Year: 1997
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Offering interactive, multimedia courses via the Internet or CDROM is seen as one of the most promising ways of achieving the goals of cost effective, flexible, global education in a more competitive local and international student market.One of the major questions that still has to be answered, however, is whether interactive, online instructional methods can only be used to supplement traditional teaching practises, or whether they can effectively replace or even improve on them.This paper describes our experience in the design and development, so far, of the core units of a Postgraduate Diploma in Energy Studies to be offered by Murdoch University in the on-line delivery mode.This includes a discussion of some of the pedagogical and teaching/learning issues that needed to be addressed in developing such things as a common Web Browser interface and the way material is presented in an online, interactive mode.Some ideas of "What Works and Why", are given based on an evaluation of student attitudes to one of these units that has already been offered in dual mode. BackgroundThe Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE), hosted by Murdoch University in Perth, seeks to meet the increasing local and world wide need for more tertiary trained scientists, engineers and policy makers with the knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement renewable and efficient energy systems and policies [Jennings, 1996].It is doing this by developing, in conjunction with Murdoch University, a range of internationally focussed, online (Internet, CDROM, or both) University courses in renewable energy technology, energy policy, energy efficiency and greenhouse issues.This includes a number of units (courses) in several disciplines at the University undergraduate and postgraduate level that will be available for both internal (on campus) and external (off campus) study.The target market is undergraduate HECS based students and full-fee paying postgraduate students, both within Australia and internationally.There are currently five coursework units that form the basis of the postgraduate and undergraduate programs in Energy Studies.These are Energy in Society, Energy Management, Energy Systems, Energy Policy and Energy Economics.Four of these have been offered in both internal (on campus) and external (print based) mode for the last five years.Commencing in 1997 ACRE, in conjunction with Murdoch University, has begun to convert all of these units from print-based format to online units.Three of the Energy Studies units, Energy in Society, Energy Policy and Energy Systems are being developed and trialed this year.Demonstration versions can be viewed at the ACRE Website http://wwwphys.murdoch.edu.au/acre/under the Renewable Energy Education section, or through the Murdoch Teaching and Learning site at http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/under Educational Technologies.This paper will describe the development of these three units, so far, from print based to online.It also includes some of their features, and a number of observations about "what works", what doesn't and why.
Institution: Murdoch University
Language: English
Topic: Online and Blended Learning
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W370706905