety of activities such as team projects and other collaborative activities to help students learn from each other. A number of researchers have worked on developing suitable technologies, such as specialised wikis, to support collaborative learning. Most of these tools are designed to be general-purpose, rather than being focused on specific items of knowledge. Along a different line, the approach of learning objects has focused on knowledge-related issues, ignoring collaborative-learning aspects. The goal of the work reported in this paper is to present an innovative model of learning objects that, while retaining the focus of a given learning object on a specific knowledge item, integrates collaborative learning into it. As we will see, the approach enables the instructor to scaffold the students’ ...