When designing your course and or program, it is important to consider the modes of delivery that support students in gaining the knowledge, skills and competencies to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Universities still rely heavily on traditional modes of delivering education: lectures given to a large cohort of students, which are later followed by tutorials, workshops, and learners’ independent study time. While lectures and tutorials are still relevant in some settings, there are alternative modes worth exploring and implementing.

This page provides an overview of the various learning and teaching approaches that are prominent in DSC. 

Please get in touch with the ADG Digital Learning Team to explore alternative delivery approaches in your courses and programs.

Studio Based Learning

What Studio Based Learning?

How to start? 

Studio based learning is commonly used in DSC in the schools of Architecture, Design and Arts, and encompass a wide range of teaching styles to provide learners with hands-on experiences to enhance their learning outcomes and problem-solving skills. These authentic learning experiences engage students in the design or creative process of an object, artefact, display or performance. The pedagogical approaches underpinning studio-based learning includes critical pedagogy, constructivism, experiential learning, problem-based learning, peer to peer learning and master-apprentice model. 

The critical aspects for studio-based learning are:

At times, designing a studio-based approach is discipline dependent, and academics will have a unique way to run a studio. There are, however, a few elements that are common to studio-based learning, Carnegie Mellon University proposes the following model:

• Situate the studio within the discipline context
• Model expert practice
• Scaffold to allow for contextualisation, exploration and planning
• Coach and provide constant feedback
• Fade your presence to give learners greater independence

Additional Resources

Case Studies

Coming soon

The Flipped Classroom

What is the Flipped Classroom?

How to start? 

The 'flipped classroom' is the term commonly defined as a pedagogical model in which learning and teaching works in contrast to the traditional, lecture-based instructional model as it is composed of the two main phases of instruction being “flipped” or “reversed”.

In essence, “flipping the classroom” means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates.
(Vanderbilt University)

Some of the benefit of the flipped classroom model include:

When applying this to the context of higher education, the flipped model essentially takes the lecture from in-class time and moves it online as pre-class preparation, so that in-class time is maximised for student-centred active learning activities (Al-Samarraie, Shamsuddin & Alzahrani 2019). Post-class work can then focus on strengthening and enriching student’s knowledge from the previous phases and applying this to assessment. The following is a basic overview of the flipped model. 

When thinking about implementing a flipped classroom approach to your delivery, it is important to keep in mind the Four Pillars of F-L-I-P developed by the Flipped Learning Network, this will help you to ensure the effectiveness of the model. These pillars are about a flexible environment, learning culture, intentional content and professional educator.

Additional Resources

Case Studies

Coming soon

Project-Based Learning

What is the Project-Based Learning?

How to start? 

Project-based learning is a student-centred teaching pedagogy, characterised by a flexible, dynamic and active approach to its delivery. In PBL, learners work on investigating and responding to authentic, real world, engaging, relevant complex projects, problems or challenges. PBL is underpinned by other pedagogies such as active learning, experiential learning, transformative learning, social constructivism, and design thinking.

One of the most important characteristics of PBL is the shift from learning through the traditional, teacher-led classroom activities to student-centred led activities. Some of the benefits of PBL are:

Project-based learning is most effectively implemented through careful planning and adoption of a framework. The Buck Institute for Education – PBL Works has developed a set of principles, called the Gold Standard for high quality PBL for project design and teaching practices. These standards will help you design quality project-based learning as well as ensuring that learners meet the course learning outcomes.

According to the Gold Standard PBL, every project must have the following seven essential design elements: (1) Challenging problem or question, (2) Sustained Inquiry, (3) Authenticity, (4) Student voice & Choice, (5) Reflection, (6) Critique & Revision and (7) Public Product.

Alongside these standards there are also seven essential teaching practices: (1) Design & Plan, (2) Align to Standards, (3) Build the Culture, (4) Manage Activities, (5) Scaffold Student Learning, (6) Assess Student Learning, and (7) Engage & Coach.

Additional Resources

Case Studies

• Interdisciplinary Communication Project – COMM2324

Practical/Workshop Learning

What is Practical/Workshop Learning?

How to start? 

Practical and workshop learning is a broad-based modality that encompass a wide range of learning activities involving interaction with tools and material while being taught and introduced to practical skills, techniques and ideas. Similar to studio-based learning, workshop/practical learning is underpinned by pedagogies that requires the learners to be involved in processes that allows them to formulate and construct knowledge through hands-on, small groups or individual tasks. Although, this mode of delivery is common in the college of SEH, it is also used in the disciplines of architecture and construction management at DSC.

