The delivery of pre-registration Bachelor of Nursing courses in Australia has primarily been through the traditional on-campus mode. The development and implementation of an external course mode necessitates pedagogical reflection on a number of delivery, design, implementation, and consequently evaluation, processes. This paper discusses one…

Presents a follow-up study gauging the reactions of an Open University Course Team to the developmental testing of the broadcast element of their course. Problems in modifying the television component are identified and conditions necessary for the broadcast component to be tested and modified are suggested. (Author/CMV)

The author describes a non-traditional art course offered by the British Open University. The aims of the course are more affective than cognitive, and this led the course developers to modify the educational technology approach to its design.

A course in the management and administration of British public education systems offered through the British Open University included radio dramatizations which were accompanied by broadcast notes and a correspondence text. Radio 15, "Caught in the Net," was designed to dramatize a simple decision model involving human interaction.…

To gauge reactions to the developmental testing of the broadcast component of an Arts Foundation Course, 18 members of the team identified as either producer or academic on a television or radio program tested were sent questionnaires containing open response type questions. In addition, the views of members of the Institute of Educational…

Discusses the advantages of correspondence education in England and the Netherlands, the development of correspondence education in both countries, and the more recent developments of the Open University in England and the Foundation Inspection of Education by Correspondence (ISO) in the Netherlands, the former enlarging educational opportunities…

A descriptive paper which attempts to give a brief overview of the nature of the course materials used in Science teaching at the Open University and the procedures adopted for assessment and evaluation. (Author)

It is argued that students find it difficult to reap the full potential of television case study programs, and find it particularly difficult to integrate this material with the material contained in correspondence texts. The difficulties could be explained by examining more closely the various dimensions of a television case study:…

Students at the University Without Walls (UWW) of the University of Minnesota design their own program by writing a Long Term Degree Plan to describe how they plan to demonstrate their competence in each of UWW's seven graduation criteria. Because students have experienced difficulty in writing the plan, a seminar in process education was…

The task of this project was to evaluate a course which was more practical than intellectual, more involved with processes than with products, more diversified in student activities than usual, and less explicit than usual in its assessment criteria. The evaluation concentrated on the students' view of the course. (Author/CTM)

A course in instrumentation offered through the British Open University included a television program which introduced and illustrated Fourier analysis and transducer response. The television component was evaluated using questionnaires, telephone interviews, and group discussions. The program was successful in that it demonstrated complicated…

The value of intensive commentary by subject expert teachers on Open University course materials is emphasized. The insights of someone who can alternate the role of reading as a student with that of reading as an expert and teacher are seen as significant in making substantial improvements to course material. (Author/LBH)

A method for making improvements in Open University coursework is reported and its effectiveness assessed. A model of developmental testing, when carried out in the year before presentation of a course, is shown to be a powerful tool for improving that course. Its main characteristics are summarized. (LBH)

Developmental testing at the Open University is a type of formative evaluation in which a small sample of students work through learning materials to determine their effectiveness. On the basis of student feedback, the material may be accepted as it stands, modified in part, or totally revised before it is produced in its final form for the…