Although Garth Boomer spoke of "thresholds of explicitness" (1988, p. 169) beyond which teachers would not venture in the openness of their curriculum design or indeed the nature of the system in which they operate, Stephen Wallis writes in this article that he does believe in student-centred learning and encouraging students to be…

Research findings in recent years provide compelling evidence of the importance of encouraging student control over the learning process as a whole. The socially based tools and technologies of the Web 2.0 movement are capable of supporting informal conversation, reflexive dialogue and collaborative content generation, enabling access to a wide…

As lifelong learning grows in popularity, few comprehensive pictures of the phenomenon have emerged. The "Routledge International Handbook of Lifelong Learning" provides a disciplined and complete overview of lifelong learning internationally. The theoretical structure puts the learner at the centre and the book emanates from there,…

This work presents a unique education resource for both process engineering students and the industry workforce. The learning environment is based around spherical imagery of real operating plants coupled with interactive embedded activities and content. This Virtual Reality (VR) learning tool has been developed by applying aspects of relevant…

Describes the development of a flexible learning center at the rural Kalgoorlie campus of Curtin University (Australia). Discusses the flexible delivery approach to providing training that is responsive to client needs, the center's physical resources, staff development for flexible delivery, practices at other flexible learning centers, staffing,…

Describes a process by which technology education students negotiate a contract with the teacher, then develop a plan to fulfill the contract and meet specific criteria for assessment. Concludes that this process provides a mechanism for the individualization of learning, accommodates the development of independence and self-direction, and…

The use of computer technology in history instruction permits students to explore the data, and formulate and test their own hypotheses within the confines of the data, rather than being passive receptors of someone else's interpretations. The Gallipoli project brought together materials from a national war archive to develop a multimedia teaching…

Describes the use of final-year projects as a showcase for engineering students' creativity. The project may be any combination of research, design, or developmental work and culminates in a written, oral, and visual presentation to a professional audience. The students' own creativity determines the format of the three presentation forms and…

Describes a study of Australian secondary school students that identified the conditions and individual characteristics that would best support learners' acceptance of control within hypermedia, based on evidence from the learner control literature. Investigated effects of prior domain knowledge, learning activity structure, ability, and attitudes…

This paper reports on the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University's adoption of an approach to training packages that equally values the learning journey of its students with the training outcomes. The paper looks at the essential educational design issues, including underpinning knowledge, building generic capabilities, graded…

Describes a project commissioned by the Australian government to help university teachers improve student assessment. Eight modules incorporated the following abilities: critical thinking, problem solving, performing procedures and demonstrating techniques, self-directed learning, accessing and managing information, demonstrating knowledge,…

Central Queensland University in Australia has developed an orientation program to introduce first-year university students to interactive teaching technologies. The program, called Passport to Flexible Learning, was organized in the form of workshops that run concurrently over a 5-day period during the university's orientation week. During the…