Addressing different cognitive levels for on-line learning

On-line teaching and learning with the help of a learning environment naturally shifts the balance from a teacher-centred to a student-centred approach. When teachers and students are not often in face-to-face contact, the learning has to be carefully planned and adequately supported by the teaching environment to induce learning at the appropriate level. In previous work, we have argued that in on-line learning the main focus should be student activities (“what students do”), rather than what teachers do (Fernandez, 2001; Fernandez, John & Netherwood 2001; John, Netherwood, Sudarmo & Fernandez, 2002). We describe here an approach to teaching Mathematics by targeting clearly identified and expressly stated learning outcomes at different appropriate learning levels. Our approach relies on the use of WebLearn, a student-centred learning environment that possesses symbolic manipulation capabilities via the use of a Maple engine. In this paper we describe how WebLearn can be used to provide automated formative and summative assessment of university students studying Mathematics. The discussion centres on how a subject may be broken down using learning objectives at different levels of abstraction, and how these may be addressed by a lecture plan closely aligned with the support provided by the use of a studentcentred learning environment.