Developing Large Scale Learning Objects for Software Engineering ...

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Developing Large Scale Learning Objects for Software Engineering Process Model through MIDOA Model Barajas S. Arturo1, Muñoz A. Jaime1, Álvarez R. Francisco J.1, and García G. Alma R.2 1 Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, 2 Universidad Veracruzana {abarajas, jmunozar, fjalvar}@correo.uaa.mx, [email protected]

Abstract—A severe lack of reusable self-contained contents for different knowledge areas to assure skills in students or personnel exists in many universities and companies. In order to enable universities and companies in the teaching and training of its students or human assets it is necessary to produce a great amount of contents. To achieve the large scale production of learning objects based on competencies and produced with patterns, it is proposed a software engineering process model to control the massive production of learning objects. By the usage and execution of the proposed model, MIDOA model, the production of about 130 learning objects about process maturity models has been achieved, all this for providing universities and companies with learning objects based on competencies for teaching and training their students or employees. Index Terms— Learning objects, software engineering, software models, instructional design.

I. INTRODUCTION

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HE large scale production of learning object for solving very important training, virtual education and teaching issues has become a new paradigm in an international level because learning objects are artifacts that, due to its structure and features, allow educators and trainers to achieve the development of competencies and guarantee the learning of the person who uses them. A learning object is a set of digital resources, re-usable and self-contained, with an educational objective and structured by at least three internal components: contents, learning activities and contextual elements (Fig. 1). The learning object must have an external information structure (metadata) that facilitates its storage, identification and recovery [1] [6] [13]. A learning object is a created digital informative organization for the generation of specific competencies and that receives sense based on the necessities of the subject that uses it [8] [13].

Fig. 1. Structure of a learning object.

Learning objects have been developed in order to offer technological and pedagogical support to the virtual education. Nevertheless, these software products can be used under any condition or circumstance where the training or the distribution of the knowledge is required; in the campus or in the corporate learning center, self-learning process, among others. In order to support the virtual education and the campus learning, learning objects must be produced in a massive way or in large amounts, for which patterns have to be designed and produced, considering all the three elements when they are designed and created [13]. The patterns are templates that contribute with the following elements to the learning object composition process that along with the information and the instructions will assemble, as a whole, the new learning object [9]: 1) An internal organization 2) The identification and selection of the competencies to develop 3) The kind of cognitive activities As it has been mentioned, training is a requirement of the

2 present societies, reason why the Internet is a tool that facilitates it. eLearning extends the reach of the campus and corporate learning center, and it provides learners with more ways in which to participate in education, training, and professional development, on terms increasingly defined by learners themselves, than ever before [2]. eLearning is a method for delivering faster, contextual, and cost-effective training when and where it is needed [19]. The use of this technology lays new ways to display information and to lead the synchronous and asynchronous interactions between educators and students, in a generic context. Its success requires of instructional designs that take care of and plan the production of suitable learning environments for the educative modality, besides to find paths for the administration and evaluation of the system. Thus, the instructional design will have to take care of where, when and how the students will study [4]. The instruccional design is the systematic process for translating the general principles of learning and instruction into plans for materials and instruccional learning [5]. The instruccional design is the process that generates instructional specifications by means of the use of instructional theories and learning theories to assure that the objectives will be achieved [3].

structured nor based on software engineering that guarantees the consistency and standardization of the production to increase the quality of products does not exist. In order to respond to these questions it is proposed to carry out the massive generation of learning objects based on competencies through patterns through a production model, MIDOA model: Modelo Instruccional para el Desarrollo de Objetos de Aprendizaje, that controls the process and gives a tracking from the identification of a problem to the evaluation of the produced learning objects to make a process in a spiral of continuous improvement of these products.

III. MIDOA MODEL As mentioned in [7], MIDOA model covers five phases of the learning object development process (Fig 2). The five phases are: Analysis, Design, Development, Usage, and Evaluation. For each one of these phases, the inputs and outputs, in Table I, are settled down to explain the process described in Fig. 2.