Some of the benefits of practical/workshop learning are:

Implementing this mode of delivery isn’t complex, however, proper and thorough planning is required. Workshop or practical’s objectives or goals are at the heart of the planning process and are fundamental to designing a workshop/practical.

To ensure that every workshop you deliver provides a valuable experience for your learners, ensure that you: 

• Define the goals/objectives - aligned to your course learning objectives-outcomes?
• Decide who will be present, apart from learners and yourself, is there a need to have a specialised technician present, for example
• Select the right physical space
• Plan your delivery, this is about developing a lesson plan for the duration of the practical, what will take place, when and how long for. We refer to this as the active stage
• Develop an evaluation plan that will allow you assess the effectiveness of the workshop

Additional Resources

Case Studies

Coming soon

Work Integrated Learning

RMIT has developed a robust plan to support programs across the three colleges to integrate WIL activities in their delivery. This information provides an overview of teaching resources available.

What is Work Integrated Learning?

How to start? 

Work-integrated learning is a pedagogical practice whereby students learn through the integration of experiences in educational and workplace settings.

WIL is defined as “an umbrella term that describes a range of models and approaches to learning and assessment that integrates discipline theory, knowledge and skills with the practice of work as an integral part of program design”
(RMIT University, 2020)

Janice Orrell (2018) from Flinders University summarised the benefits of WIL for students as follows:

When thinking about embedding WIL in your delivery, please read the information under Embedding WIL in programs to find information on:

• Benefits of WIL
• Designing WIL
• WIL teaching resources
• Types of WIL
• Assessing WIL

Begin by reading and completing the RMIT Industry Engaged WIL Standards Checklist and contact the WIL champions, admins and practitioners in your school for further advice.

Additional Resources

Case Studies

• Professional Experience: Beyond the Classroom

• Health, Physical Education & Sport

Lectures and Tutorials

Lectures have been the most common instructional mode of delivery for centuries, and while they continue to be a preferred choice by teachers, there has been increasing debates about their value and relevancy. However, let’s not forget that when discussing the effectiveness of lectures, most people are referring to the traditional format of lectures. What this means is that benefits can still be identified if lectures are redesigned and structured differently.

What are Lectures?

What are Tutorials?

A lecture is defined as "a teacher-led presentation of direct instruction to a large groups of students held-on campus".

Some of the benefits of lectures are:

How to start? 

Stanford University suggests the tips below before planning your face-to-face lecture:

• Plan, prepare and develop the content, resources and examples
• Think about the arrangement of the content, and the strategies to be used to communicate the content
• Avoid over preparing, large amount of content isn’t always the best idea, think about the enduring knowledge
• Know your audience, when preparing your lectures always think of the content and how you will deliver it from your learners’ point of view
• Create a ‘complete’ lecture, this is about ensuring that your lecture has an introduction, body, and a conclusion. For more information on this read the University of Newcastle’s guide on creating more engaging lectures
• Develop lecture notes Allow for learners’ engagement and interactivity
• Design, develop and use visual backups and supports
• Show enthusiasm
• Ask and answer questions
• Reflect on every lecture given

A tutorial tends to follow a lecture and is usually defined as "a teacher-led collaborative session of learner-centered learning activities with a smaller group of students”. Tutorials can be beneficial because they:

How to start? 

When it comes to tutorials, like any other mode of content delivery, planning is paramount, and most of the tips mentioned under lectures can be applied when designing a tutorial. However, remember that in a tutorial you will work very closely with your students, allowing you to assess where in the learning journey they find themselves. For this reason you must ensure that the time you have with your students is productive. In preparation for a tutorial:

• If you are not delivering the lecture, do ensure that you are aware of what has been covered in the lecture
• Decide on the type of format that you will adopt for your tutorial. The University of Waterloo suggest the following types:
  - Discussion-based tutorials
  - Problem-solving tutorials
  - Review and Q&A tutorials
• Plan your tutorial using the following points, as developed by the Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching:
  - Determine prior learning and skills
  - Decide on learning outcomes
  - Select and organise resources
  - Determine a sequence for the development of knowledge and skills
  - Select delivery strategies Reflect and evaluate

Additional Resources

Case Studies

• Designing for engagement online
• Using Collaborate Ultra for Lectures and Tutorials