DISCourse: tools for the design of learning material

This contribution covers those areas of courseware design that can be supported with computerised tools, like learner modelling, instructional design and domain representation. In the Design and Interactive Specification of Courseware (DISCourse) framework the learner is modelled from both a static perspective and a dynamic one. The static model accounts for those learner characteristics which are largely independent from the specific domain being taught while the dynamic model monitors the studentʹs progress with respect to the authorʹs declared goals. The selection and application of suitable instructional strategies are based on a generic tutoring environment (GTE), an environment where teaching expertise is represented independently of the particular domain being taught. GTEʹs libraries provide tasks, methods and objects to navigate course structures, elaborate on individual contents, manage exercises and evaluate the studentʹs progresses. In the paper more detail is devoted to the area of domain and content representation. In the domain analysis, an author produces a description of the entities of interest in the subject domain; this representation is independent of any specific instructional strategy, and is therefore completely reusable. The learning goal analysis is devoted to the description of the degree of mastery the learner should acquire for each given element of content. The goals are expressed in terms of knowledge, understanding and ability of application of the given element of content. In the content analysis, an author elaborates on the domain representation, customising it to the particular instructional purpose of the courseware under development. Topics of interest are selected, pre-requisite links are added and the elements of content are further typified to add structuring information which will be used in the strategy selection. The content analysis is tightly interrelated with the learning goal analysis, and these two are often performed concurrently.