Applied Engineering in Agriculture Vol. 22(3): 461-475 E 2006 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers ISSN 0883-8542 461 RAPID PROTOTYPING OF LEARNING OBJECTS FOR AGRICULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION E. S. Sepúlveda Bustos, F. S. Zazueta, R. Bucklin, E. Holzapfel Hoces ABSTRACT. This work presents a rapid prototyping methodology for the design, production, and deployment of a Learning Object (LO). The methodology focuses on reducing the development process to the minimum number of steps necessary to produce a quality learning resource. The methodology is based on clearly defining the subject matter domain, establishing learning objectives using Bloom’s taxonomy, developing an ontology of learning resources that satisfy the learning objectives for different learning styles, and producing and testing the learning resource. The methodology was used to develop a Learning Object on surface tension directed to undergraduate Agricultural and Biological Engineering students. The LO was tested for quality and effectiveness with a group of undergraduate students. Students using the LO were able to meet the required learning objectives in a reasonable amount of time on task and found the learning experience to be of quality. Keywords. Education, On-line learning, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Learning Styles, Learning objective, Metatags. he convergence of distributed communication net- works and learning/teaching tools has transformed the educational process into one in which informa- tion is delivered just-in-time and anywhere (Mer- kow, 2002). However, numerous courses exist that are taught using the traditional lecture format that have accumulated large quantities of educational materials, including learning objectives, content, and assessment tools. To realize the ad- vantages that online learning resources provide for the tradi- tional and the distance learner, it becomes necessary to develop a systematic approach to the adaptation and conver- sion of materials in non-digital format to materials that can be used as resources for on-line learning. It is possible to close the existing gap between the tools and techniques of traditional teaching and on-line learning by taking advantage of advances in Information Technology, in particular the tools and techniques of Learning Objects (LOs). LOs are digital resources used in teaching and learning. The primary goal of applying the tools and techniques of LOs is to develop learning materials that are reusable, interoperable, modular, durable, and accessible, particularly for use on the Web (e.g. Roschelle et al., 1998; Henderson, 1999; Longmire, 2000; Singh, 2000). Technolo- gies associated to LOs include a set of tools and techniques Submitted for review in November 2005 as manuscript number EDU 6190; approved for publication by the Education Division of ASABE in February 2006. The authors are Elsa S. Sepúlveda Bustos, ASABE Member, Doctoral Candidate in Agricultural Engineering specializing in Water Resources in Agriculture, Facultad de Ingeniería Agrícola, Departmento de Recursos Hídricos, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán, Chile; Fedro S. Zazueta, ASABE Fellow, Director and Professor, Office of Academic Technology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; Ray Bucklin, ASABE Member Engineer, Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and Eduardo A. Holzapfel Hoces, ASABE Member Engineer, Professor, Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán, Chile. Corresponding author: Fedro S. Zazueta, Office of Academic Technology, 1012 Turlington, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; phone: 352-392-0365; fax: 352-392-7065; e-mail: fsz@ufl.edu. to structure knowledge and software architecture for its access, including a set of evolving standards. THE NEED FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING OF LOS The Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) at the University of Florida’s Office of Academic Technology is charged with providing faculty support for the development of on-line materials for distance education and on-site courses. Most universities have an organization that provides similar services. To produce a learning resource, an organization or university employs a production team led by an instructional designer and a faculty member. These teams successfully develop very high quality learning resources. However, development of these learning resources requires expensive professional expertise and is time consuming. As a result, the production rate of on-line learning environments is low, resulting in a small impact on the University community. Thus, a need exists for a system that can be used for learning content production that ensures by process that: 1) the final product incorporates the fundamental tenants of good instructional design (PGL, 2005) and results in an effective learning tool, 2) it reduces the time required for development of on-line materials, 3) and it reduces the cost of production of on-line materials. With current technologies it is feasible to capture structured learning content (Boettcher, 2003) as it is being developed, store it, retrieve it, and present it to the end user. Three components are in place at the University of Florida (UF) that make this possible: S Experience in the development of enterprise-level object- oriented publication management systems. An enterprise- level system (EDIS at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu) of this type was created at the University of Florida used by the Flori- da Cooperative Extension Service (Beck and Papajorgji, 2002) for creating, maintaining, distributing, and archiv- T