Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 922 de 957
general, the classification of learning content is based on the author’s knowledge and the
content resources which are available to authors.
Learning Content DB (Figure 3) can be defined as a system that is used to create, store, use
and reuse learning content. It could be school system or school district information system
or nation-wide information system. If national DB is not available to the curriculum
designers, they may have to use contents taken from the internet or CD-ROM media which
may face various copyright issues. In order to disseminate educational materials through a
comprehensive and efficient outlet, the construction of a central learning content DB
should be implemented. Nationwide and instantaneous sharing of learning-related
materials and information among curriculum designers must be a key ability for creating
the digital textbook together. Therefore Learning Content DB needs to be developed to
ensure both quality and quantity of contents up to the standard level and guidelines must
be established for contents sharing.
Identifying Levels
The node has a knowledge level by adding a grade level. In a typical learning structure
(learning model or course guide) is laid out in a tree-like structure of course topics (where
you are, where you have been and where you are heading). However, identifying
knowledge levels of certain topics may be subjective and arbitrary and could easily be
reversed. And different countries may use different curriculum. Therefore, once again
guideline for the knowledge levels of topics has to be shared by curriculum designers or
authors but it could be modified.
Conclusion
In this paper, we propose a mindmap based digital textbook and authoring tool for
engineering education. We implement the interactive textbook interface with clear layout
and structure. The MindBook provides several functions: constructing mindmap, learning
resource links and textbook generation. We confirm that learning modules and textbook
can be easily created by using the authoring tool we have developed and the created
textbooks can be saved in digital library. By using a web-based mindmap, combined
authors can contribute to create textbooks.
We performed a user study to investigate its efficiency and flexibility as a potential
authoring tool. A user study shows that this new model has great potential to enhance
teaching and learning approaches. MindBook is able to show users where they are, where
they have been and where they are heading. The knowledge that students have to learn is
evolving therefore Mindbook can assist in overcoming the limitations of today’s digital
textbook applications which are lacking in group collaboration and guidance.
The most important implication of this study is that it is exposing possible problems when
curriculum designers work together. By providing them with an opportunity to interact
with innovations in course design, teaching methodologies and learning resources we
hope students have the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to stimulate their
interest for engineering as a possible career.
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011