In this case study Dr Kirsten Way discusses the transition she has made to teaching online and structuring her unit.
In this case study Dr Kirsten Way discusses the transition she has made to teaching online and structuring her unit.
School:
Unit:
Mode:
Context:
Academic:
Student profile:
Students enrolled:
Peter Faber Business School
OHSE603 Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Risk Management
Online*
Bachelor of Commerce/Business administration & Cert/Dip/Masters
Dr Kirsten Way
Postgraduates with a lived work experience.
40
*Although this case study is for an online unit (rather than blended unit), we have included it because the topics covered are applicable to blended units.
Hear about Dr Kirsten Way's experience.
ACU Case study: Mini-lectures and plans for case-based learning
Many thanks to the Faculty of Law and Business for the use of their Pop-up Studio equipment to record this interview.
Length: 8 mins.
The unit follows FLB's Digital Core structure, each week commonly has the following features:
The Digital Core was created to provide interactive and highly engaging online and blended learning environments for students. The key aspects of learning that it focuses on are:
Source: Digital Core Position Paper, K. Souter, S.Niraula, L.Burrell, K.Hughes, Faculty of Law and Business.
Digital Core Online Weekly Template, kindly provided by Faculty of Law and Business.
Format |
Frequency/Time |
Type |
Asynchronous lectures |
7 x 10 mins |
Pre-recorded lectures |
Synchronous drop-in session |
Weekly, 30 mins - 1 hour |
Live drop-in sessions using Adobe Connect. Varies from a drop-in consultation, discussing assessment or going over practical applications of content. |
Asynchronous discussion board activities | Weekly | Weekly for the first 6 weeks. The team made the discussion board activities part of the assessment for the unit. |
Assessment task |
Weighting (%) |
Description |
Assessment 1: Discussion forum activities |
25% |
Each fortnight for the first six weeks the lecturer posts in LEO a topic question. Students engage in the discussion and respond to other student's posts. At the end of the six weeks, students choose their best three posts and best three responses, paste them in Word and submit them to Turnitin. |
Assessment 2: Assignment - Risk management report | 40% | Student assumes the role of a health and safety manager in a medium-sized business and create a 3000 word report for a workplace scenario. |
Assessment 3: Online exam | 35% | Combination of short answer and/or essay style questions. |
The above assessments may have been designed before the latest update to the ACU Assessment Policy. See Assessment Policy for up-to-date advice on designing your assessments.
This is a list of some of the major tools used in this unit.
Tool |
Rationale |
Resources |
Adobe Presenter |
Kirsten created her pre-recorded lectures using Adobe Presenter. The aim was to cap each video at 10 minutes to increase engagement. Kirsten found this helped 'chunk' the content for the students. The team also recorded guest expert speakers, which the postgraduate students particularly appreciated. |
See Lynda guide Learning Adobe Presenter. See the video-related information in Using Technology for Content Delivery. |
Adobe Connect | Kirsten used Adobe Connect for live drop-in sessions. | See LEO guide for Adobe Connect. and Lynda guide Adobe Connect Essentials. |
Example introduction video:
OHSE603: Thermal environment - introductory video (ACU) 2016
Example assessment overview video:
OHSE603: Assessment overview (ACU) 2016
These are examples of the kinds of support the academic staff building this unit drew on.
There has been a noticeable difference in participation and discussion between the undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts. It has been harder to get the undergraduate students to engage. Kirsten's team are looking at ways to increase engagement by looking at the assessment methodology and the design of learning materials.
Kirsten would like to focus on using case-based learning to embed a realistic, applied context for the unit structure and assessment for future iterations of the unit.
For information about case-based learning see:
Her team has received a grant for 'Authentic Work-Based Assessment for Online Students’ to apply to these units.
James Cook University. (2017). What is scenario-based learning? Retrieved from https://www.jcu.edu.au/learning-and-teaching/university-wide-projects/past-projects-and-resources/scenario-based-learning-sbl-project/what-is-scenario-based-learning.
Queens. (2017). What is case-based learning? Retrieved from http://www.queensu.ca/ctl/what-we-do/teaching-and-assessment-strategies/case-based-learning.
University of Michigan. (2017). Case-based teaching and problem-based learning. Retrieved from University of Michigan.
Please contact the Learning and Teaching Centre for professional development, resources and advice for your learning and teaching needs at ACU.
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