Details

Based on the experience on conducting training to the First Year students in the new 4-Year Curriculum in 2012/13, it was found that the students needed extra learning support. Students of the 4-Year Curriculum cohort felt they did not have enough background to understand certain contents presented in the training even though it was not mentioned any specific background knowledge was required for the training activities. After reviewing the issue and student feedback, the project team believed this learning difficulty could be caused by psychological and language reasons. 

In light of this, the project team proposed to enhance the support for the students of the 4-Year Curriculum cohort. The project aimed to develop training materials to explain certain background information in an interactive manner for pre-learning training and post-learning revision. Some special technical terms were explained in the materials to help students wtih language difficulty. In order to help students get familiar with the training environment and workshop equipment, an eLearning platform was used. Such eLearning system facilitated students to learn in an interactive manner at their own pace. With the help of technology, the learning now became interactive so that students could acquire basic concepts related to their hands-on learning activities by going through the course materials independently before or after the activities. Through the Blackboard system, the instructor could monitor students' learning progress through online monitoring function of the classroom management system. The instructor could provide just-in-time support to help students immediately.