The Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science (NRAVS) has inherited a history of involvement in distance education through its diploma courses at the Gatton campus.

From January 1998, a suite of new three-year Applied Science degree programs will also be offered by distance mode alongside revised diploma courses. NRAVS has commissioned TEDI and EMS to produce several degree subjects in compact disc and print forms. Subjects to be developed first are those common to most courses, enabling students to enrol for a calendar year taking half the recommended full-time load.

This paper documents the issues faced and the processes used by NRAVS and TEDI in the ongoing development of these subjects.

Courses offered by the Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science (NRAVS)

Among its components, the newly-constituted Faculty incorporates Agriculture and Veterinary Science from the St Lucia campus, and the Faculty of Applied Science at Gatton College. While postgraduate enrolments at Gatton have grown rapidly in recent years, the recent review of Faculty courses has been confined to degree and 2-year diploma courses offered at Gatton, and the Agricultural degrees at St Lucia. In addition to the continued offering of the Bachelor of Veterinary Science, the Faculty has approval to offer from 1998:

Four Year Degrees

• Bachelor of Agricultural Science
• Bachelor of Food Technology
• Bachelor of Natural Resource Economics
• Bachelor of Natural Resources

Two Year Diplomas
Diploma of Applied Science (with eight fields of study)

Two Year Certificates
Certificates in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture

Except for the three-year Bachelor of Applied Science (Food Science and Nutrition), which will be offered full-time at St Lucia only, all other three year degrees and all diplomas will be offered exclusively through Gatton, in both internal and external modes. The discussion which follows relates to these Gatton-based courses.

Why Flexible Delivery for NRAVS ?

A small proportion of students completing two year diplomas at Gatton have later enrolled in the four year degree programs which have been offered for many years. The smoothness of this migration sometimes has been facilitated by transition or articulation programs, but until recent years, generally this was not a simple procedure and did not recognise fully the prior experiences of the student.

One of the intentions of the new curriculum design, as expressed in a 1996 submission to the Academic Board, has been to develop "flexibility, through courses designed to allow students to move between courses and campuses ..." (School of Land and Food Systems 1996). The submission recognised that flexible delivery would be significant in enabling courses to reach their target groups, and in the opening paragraph of a segment addressing this matter, it was stated that "it is essential that programs be offered in ways which will allow and encourage students to undertake study in modes other than as full time residential students."

However, the desire to recognise prior learning and provide a seamless pathway between the two- and three-year courses, and via Honours to postgraduate work, was not the only imperative for course redesign. Some commentators have recognised the influence that changes in information technology are likely to have on our normal way of doing business. Two quotes follow.

"Providers of agricultural science education in Australia are under threat of extinction by powerful overseas institutions who have already established a presence on the Internet. Much of the content of agricultural science courses can be delivered anytime, anywhere at the convenience of students and the remainder - practical activities - could be provided by industry partners" (Rimmington 1996) "It cannot be long before the big software firms will realize that there is money to be made in writing tertiary software. If we do not do the job, they will do it for us. Ask yourself this question. Who do you want to be teaching your students in the 21st century: you or Bill Gates ?" (Johnston 1996)

There was some concern expressed by the Faculty about an apparent lack of awareness of its history and commitment to forms of flexible delivery in the draft discussion paper circulated in May by the University's Flexible Delivery Working Party. It is hoped that the final report of this group will acknowledge the Gatton-based work of the Faculty and consider how it fits with the wider flexible delivery development at the University.

Current Flexible Delivery Development at NRAVS

The University's "Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan 1997-1999" identified the development of flexible delivery in teaching as a high priority (Academic Board 1997). The Plan characterised "flexible" as having two main aspects, the first referring to a mode of delivery which removes the need for students to be at a particular place at a particular time. The second aspect noted was the provision of choice to students in selecting how they wish to access particular material.

