Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Ethical Action (GQ5), Internationalization (GQ7), and
Lifelong Learning (GQ2)
Throughout the project, students are expected to demonstrate ethical action with the
business, with other students, and in their approach to their university education. Certainly,
any students found guilty of copying would automatically be awarded a zero as a minimum
penalty, but given this is group work, this rarely happens.
Internationalization of students is not developed well within this course. While offshore
students are all students studying in their home country, this is not true of onshore students.
Although we have a diverse group of students onshore, they tend to stay in their ethnic
groups. It may be appropriate to allocate students to groups to address this issue. This would
also simulate better, normal working life, where staff members do not generally choose who
they will work with. Because of the diverse range of students and their availability, this would
also necessitate students learning to manage their availability and time more carefully but is
likely to lead to greater conflict within the groups.
The format of tutorial/workshop delivery for offshore students is prescribed, and
students are offered fortnightly workshops. Two approaches to delivering the practical
component to internal students have been trialed — scheduled workshops (1999) and help
desks (2000, 2001). In both cases, the sessions were not compulsory but were available for
students to ask questions relating to the self-directed learning they were programmed to have
completed through the study schedule. Both onshore and offshore students regularly
attended workshops without prior preparation, or alternatively, did not attend at all. Tutors
spent most of their time working with a small percentage of conscientious, prepared students
who tended to become frustrated by those students who expected the tutor to go through
the work they had not prepared.
The introduction of compulsory workshops to internal students, at the behest of the
students, has not alleviated the problems, as, although they attended, they still did not
undertake the appropriate preparation. Nor did this approach encourage students to develop
lifelong learning qualities. Some students are not prepared to take responsibility for their
learning unless the preparation has a mark attached to it. Candy et al. (1994) identified that
staff, students, and graduates agree that open-book examinations, assignments, clinical case
studies, negotiated learning contracts, and learning documents were the forms of assessment
that were most likely to ensure effective, ongoing learning, because students were required
to analyze and articulate the learning processes with the completion of the learning task. This
appears to be reflected in the students' approach to the workshops conducted throughout
this course. However, it needs to be recognized that the overhead on staff time increases with
these approaches.
The world in which we live is constantly changing. UNESCO considers that education
should last the whole life of an individual; lead to the continual acquisition and update of
knowledge, skills, and attitudes; be self-fulfilling; acknowledge all available educational
influences; and be motivating for people to engage in self-directed learning (Candy et al.,
1994). Graduates will be required to continually develop their professional knowledge as the
demands of their working life change. The introduction of lifelong learning into undergradu-
ate courses attempts to develop students' ability to identify and tackle new problems and
to locate and use information in an effective manner. UniSA (1999a) identifies that in acquiring
lifelong learning skills, students will develop information literacy, understand how to manage
their learning, gain confidence as learners, and value curiosity and a critical approach.
