Abstract
This study reports the progressive refinement of a course design for pre-service teachers in a public university. For supporting them to comprehend the new theory of learning and apply it to interpreting educational practices, we developed a multimedia material that described the best practice. In the first year of its deployment, students were found not to be engaged in cognitive activities we anticipated. Based on the analysis of their activities, we refined the multimedia material and further deployed a new card material in the second year. Results from the comparison between the two years manifest that the refinement made cognitive activities by pre-service teachers more constructive and collaborative. We discuss the improvement by describing how the coordination between the multimedia and cards facilitate collaborative problem solving.
