Developing online postgraduate coursework to promote change in animal industries

Hannah Forsyth, Chris Moran, Jaime Gongora
University of Sydney

Ruth Laxton
R. L. Learning Designs, Sydney

Julius van der Werf
University of New England

Educational theories are increasingly demonstrating the significance of a participative approach to educational design, development and teaching. This participative approach promotes the design of learning programs that consider learning on a larger scale than the individual – extending to transforming organisations, professions, industries.

This poster reports on an action research project attached to a new postgraduate coursework program in Animal Breeding Management. This online program is led by the need for animal industries to change practices in light of new knowledge and technologies in animal genetics and breeding.

Relevance to industry is not the only contributing factor in the project - university and government imperatives for efficiencies through collaboration mean that the project is being conducted collaboratively by the University of Sydney and the University of New England and is being managed and developed by a team consisting of academic specialists, an educational designer and a manager.

The poster shows how the various stakeholders are committed to a two-way learning process during the program development and outlines the collaborative effort between the two universities. Outcomes to date suggest that, to meet stakeholders’ shared goal of change across animal industries, alignment of industry needs, academic validity, management and educational design is necessary.

Keywords: learning communities, collaborative learning, organisational change, educational paradigms, teaching and learning strategies