An Inter-disciplinary, Flexible Learning, Project Based Design Module

Central Queensland University (CQU) is a significant provider of distance education programs nationally and internationally. It is believed that it is important to provide an equitable learning experience for students studying at distance, this means, any advances in pedagogy should also benefit remote students in promoting their learning experiences. This paper discusses the experience of a combined engineering/health science (ergonomics) teaching team as they attempt to transfer the Project Based Learning pedagogy from successful health and engineering courses delivered on campus to developing curriculum for an integrated occupational health and safety / engineering distance education course. Many challenges were' confronted, including the provision of appropriate resource materials, limited access to additional literature and resources for some students, and a traditionally prescriptive. discipline tradition with regard to some accreditation requirements and industry expectations. Although not finalised and thus representing a work in progress, there is encouragement for believing that the benefits of pursuing PBL in occupational health and safety and engineering course flexible delivery are deliverable, although there are some experiential awareness issues to overcome.