Engaging distance and on-campus students in problem based learning

Abstract

The University of Southern Queensland in Australia offers multiple entry pathways to a suite of integrated programs delivered to oncampus and distance education students. The programs cover 2 to 5 years in 9 majors. A specially designed strand of four integrated courses using Problem Based Learning (PBL) was incorporated into programs and replaced some traditionally taught (lecture) content-based courses. The first offer of the new foundation course took place in 2002. It has since been recognised through a number of national and international awards. For the initial offer, delivering a PBL course to distance engineering students working in virtual teams, had never been done before in the world. It is currently delivered to approximately 400 students annually. Student feedback indicates that the course successfully inculcates attributes such as teamwork, communication, and to solve technical problems. All these attributes have been identified as being desirable by professional and industry bodies around the world.