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Preparing learning modules for independent study

Introduction

This booklet is intended for academic staff who are new to the process of developing independent learning materials. It would be most useful when read in conjunction with other documents from the Learning and Teaching Unit which provide a more detailed discussion of the issues and explanation of the development processes.

The approach taken is to use three examples of learning materials from the University of South Australia to model options in the delivery of print-based materials. The examples vary significantly in:

The intention of the booklet is to demonstrate how the materials vary to take account of these factors.

Graduate qualities and independent study

In the past, teaching through modules designed for independent study has been most common in distance learning situations. Recently, however, the University has identified learning autonomously as an aspect of one of the seven qualities that all graduates will demonstrate.

Quality 3 - A graduate of the University of South Australia … can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional.

Modules designed for independent study are seen as a strategy that could be used with all students to develop this quality. This kind of learning experience is understood to have a value in itself, regardless of the availability of students to engage in on-campus activity. It has the potential to be a central part of the learning experiences of all students.

The approach

There are two aspects to preparing learning modules for independent study. The first is the selection of appropriate learning resources and the second is the way these resources are organised and used to teach the students in mind. The availability and appropriateness of resources such as textbooks, journal articles, video and audio tape, and electronic media is fundamental to this form of delivery. If there are good resources for the subject you teach (or part of it), you may find there are benefits to both your students and yourself to deliver some or all of it through flexible learning materials. This booklet introduces you to one way of preparing learning materials around existing resources.

The approach taken here is to determine an appropriate framework or template on which to pattern your teaching and learning arrangements, and then to apply that framework to each module or topic throughout the subject. Three examples of teaching and learning arrangements which illustrate the use of a repeated framework are provided.

The use of resources

Fundamental to the preparation of modules for independent learning is that the content of a subject (or part of it) can be taught by directing or guiding students through the available resources, rather than through face-to-face teaching. That is, teachers direct students to resources rather than being the primary resource themselves.

In this approach, the roles of students and teachers are different from those in traditional situations. Students take on a more active and independent learning role. Teachers support this student role through carefully considered teaching and learning arrangements. Typically this includes selecting appropriate study resources, providing explicit direction on how to use the resources, a commentary on the content provided through the resources, and a choice of activities and tasks that consolidate and clarify the ideas and issues or give practice in the skills being taught. In addition to the package of materials, staff also need to be available to students wishing to seek clarification on particular issues.

The use of a Study guide

The key to this approach is the preparation of a highly structured and explicit Study guide which facilitates student learning. Because the Study guide does not teach the content, it may be a very brief document which is concerned only with the teaching processes.

In the three examples included here, you will notice significant differences in the way the Study guides are organised. These differences reflect the teaching and learning processes that are considered important for student learning in the particular field of study and the learning objectives for the subject.

The examples are drawn from quite different fields of study, at a range of levels and involve outcomes varying from writing essays to skills based tasks. In each example, you will see that the structure and processes are explained in some detail in the introductory parts of the Study guide. Expectations are clearly identified. Each section of the Study guide then follows the framework set. Because the structure is overt, students have more flexibility in the way they learn; they have greater control over the ways they will engage with the subject materials.

The examples in more detail

Child Development 1A

This example is one of the Open Learning Australia subjects offered through the University of South Australia. There are no minimum educational requirements for students enrolling in this subject. It is equivalent to a 4.5 point subject and is entirely delivered through a learning package which includes a television program once a week.

There are two aspects of this structure which help students to engage with the content. Firstly, the study process (page 6) is outlined very explicitly including the particular purposes of each stage in the framework. This level of specificity provides a clear method for students to engage with the content. Because the subject has no minimum academic requirements, teaching processes must guide students in general academic skills as well as introduce the higher level skills and specific content of the subject. For example, clear distinctions are made between the purposes of the text, the readings and additionalreading, and direction is given on how to engage with each of them to achieve the course objectives. The provision of this information enables students to make realistic choices about their level of engagement and the appropriate textual experiences to achieve this.

Secondly, the process includes a range of ways students can engage academically. As well as the content being introduced through written text and television, students can gauge their understandings through optional exercises before they attempt the assignment tasks for each section of work.

Topic 4 of the subject has been included so that you can see how the framework applies to teaching a section of the subject.

Firstly, you will notice the explicitness of each stage of the structure. For example, the Introduction does three things. It draws on likely student experiences as an orientation to the topic, it identifies the aims of the topic and it briefly puts the topic in the context of the previous and following topics.

Secondly, the process encourages the development of generic study practices. For example, it facilitates the creation of a personal glossary of terms, and assists students with focused reading tasks (for example, Here are some things to keep in mind as you skim read the text book material).

Thirdly, the process promotes increasingly sophisticated processing of the information being presented from recall (What are the three phases of childbirth?) to analysis and synthesis (List and make brief notes on the risk factors that increase the likelihood of low-birthweight births). The less complex academic tasks are useful in establishing understanding of the individual aspects of the content. The more complex tasks engage students in deeper forms of learning through consideration of the relationships between aspects of the content.

Civil procedure

The second example is a module which formed part of a subject in the Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice at the University of South Australia. Except for this small section, the subject is taught face-to-face to students who are already law graduates.

Once again, the study process is outlined very clearly on page 16. The most obvious difference between this example and the previous one is the level at which it is pitched. This is very clearly for graduate students and so a range of academic skills and competencies can be assumed.

Chapter 3 has been included as a sample of this structure. You will notice once again the range of academic activities from recall (1.7) to analysis and synthesis (2.3). The clear emphasis in this subject is on what lawyers do and what they based their action upon. This is strongly reflected in the activities and assignment questions where the workbook format is appropriate to the processes undertaken.

Computers and information management

The third example is an undergraduate subject at the University of South Australia which is offered by a learning package which includes computer disks.

The organisation of the subject is explained on page 30 and module 4 has been included as a sample of the structure. The framework reveals a wide range of academic activities including reading texts, completing self tests and doing exercises. The very 'hands on' nature of the subject is demonstrated through the Tasks stage of the structure where students must apply their knowledge and understanding to produce assignments in an electronic form.

Conclusion

Learning resources are an important aspect of any educational experience. This approach proposes the use of these resources as the primary means of teaching the content of all or part of a subject. The teacher has a significant role in supporting learning through the selection of the materials and the design of the learning processes. Students are able to exercise choices over the way they engage with the materials because the teaching and learning arrangements are displayed overtly. The three examples included in this booklet demonstrate how modules for independent learning can cater for a range of student needs in various fields of study to achieve particular objectives.

 

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