II. PROBLEM OUTLINE In many universities and companies a severe lack of reusable self-contained contents for different knowledge areas to assure skills in students or personnel exists, although universities and companies produce massive contents in digital formats for teaching and training students and employees. Because of this phenomenon, it is very difficult to assure that students and corporate employees acquire the necessary competencies they need at in their future or current jobs. A proposal for the solution of this problem is the massive production of learning objects of the different knowledge areas for covering the competencies, skills and knowledge required, particularly, at Aguascalientes State. The knowledge areas required in this state are related to Software Engineering including the different standards for quality as well as the maturity software process models of present and future use. The massive production of learning objects implies other problems still greater: 1) How to produce reusable learning objects in a massive way that can be stored in a repository for their exploitation and administration? 2) The experts in contents have not been provided with simple and intuitive tools that automate the massive contents production. 3) The learning object producers do not have the rationale that supports the structuring or design of the learning objects, or the experience in the knowledge area in which the learning object applies. 4) For the production of a learning object a process neither

Fig. 2. Learning object production model proposed [7].

The stakeholders in each phase are defined as follows: 1) In Analysis phase, the pedagogue and the analyst will be the experts in analyzing the pedagogical strategies for covering the presented learning problem. For each problem, it has to be developed or identified at least one competency that covers or solves it. A competency can cover one or more problems, as well as a problem can be solved by several competencies.

3 TABLE I INPUTS AND OUTPUTS FOR EACH PHASE Phase Analysis

Design

Development Usage Evaluation

Input Institutional Educative Model Pedagogic Theories Taxonomies Evaluations Competency analysis Models Strategies Production rules Instructional design Learning objects Learning objects Usage diagnose

Output Competency analysis Problem requirements

Production rules Patterns Instructional design Learning objects Usage diagnose Content evaluation

2) The designer is the expert in instruccional design, that is to say, in how the learning objects must be structured to guarantee the learning of the user. In this phase is where the production of the patterns from the requirements established in the phase of Analysis is carried out. 3) The author and the developer have two different but complementary roles in the phase of development. The author is the one who creates the contents, is the expert in the area or content expert, and the developer is the technological expert in the tools or elements to transport those contents into a learning object 4) In usage phase, the author and the user are who will use the developed learning objects and will express an “evaluation” in terms of usability, level of learning, quality of contents, among other learning object metrics. From another point of view, these two roles can be seen as the professor and the student. 5) In the phase of evaluation, a evaluator and the learning object user are involved, where the evaluator is the expert in the evaluation of the learning objects from two points of view: 1) the pertinence of contents, i.e., how good are the contents within the context of the problem they cover, and 2) amount of contents, that indicates how extensive the contents are and if they are really sufficient to cover the subject. The user takes part in this phase since he or she is the one who determines if the object is really useful for him or her, because he or she is the end user and does not know the treated subject. It is possible to clarify that, in this point, an evaluator can be even another expert in contents or another professor, since to carry out a satisfactory evaluation, the subject must be known in depth. An important aspect that must be stand out of the proposed model is that it is based on a spiral process, which has been proposed by Boehm [17] [18], since this model presents the following advantages for its adaptation or to be the basis for MIDOA model: 1) It is an evolutionary software process model [18], which faithfully represents the learning object development. Since the learning objects are not static products, but

