Peer-Teaching of Computer Skills with Cooperative Learning in Macao: Work in Progress

Abstract

University students in Macao are required to attend computer literacy courses to develop their basic skill levels and knowledge as part of their mastery foundations. To be effective, such courses, which are very staff intensive and require access to expensive equipment and software, demand high levels of individual teaching. Still, teachers frequently complain about the weak IT skills of many courses. This on-going research proposes an enhanced model for designing and delivering computer literacy courses based on peer-tutoring to improve student outcomes. It is expected to ensure that the curriculum content, learning styles and assessment procedures are properly aligned and fully understood by both instructors and students to achieve high quality results. In Macao, most students hold a Confucian Heritage Cultural (CHC) background and, thus, it is expected/ we anticipate that the present study will provide new insights into the relation between CHC and peer-tutoring.