Both aspects have been considered in developing subjects for the Faculty's new courses. The first is clearly addressed by offering subjects "externally", though perhaps this term is coming to be seen less narrowly than in the past. The Faculty also has decided to offer subjects by a mix of media, in some cases where these media are alternatives to one another. Segments of subjects will be offered by alternative methods such as World Wide Web or CD-ROM, as well as by established methods which include videotape, printed notes or textbook.

While these steps will provide the recognised benefits of helping the student to match the medium to their preferred learning style in a particular subject area, or facilitate the use of various media to explore difficult topics from several perspectives, there are other benefits.

Because the penetration of Internet services is less in rural areas, and services which are available attract a higher telephone tariff for remote subscribers, NRAVS will offer its new Degree subjects in a print form as well as in electronic media. For isolated students enrolled mainly for off-campus study, a likely scenario in the experience of the Faculty, the provision of materials in more than one form can mean the difference between the student continuing with study or effectively being excluded from enrolment.

Other elements of flexibility
Additional interpretations of "flexible" in this context include allowing the student choice of pathways and processes taken to achieve objectives, and choice of the nature and timing of assessment. These aspects of flexibility also will feature in NRAVS subjects, although not all aspects will characterise every subject when it is first offered.

For example, NRAVS will offer different combinations of topic modules in foundation chemistry, with a trade-off between basic theory and some laboratory work, to accommodate the needs of students whose secondary school study did not include chemistry, or whose achievements were at a modest level.

The Faculty is expanding the options whereby internal and external students can undertake practical and field experience with other tertiary institutions, government agencies and private employers, in many cases with assessment managed by these cooperators. For example, negotiations are underway to enable students in the third semester of Diploma courses to be able to relocate and complete this semester at Rural Training Schools such as those at Longreach, Emerald or Dalby, or with regional NSW TAFE colleges. The activities completed in this semester would not be offered at Gatton, removing the need for the Faculty to duplicate facilities and resources, such as animal herds, which would be costly and not necessarily appropriate for the agricultural production environment of the Lockyer Valley and south-east Queensland.

Courseware
In 1996, there was a strong push by the then Dean responsible for curriculum reform for all subjects in the three year degrees to be developed in multimedia format, deliverable by the WWW and/or CD. On this basis, early in 1997 a small group of Gatton staff took the initiative in subject development by negotiating for multimedia development to be contracted out, although subsequently the responsibility was given to TEDI.

In June, the Coordinator of External Studies at Gatton, and the Faculty officer most closely linked with Gatton course reviews over many years, proposed a sequence of subject development to enable the first year of each three-year degree course to be offered externally commencing in 1998. While both staff unfortunately have since left the University, their proposal led to the selection of five critical subjects for implementation in multimedia, as follows :

• Biology
• Crops and Rangelands in Perspective
• * Horticulture in Perspective
• * Information Access and Communications
• Natural and Rural Systems

A Memorandum of Agreement between the Faculty and TEDI was signed in June, and the Faculty set up a working party on Flexible Delivery Development to plan and coordinate the production of multimedia versions of these subjects and those that would follow. The working party comprises :

	The Director, TEDI
	Head, Educational Multimedia Services
	Coordinator, External Studies (Gatton)
	Manager, Gatton College Library
	Representatives of Departments offering the five subjects (other NRAVS Depts were invited to participate at their discretion)
	Coordinator (chairperson, a Gatton academic)

The working party selected two subjects for pilot development. Horticulture in Perspective was selected because of the state of readiness of the academic responsible, and the expectation that the subject development would be relatively uncomplicated. Information Access and Communications was considered likely to require relatively more content development and production time, and the academics responsible sought its inclusion early in the sequence. Using two subjects as test cases was intended to give academic staff and the TEDI courseware team (instructional designers, graphic artists, programmers, editors) experience in dealing with each other, and to generate a basis for planning and costing further work.

