Practical implications of the introduction of flexible learning techniques to an IT-based course

Abstract

This paper describes a project designed to evaluate the application of flexible learning techniques to an IT-based “Database Concepts” course. Two groups of students were taught conventionally with sessions consisting of a mixture of discussion, lecturing and practical work. A further two groups were taught flexibly and were given a specially prepared Study Guide which contained a mixture of descriptive material, tasks, a floppy disk and self-tests. Evaluation of both approaches involved end-of-course tests, course evaluation questionnaires, observation and de-briefing sessions. When students were tested at the end of the course, those students taught using flexible learning techniques did not seem to have been either advantaged or disadvantaged by their use when compared with the students taught using conventional techniques. There was no strong difference in the acceptability by students of the techniques used on either course.

The practical implications of the introduction of such a course, including resourcing, are described and the degree to which flexibility was achieved is discussed.