"Resource-based learning through the use of ICT to encourage independence of first year medical radiation sciences students"

Students are introduced to a new topic on a weekly basis and are required to write essays during the semester and sit for an exam at the end of the subject. Topics are predetermined and presented in a sequential weekly tutorial format. Students attend weekly tutorials and they conduct activities in tutorials to build on the content presented in the subject web site.

Resources provided to students include:

• A subject web site that serves as the repository for all necessary information about the subject.
• Library reading resources.
• Reference materials provided in the tutorials.
• A computer-assisted instruction program.

Students are supported by:

• Tutors in tutorials.
• The web site that allows students to be kept informed about the subject schedule.
• Online communication tools that allow students to interact with other students and provide up-to-date notices.

The content introduced in the subject is then assessed in a final exam.

This exemplar has been selected for inclusion for the following reasons:

• The learning design incorporates the use of ICT for the purpose of encouraging a more independent mode of learning for the students.
• It illustrates the use of a Computer-Assisted Learning program, developed with the assistance of funding from the former Australian Government Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching (CAUT), as a resource and support mechanism for students.

Comment from the Evaluation Team...

When this exemplar underwent an evaluation by this project, the evaluators firstly needed to consider what was the learning design and then evaluate it in terms of whether it had the potential to foster high quality learning and if it could be redeveloped in a more generic form.

Interestingly, the evaluators interpreted the "learning design" as being the design inherent in the Computer-Assisted Learning program rather than the design of the overall learning experience where ICT is used to promote a more independent approach to student learning.

This illustrates how the issue of granularity significantly affects how a "learning design" is defined.