Learning systems design with UML and patterns

Research in educational multimedia shows many benefits of learning with the use of multimedia environments. To take advantage of these benefits, the authors developed a multimedia assisted teaching environment (MATE), which is being tried in supporting their teaching of information technology (IT) subjects, MATE's main strength is its ability to facilitate reuse of multimedia components while developing teaching material. In this paper, MATE is described from the perspective of a student learning systems analysis and design via projects and case studies. The workings of the MATE tool are illustrated with an example that shows their approach to teaching design skills with reusable design patterns.