Building blocks for flexible and engaging learning environments

Abstract

State of the art engineering courses have to address rapidly changing content and nurture the development of graduate attributes. At the same time, students are increasingly time deprived as they have multiple competing commitments. This paper reports on an effort to provide students with multiple learning activities that address frequent changes in teaching materials, but also promote transferable skills and graduate attributes. The main focus of this study is a third year introductory course into computer systems and communication protocols. Building blocks of this innovation have been used in other courses as well. Courses operate in an environment where about 60% of students are located off-campus, many are of mature age. This makes any attempt to change the course challenging, as equity between on-campus and external students has to be preserved. Current building blocks include electronic marking rubrics, flexible assessment deadlines, peer assessment and remote access laboratories. Key goals of these innovations are to foster student engagement, offer opportunities to improve graduate attributes and expose students to a greater coverage of subject content. The aim of this study is to find a balance between lectures, activities, peer engagement and remote laboratory exercises.