Studying engineering by distance education: an Australian case study

Abstract

The University of Southern Queensland has offered undergraduate engineering programs by distance education since 1977. This paper describes the design, development and implementation of the distance education version of the professional level Bachelor of Engineering program, which was first offered in 1987 as a mixed-mode program. The fully external version of the program was first offered in 1997 and in 2002 it was granted full accreditation status by Engineers Australia. The program offers equality of educational opportunity to a large number of previously disenfranchised people. This is evidenced by the fact that to date almost 1000 students have benefited from its introduction.