Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Staff development in learning-centred evaluation of computer-facilitated learning projects

Rob Phillips, Murdoch University, Australia

This paper reports on a complex educational development project aimed at improving the evaluation of student learning in teaching activities supported by new technologies. The acknowledged shortcomings in this area were addressed by a staff development programme which assisted participants to develop and carry out an evaluation plan with the help of a mentor. Twenty evaluation studies were undertaken, from universities from around Australia.

The development of evaluation plans was facilitated through the use of a Learning-centred Evaluation Framework, which assists in the framing of appropriate and answerable evaluation questions, by breaking down the lifecycle of an educational innovation into phases and explicitly considering different aspects of learning.

The paper also summarises the characteristics of each evaluation study carried out in terms of the discipline, year of study, study mode and IT-type. It then evaluates the outcomes of the project as a whole, and provides evidence of the benefits that participants gained from the project.

Key words:
Evaluation; Learning; Computer-facilitated learning

Objectives, outcomes and activities:
To disseminate the results of an Australia-wide staff development project, to enable the approach to be used in other contexts.

Dr Rob Phillips is currently Senior Lecturer in Educational Design at the Teaching and Learning Centre, Murdoch University. He is responsible for on-line course development and interactive multimedia production, as well as staff development in the use of new technologies.

Rob was project manager for the implementation of the WebCT Learning Management System at Murdoch WebCT is now used by three quarters of the University's students He was President of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) from 1996 to 2000. He is also principal author of The Developer's Handbook to Interactive Multimedia - A Practical Guide for Educational Applications, Kogan Page 1997.

Contact: Rob Phillips, email: r.phillips@murdoch.edu.au