R. Phillips

Web-based lecture technologies: blurring the boundaries between face-to-face and distance learning

Web-based lecture technologies (WBLT) have gained popularity amongst universities in Australia as a tool for delivering lecture recordings to students in close to real time. This paper reports on a selection of results from a larger research project investigating the impact of WBLT on teaching and learning. Results show that while staff see the advantages for external students, they question the extent to which these advantages apply to internal students. In contrast both cohorts of students were positive about the benefits of the technologies for their learning and they adopted similar strategies for their use. With the help of other technologies, some external students and staff even found WBLT useful for fostering communication between internal and external students. As such, while the traditional boundary between internal and external students seems to remain for some staff, students seem to find the boundary much less clear. Keywords: web-based lecture technologies; staff perception; student perception; distance education; external students; internal students; Lectopia DOI: 10.1080/09687760802315895

Evaluating e-learning : guiding research and practice

How can novice e-learning researchers and postgraduate learners develop rigorous plans to study the effectiveness of technology-enhanced learning environments? How can practitioners gather and portray evidence of the impact of e-learning? How can the average educator who teaches online, without experience in evaluating emerging technologies, build on what is successful and modify what is not? By unpacking the e-learning lifecycle and focusing on learning, not technology, Evaluating e-Learning attempts to resolve some of the complexity inherent in evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning. The book presents practical advice in the form of an evaluation framework and a scaffolded approach to an e-learning research study, using divide-and-conquer techniques to reduce complexity in both design and delivery. It adapts and builds on familiar research methodology to offer a robust and accessible approach that can ensure effective evaluation of a wide range of innovative initiatives, including those covered in other books in the Connecting with e-Learning series. Readers will find this jargon-free guide is a must-have resource that provides the proper tools for evaluating e-learning practices with ease.

Web-based lecture technologies and learning and teaching: a study of change in four Australian universities

The uptake of web-based lecture technologies for recording and delivering live lectures has increased markedly in recent years. Students have responded positively, and for many their use has transformed learning – freeing them up from rigid timetables by providing choice in lecture attendance and supporting learning by extending the lecture experience and enabling them to revisit key concepts and ideas in their own time. Less transformational has been the impact on teaching. Although changing attendance patterns and disquiet about the quality of learning are of concern to many, lecturers have largely responded by simply modifying lectures. For most, the challenges of catering for the learning needs of a cohort with variable lecture attendance have not been addressed at a whole of the curriculum level. The technologies have been added on, rather than integrated into the curriculum. This paper will review the changes taking place in learning and teaching, explore the reluctance to embrace more wholesale change to the curriculum, and discuss the implications for institutions in the face of ongoing change.

Evaluating the use of learning objects in Australian and New Zealand schools

The Le@rning Federation, an agency funded by Australian and New Zealand governments, initiated a Field Review project as the start of a long-term research study to evaluate the impact, application and effectiveness of the online digital content developed according to the learning object model. In terms of content, the pilot Field Review found that many learning objects provided stimulating and diverse learning experiences for students. It is one of the potential strengths of learning objects that they are able to provide new geographical experiences and simulate dangerous or expensive learning activities at low relative cost.

Learning objects and engagement of students in Australian and New Zealand schools

This paper reports on a completed field study that examined the usability and effectiveness of learning objects designed for Australian and New Zealand primary and secondary schools. It focuses on student engagement by observing the ways students interacted with learning objects and by listening to what they said about them. Questions that guided the field study included the following: Could the students use the learning objects easily? Did they enjoy the experience? Did they engage with the intended learning? These questions are examined with reference to students at different levels of schooling, and examples drawn from the fieldwork illustrate that, while some learning objects achieved their potential as engaging multimedia educational resources, others fell short. The paper provides a detailed examination of two learning objects to reveal what worked and what created barriers or subverted the intended learning. In particular, it explores interest, challenge and importance as elements that contributed to engagement and socially constructed learning.

X-ray emission spectra of some carbon-containing molecules

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations for the energy and intensity of X-ray transitions associated with the carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and carbon dioxide molecules have been calculated at the Hartree-Fock level. It is demonstrated that in general the absolute transition probabilities are sensitive to the inclusion of electronic relaxation effects and interatomic transition moment contributions. It is concluded that calculations for molecular X-r!ly emission henomena should be undertaken at least at the multicentre relaxed Hartree-Fock level to achieve a realistic basis for comparison with experiment. Total carbon-K X-ray rates do not show a strong variation with changes in the molecular environment. The total rates are of a similar magnitude to those reported for the atom. The calculated carbon-K fluorescence yield is also similar in both the carbon atom and the CO2 molecule.

Producing interactive multimedia computer-based learning projects

The Computing Centre at Curtin University has been involved in the use of computers in education since about 1980. This interest began with the establishment of a software library of educational programs, and was followed in 1986 by the development of the Software and Courseware Online Reviews (SCOR) database (Winship, 1986) of educational software which is now available on the internet through WAIS and Gopher. The Computing Centre was thus well placed when interactive multimedia (IMM) became an affordable and innovative technology for use in computer-based learning (CBL). Curtin had a solid knowledge base, and with the adoption of a five-year information technology (IT) strategic plan, extra resources were available to employ academic and support staff with an interest in interactive multimedia. By the beginning of 1992, we obtained a substantial grant to commence development. The Computing Centre has been involved with 12 interactive multimedia computer-based learning projects over the last two years (Phillips, 1993). The focus of our work with interactive multimedia has been to use existing tools and techniques to create innovative and educationally sound computer-based learning programs. We have little interest in developing multimedia tools at the programming level or in hardware per se. We prefer to use existing multimedia and authoring tools in new and unusual ways to create educational applications. It is important to recognize that we are not a commercial setup. We aim at innovation not production. Our titles are usually small and targetted at specific groups of students.

Effectiveness of web-based materials to support learning in Botany

An online course has been developed to support learning of practical material in a Botany unit. Students received feedback after each laboratory session, with answers to exercises and images of specimens studied made available. The effectiveness of this approach, in the context of the unit, was the focus of an evaluation study. This paper reports only on the usefulness of the WebCT online environment. The majority of students perceived that the online materials helped them to learn. There was heavy use of WebCT by students. However, most of this use was in the final two weeks of the semester, when students used surface learning strategies prior to exams. This approach was encouraged by the nature of the unit.

Tasmanian dairy farm effluent management program

Abstract The Tasmanian dairy industry, in partnership with State and local government, has developed a joint extension and regulation program to promote self-regulation for effective effluent management on dairy farms. A Code of Practice has been developed to assist this. Involvement of all stakeholders in an industry working group is the key to the success of the program.

An ab initio study of the chlorine x‐ray emission spectra of the CH3Cl molecule

The x‐ray emission processes associated with K, L1, and L2,3 chlorine core shell ionization in the CH3Cl molecule have been studied using ab initio molecular orbital methods. The energy and absolute transition rates of XES processes have been calculated. Comparison with atomic calculations is used to identify weak molecular effects. For the Kβ spectrum relaxation terms must be included to obtain good agreement between the calculated and experimental spectra. It is concluded that three transitions are major contributors to the Kβ spectrum. However, a one‐center model is adequate to account for the Kα spectrum. Uncertainty regarding the extent of satellite contribution to the experimental L2,3 spectrum and the breakdown of the single particle model has made direct comparison between theory and experiment difficult. New measurements and a more refined theoretical approach beyond the relaxed Hartree–Fock model are desirable. The L2,3 and L1 or Kβ emission spectra provide complementary information for probing ...