Challenges in the design and delivery of an online postgraduate course in fibre composites

Abstract

Practicing engineers seek to enhance their careers through upgrading skills. Coursework based postgraduate programs are being offered by various institutions targeting these engineers. While face-to-face lectures are feasible in certain circumstances, these courses are ideally suited for web-based delivery, due its flexibility in learning and teaching. Due to industry driven demand, a postgraduate certificate program was introduced recently at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Toowoomba, Australia. One of the courses that was introduced as part this program was Mechanics and Technology of Fibre Composites (ENG8803). With the expertise developed over the years at USQ through the Centre of Excellence in Engineered Fibre Composites (CEEFC) and the experience of providing online and distance courses at USQ, this was an ideal course within the postgraduate program. One of the major challenges faced in the design and delivery of such courses is the need to cater for a diverse student cohort with varying industry experience. This course was successfully delivered for the first time in 2008 and employed a variety of online assessment tools. The experiences of the author in developing the course on fibre composites within the graduate program and an evaluation on the effectiveness of the diverse assessment strategies from a student learning perspective are presented in this paper. Enhancement to the course materials through multi-media resources will be discussed.