products that evolve according to the necessities of the students, the teachers, the universities or companies. 2) The advantage of the spiral model compared with other models is the explicit risk management [17], which allows evaluating the feasibility of the production and use of a learning object. 3) The spiral model is a realistic approach for the software and system development on large scale because it incorporates a frame of iterative work and a systematic approach [18], causing that MIDOA model reflects the large-scale production of learning objects. 4) A spiral cycle initiates with the elaboration of objectives, and then alternative forms are listed to make fulfill these objectives and the restrictions imposed by each one of these alternatives. The following step is the one to evaluate the risks of the alternatives [17]. These steps represent the development of a learning object in its initial Analysis and Design phases. The creation of the model will include different practices and will clearly define the agents, roles, techniques and artifacts for each established phase to give formality and a engineering and methodological approach to the development of these software products that are the learning objects, solving, in this way, the problems identified within this subject of investigation [7] in section II Problem Outline. In addition, the use of patterns, since has been mentioned in previous investigations as [9] and [10], resolves the problem of the large scale production of learning objects based on competencies, facilitating to pedagogues as to technologists the generation of electronic contents with high quality that guarantee the learning of the users. Nevertheless, none of these publications has shown an instance of the production and use of patterns in a explicit way, and they have not focused to other phases of the life cycle of the patterns and of the learning objects; they have left aside so important aspects as the requirements of the problem, their development or production, its use and even how these are evaluated for generate a cycle of continuous quality improvement. From the paragraph above, it is possible to observe that the solution to the massive production of learning objects problem is not focused to a single process (production of patterns as it was mentioned), but it is necessary the interaction of several actors who have different roles and that interact within multiple processes at different levels (pedagogical, technological, of use of the objects of learning, administrative, institutional, among others) with the patterns and learning objects.

IV. APPLYING MIDOA MODEL The application of MIDOA model has been carried out in the production of CMM (Capability Maturity Model) and CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) learning objects, because in these areas, at Aguascalientes State, a lack of contents appears for the training of bachelor degree students

4 and companies who wish to initiate the adoption of these process maturity models. In addition, interpretations of the models do not exist within the Mexican context that allow to those who study or adopt it do it in an intuitive and simple way, and that serves as a guide to define a software development process that involves continuous improvement. Next the development of a CMM learning object is shown from the phase of analysis to its evaluation for a quality improvement. A. Analysis The first step to carry out the process established by MIDOA model is to analyze the institutional educative model, or in this case develop the analysis of the syllabus for which the learning objects will be elaborated. This activity is executed by the pedagogue and the analyst, whose responsibilities are to establish the learning activities and the mechanisms to assure the correct learning, and to make the interpretation of the presented in the syllabus or institutional educative model. The Software Engineering syllabus from the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes University has been taken like reference for the production of learning objects. The syllabus is made up of a general mission (Fig 3) and a set of particular objectives by study unit (Fig 4).

In the syllabus analysis process the competencies that will cover each one of the problems presented must be generated. In this case five competencies were identified: --Structuring --Interpretation --Knowledge --Analysis --Use of interpretation These competencies can be applied to solve each one of the problems presented in the syllabus, shown in the first column of the Table II, by just making a mapping between each competency and each problem producing a learning object or a set of learning objects in each case (Table II) in two possible ways: TABLE II PROBLEMS SOLVED THROUGH SPECIFIC COMPENTECIES KnowlAnalysis StrucInterpreedge turing tation To understand the main concepts of software products

Learning object S1

To apply the process maturity model

Learning object S2

Learning object K1

Learning object I1

To understand and to know the structure of life cycles …

Learning object K2 Learning object A1

1) Making a longitudinal coverage of the identified competencies for the subject, in other words, developing learning objects with the same contextual elements, different information resources (the information resources that apply to the competencies being treated) and with all the competencies (Fig. 5): produce five CMMI learning objects per each process area, each one covering just one of the competencies identified above. Fig. 3. Excerpt from the Software Engineering syllabus.

Fig. 5. Longitudinal production of learning objects.

Fig. 4. Excerpt from the Software Engineering syllabus.

2) Carrying out a transversal coverage of the identified competencies for the subject, where the same competency is attached to several information resources and contextual

5 elements. As shown in Fig. 6, there are five different information resources and contextual elements of maturity models under the same Structuring competency.

Fig. 6. Transversal production of learning objects.

