Several common lesson structures were explored and
applied while designing OOP eLessons.
A. Classic tutorials
In the classic tutorial, the learners start with an
introduction to the lesson and then proceed through a series
of pages teaching progressively more advanced concepts. At
the end they may encounter a review of the concepts and a
test or other activity to measure whether they accomplished
the objectives of the lesson.
Content diagram of one of such eLessons, an
introductory lesson that presents the basics of OOP, is
presented in Fig. 1. Although the structure is not so complex,
several CMU templates have been used to design it (5/8
offering the possibilities of remediation using objectives).
Basic functionalities of Moodle’s Lesson module, as well as
newly developed feature for post-test creation were used to
implement this eLesson.
B. Learner-customized tutorials
In learner-customized tutorials (Horton 2000) lessons
branch according to the knowledge and/or desires of the
individual learners, providing them with a learning
experience shaped to their personal needs.
Such eLessons have rather complex structure, which
alternates branch pages and content pages. Branch pages
determine which set of content pages the learner sees. They
may present the learner with a list of paths to choose from, or
test the user and branch based on the results. Or the learner
may skip the content pages altogether.
The learner-customized tutorial structure can itself be
customized. Everything can be varied: how the branching is
performed, how long the branch paths are, and how many
times the path branches within the lesson. Learners can also
be given more flexibility to explore multiple paths.
There are several eLessons in OOP course that could be
considered as more or less complex illustrations of this
concept. One of them (eLesson on interfaces) is presented in
Fig. 2. This eLesson was created mainly according to
template 4 suggested by CMU, but it can be noticed that it
partly follows the reasoning that stands behind template 9 as
well.
The lesson branches at the very beginning so the learner
can choose one of the subtopics to explore. Besides
explanations of certain concepts, subtopics contain examples
and assessment LOs. After going through any of the
subtopics, learners are returned to the main menu to make
further choices on the continuations of their learning paths.
To provide the learners with possibilities to connect new
knowledge to previously gained, the author offered direct
links from the text of the introductory subtopic and some
examples to specific parts of this or other lessons in the
course.
C. Knowledge-paced tutorials
In the knowledge-paced tutorial, learners skip over as
much of the lesson as they already know. They dive into the
tutorial at their threshold of ignorance and proceed to the
end, or until they satisfy their needs.