Horticulture in Perspective will be required in the specialised Horticulture field only, and is to have a strong industry and career focus. The Faculty chose to offer some industry-related subjects early in the curriculum to reassure students of the relevance of its courses to their field of employment or interest, and to give them time to gain confidence before embarking on more abstract subjects. This was seen as an important design step, because increasingly the Faculty is catering for a more diverse client group which includes learners of all ages who may be returning to study after a break of several years.

Work has also started on the other three subjects but will be spread over a slightly longer period so that in every case a product will be available for distribution to students in January 1998.

Parallel Development in Print
The Dean who was overseeing curriculum development was a strong proponent of an electronic-only format for external students. This officer left the Faculty at about the same time that the agreement with TEDI was being finalised. In the changed circumstances, and with deadlines becoming closer, Departmental representatives on the working party expressed serious concern that lack of a print alternative would lead to a loss of many potential students who did not have PC/CD ROM/Internet access. The matter was resolved by the Executive Dean, with the result that a print version would be developed in parallel with the electronic media. The decision-making environment was complicated by ambiguity about University policy regarding student provision of personal computers, a matter under consideration by the Vice Chancellor's Committee on Information Technology.

It took a while for staff to grasp some consequences of this decision made at the end of May, the most awkward being that the deadline for submission of materials for new print subjects is late September, whereas the multimedia deadlines for most subjects are some weeks later.

Characteristics of Multimedia Versions of Subjects
Students taking established print-based subjects externally typically have been supplied with: an Introductory Book (containing subject specifications, suggested study program, administrative information); a Study Book (a structured program of work, perhaps containing topic notes, activities, self-testing); a Book of Readings (eg journal articles or other material for which copyright clearance has been obtained)

Because copyright clearances for print do not apply to new media, readings will continue to be supplied in print form even for students electing to receive the multimedia version of subjects. The typical subject will be offered on CD-ROM, featuring components of video, animation, images, sound and text. Each CD will provide some formative testing capability so that students can gauge their progress. A subject home page will be provided on the World Wide Web, probably using an EMS server in the first instance. As an example of potential WWW links, one academic is currently negotiating with Ohio State University to use material from their site for a history module in Horticulture in Perspective. It is proposed to make use of the WWW and email to facilitate interaction between students, as identified in the "Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan".

The agreement with TEDI referred to CD ROM implementations with no internal addressing. That is, there would be no hyperlinks within the CD, so as to allow a remote update feature to be provided. The CD would be programmed to initiate an Internet connection with a University host computer whenever the student began a study session, and automatically to search for and download any subject updates, which would be restricted to text material (eg corrections, additional self-testing modules). For students without Internet access, the updates could be distributed on floppy disc. In both cases, the updated text material would be transferred to the hard disc of the student's computer, and run seamlessly with material such as graphics already on the CD.

However, academic staff favoured omitting the update feature when it became clear that the content could be enhanced by hypertext links embedded in the CD. Flexibility for the user, in the form of freedom to navigate their own way through the CD, was favoured at the expense of readily updating the text component of the product.

Members of the working party thought that some students who might elect to use the CD form would be likely also to request the print version. It was proposed by TEDI that the print version of the Study Book would also be included on the CD, together with a browser such as Adobe Acrobat which would enable the student to read and search the material. This was regarded as a low cost enhancement which would help make the CD version more attractive, and promote its adoption amongst students.

Currently, these developments are directed towards off-campus study, but will find increasing use on-campus in response to rapidly changing circumstances. The working party believes that the CD product should be on sale to internal students, and also accessible through the University network. Omitting the "readings" from the CD will mean that no copyright problem will arise for this material, and internal students will be expected to gain access in the usual manner (eg through the Library).

Development Process

For the purpose of developing each subject, small teams have been formed which comprise a Project Manager (EMS), Coordinator of External Studies (or person acting in this role, as at present) Instructional Designer, and academic staff responsible for the subject. These groups have been meeting frequently, typically every 2 to 3 weeks, with the Project Manager as Chair. The Chairperson of the working party has also attended all but one of the subject meetings, and the Head of EMS has been a frequent participant. Other TEDI/EMS staff are involved in the production, but have not attended the subject meetings to date. Some Prentice Centre and Gatton staff with expertise in video production have participated recently.