B. Design Once the analysis has been made, it is necessary to carry out the pattern design to cover each competency and be able to produce a learning object. For the design it is necessary to establish, in a clear and explicit way, which ones will be the activities, the contextual elements, and information resources that will be used to feed the pattern. Once established these three elements by the designer, a general diagram must specify the layout for all these elements inside the pattern, so in this way, as the developer as the author can create new learning objects from this pattern in a intuitive way by just replacing the corresponding elements and contents in each predefined location. In order to illustrate the application of the patterns, the Structuring competency was used to create a learning object. In this example, a CMM learning object was designed, and the pattern is shown in Fig. 7. In this pattern, the (A) and (B) sections cover the learning object component of contextual elements, the (B) section corresponds the information resources in the structure, and finally, the (C) section covers the learning activities.

Fig. 7. Structuring pattern.

When the pattern is ready it has to be stored in a pattern repository for its use, deployment and exploiting by the developer and the authors.

C. Development In this phase, the author will contribute with the information resources and the contextual elements in a digital format as an input to the learning object development process in order to feed the pattern for assembling the learning object. The developer will contribute with the technological labor if the professor is not related to the usage of the tools for the learning objects development. It will be the one who assembles the learning object in a technological way, in other words, will carry out the programming and the use of production tools and technologies as HTML, XML, among others. For more information and some examples of ready-to-use learning objects please go to http://ingsw.ccbas.uaa.mx/repositorio/. At present the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes University through the academic corps of Tecnologías de Ingeniería de Software y Objetos de Aprendizaje counts with a collection of 130 learning objects in CMM and CMMI areas, and these learning objects are stored in the institutional repository (http://ingsw.ccbas.uaa.mx/repositorio/) D. Usage When the learning objects are assembled, produced and stored in a repository for their deployment and exploiting, they can be used in a virtual or in classroom course ([14], [15], [16]) through the repository itself or embedded in other collaborative tools such as Moodle, just by importing learning objects into an electronic course. Through the usage of the learning objects, the students, employees, teachers or trainers (users and authors) can provide with the most important thing: feedback to the evaluators for increasing the quality of the contents in three main aspects: pertinence of the contents, graphical design, and instructional design. E. Evaluation Once the learning objects have been used by the authors and users, the evaluator receives essential information from the users according to how useful were the learning objects he or she used. According with the observations obtained, the changes must be structured as a kind of requirements through some format proposed in [11] and [12], and in this way a learning object can be improved in its quality to assure the learning of the users. The whole process is shown as an incremental spiral, but when does this spiral must stop? The learning object improving process must be stopped when the level of quality established as the minimum or as the standard level is achieved by an object.

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK The massive production of learning objects through patterns helps to produce a big quantity of contents able to be reused and shared in order to reduce the lack of contents and

6 interpretations of process maturity models for the training of students at universities and employees at software factories. The use of a Software Engineering process model for controlling the production of learning objects helps to create high quality products and, in some way, standardize the process and be able to make enhancements to the process and the products. This subject of investigation is extensive and is necessary to carry out a higher detailed definition of the actors, roles and artifacts that are involved within MIDOA model. The process established by MIDOA model must be defined in an explicit and extensive way to describe, with greater fidelity, the learning object production. One important element to be integrated within the model is a process maturity model for the learning object production process; this is, to make the adaptation of a software process maturity model, like CMMI, to the elaboration of learning objects for guarantee that not only the products have a high quality but the process itself has a high quality.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to be thankful to all the personnel of the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes University involved in the achievement of the objectives raised in project SEPUNAM 130, by the production of learning objects, papers and researches that have made possible the generation of new contributions to the learning object production process. Also, to be thankful by the effort that is being carried out by researchers, students and companies for the production of MoProSoft learning objects under a collaborative project among the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes University, the Universidad Politécnica de Aguascalientes University, and Medikas Corporation. REFERENCES [1] [2]

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