Novice Programming Students' Perception of Learning Object

Abstract

This paper intends to address design issues identified from the evaluation outcome of several types of Learning Object (LO) used in a C programming lab. LO is a small, independent and reusable learning unit that accomplishes a single learning outcome. Due to the size, it is also called as micro learning object. It is also possible, to aggregate several types of LO to sequence the learning activities. Evaluation on LO is essential to study the merits and pitfalls to improve the design. Leaners' views are important to understand the guidelines and consideration to ensure the success of LOs as the learning support in a programming lab. Three types of micro LOs designed and developed for C programming module. Learning object review instrument (LORI 1.5) was used to evaluate LO by measuring six dimensions of quality. Eighty foundation in engineering students participated in evaluating the LOs. Overall, the evaluation results indicate that the three types of micro LOs (content object, practice object and assessment object) rated as acceptable learning support in a programming lab. The design issues outlined in this study could be a guide for academicians and researchers who keen in developing learning objects for programming languages.