Once preliminary meetings have been held, at which EMS staff have explained the general procedures anticipated, and academic staff have set out their subject as far as possible, the Project Manager has developed a Concept Document for discussion, amendment and then signing by both parties. This document sets out names of EMS/NRAVS staff; a project overview, listing topic modules; methods of use by students; project features; delivery platform; scope; timeline and costs which allow for several levels of features (eg number of animations, digitised video).

During development of Horticulture in Perspective, the academic has been undertaking his own scans of 35mm slides, and the files have then been sent via the network to EMS at St Lucia without having to be transferred to floppy disc. Some early difficulties related to communication of scanning specifications between the EMS graphic artist and Gatton staff, but the process seems now to be working satisfactorily.

Summary

Factors recognised as important, and lessons learned:
The NRAVS working party, comprising major stakeholders, has been a useful means of setting parameters and opening dialogue between the parties.
The presence of an experienced external studies coordinator (until resignation for reasons unconnected with current employment) was very valuable in helping to focus on potential problems.
TEDI staff consider it is better to have a print version of a subject complete, and probably in use for a semester, before developing the multimedia version.

The process cannot be started too soon.

Of concern
It is proving difficult for academic staff to meet deadlines for delivery of print versions of subjects to TEDI, partly because of the relatively late start to the process.
While it would be incorrect to state that generally there was an underestimation of the effort required to mount the new subjects for 1998, for almost all NRAVS staff involved there has been no tangible support (such as by teaching relief) to get the job done. The University and the Faculty are yet to confront many of the issues foreshadowed by analysts such as Laurillard (1993, 1997).
The curriculum was finalised only at the beginning of August, and its development is unfolding during a period of major organisational uncertainty. At the time of writing, academic and technical staff are being asked to nominate for Voluntary Separation Packages as part of an NRAVS rationalisation of staff positions.
Even within the five subjects nominated, TEDI and NRAVS are finding it difficult to budget very far ahead when selecting complexity of content presentation because none of the subjects already exists in a form which enables its scope to be assessed.

Update

This paper was submitted to TEDI in early September 1997. It is expected that several key issues will further unfold in the period leading up to the Flexible Delivery Initiatives Conference on 24 September. These include the timeframe for submission of content for print-based versions of subjects, and the costs associated with the project.

The results of a survey of staff readiness for adopting multimedia-based components of subjects will be presented. Data relating to accessibility of hardware and familiarity with services such as the Web and email are being collated from survey responses. These and other issues will be addressed during the oral presentation.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the following groups of staff for their cooperation in this project : Faculty of NRAVS;
External Studies Unit (Gatton);
TEDI and the EMS group.

Thanks are extended to Ms Susan O'Hara (External Studies, Gatton) for checking the final draft of this paper. The author accepts all responsibility for the documenting of events and views in the paper.

References

Academic Board (1997), Flexible Delivery Working Party, Discussion Paper, The University of Queensland. Academic Board (1997), Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan 1997-1999, The University of Queensland.

Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science (1997), Review of Courses (Report to Academic Programs Review Committee 01/08/97), The University of Queensland.

Johnston, I. (1996) The Place of Information Technology in University Science Teaching in Australia, Uniserve Science News, 5, November. Science Software Clearinghouse, Sydney.

Laurillard, D. (1993). Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology. Routledge. London. (Chapter 12, p. 223)

Laurillard, D. and Margetson, D. (1997). Introducing a Flexible Learning Methodology: Discussion paper, Griffith University Institute of Higher Education, Occasional Papers No. 7. Griffith University.

Rimmington, G. (1996) Agricultural Science Education on the Internet, Agricultural Science, 9, No. 3, 36-41.

School of Land and Food Systems (1996), Review of Courses, The University of Queensland. Page 8