Welcome to the new look, August 2001 edition of ultiBASE. This issue
reflects the diversity and reach of ultiBASE with two papers from
Australia, one from South Africa and one from Malaysia.

UltiBASE as usual, welcomes contributions on any topics related to the
enhancement of tertiary teaching and learning. For full details on our
publishing policy go to http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/About/publish.htm

Regards
Mark Laidler

Developing curricular and appropriate learning strategies for community
development and peace studies - Dr. Paul Chantrill & Dr. Rebecca Spence,
Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies, University of New
England, Australia.
http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/aug01/chantrill1.htm

Abstract: This paper presents an opportunity for our reflection on the
motives, process and outcomes of efforts to develop a dynamic course
structure in which to teach current community development practice and
peacemaking. We recognise the need for more applied learning to better
support our student profile which is increasingly made up of community
development practitioners and peace workers. The learning environment we
seek to provide at the University of New England, a regional based
university in New South Wales, Australia, offers students the opportunity
to: 1 Consolidate and monitor their own practice in the field; 2 Evaluate
their own workplace environment and learning experiences in the field with
reference to other students' comparative experience; and 3 Interact with
teaching staff who act as providers of resources, networking contacts and
people with whom to engage in critical reflection The paper concludes that
a dynamic, flexible and cooperative approach to learning is highly
appropriate to suitable to contemporary adult and professional workplace
education.

E-education: creating partnerships for learning - Dr. Sandra Jones &
Elizabeth Creese, School of Management, RMIT University, Australia.
http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/aug01/jones1.htm

Abstract: Higher education is facing unprecedented change as students and
their potential employers face the global, knowledge-driven society of the
future. On the one hand there is greater emphasis on designing a more
student-centred learning experience in which students are able to discuss
concepts, reflect upon them, and adapt their actions. This is achieved
through designing teaching and learning that enables interaction between
students and teachers and among students themselves. On the other hand the
E-education revolution is providing universities with a range of flexible
mediums through which large numbers of diversely spread students are
provided with flexible learning opportunities. These two pressures are
often seen as conflicting as on-line education potentially places a
distance between the student and the teacher and between students
themselves. For teachers trying to resolve this conflict what is required
is innovative approaches to educational delivery that require different
skills from that traditionally associated face-to-face teaching. This
requires developing a team of experts - the teacher and a number of experts
(technical designers, multi-media graphic designers, research designers) -
who work together using each others skill and expertise. This process is at
odds with the more traditional university culture in which academic freedom
and individualism is seen as the mainstay of ensuring academic independence
from outside political, social and religious influences. This paper seeks
to explore the roles of participants within a cross-functional team in
which educational design is aimed at a student-centred delivery outcome.
Addressed is the issue of how a team based approach to the planning,
development, evaluation and delivery of multi-media, including online
material, might assist the facilitation of student learning. The paper
develops a model of a collaborative team process and examines it against
two experiences in the School of Management at RMIT in which the aim of the
teacher was to deliver a student-centred educational process. In both cases
the cross-functional team was found to be a necessity to develop the
on-line educational delivery. However, the student-centred educational
process was more evident in one case than the other. The authors conclude
that a cross-functional team process is required for successful delivery of
on-line educational delivery, however that a cross-functional team process
is not sufficient to ensure a student-centred outcome. From this the
authors suggest not that the cross-functional team is not necessary but
rather that attention needs to be paid to the type and level of skills
required in a cross-functional team to ensure that on-line education can
deliver a student-centred educational experience. This conclusion opens the
way for further research.

Beyond a Shadow of Doubt: Making a Case for Humanities and Social Sciences in Higher Education - Sheila Narsee, Department of Language & Communication, M L Sultun Technikon, South Africa.
http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/aug01/narsee1.htm

Abstract: The author's research was inspired by the assumption that the
Communication course /module presently offered in most disciplines at
technikons in South Africa does not embrace greater Humanities and Social
Sciences based skills and understandings in order to broaden the scope of
student employment possibilities. This research was undertaken to
investigate and ascertain the importance of these skills in the workplace.
Questionnaires were administered to 400 multidisciplinary companies in and
around KwaZulu Natal, and to academic staff at three technikons in KwaZulu
Natal: M. L. Sultan Technikon, Mangosuthu Technikon and Technikon Natal. In
addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Training Managers/
Training Coordinators/ Managing Directors of thirteen companies in KwaZulu
Natal. Both qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used in
the analysis of the data. The author also conducted a comprehensive
literature study of general vocational and occupation-specific skills in
the workplace both locally and internationally. For example, since an
engineer belongs to a profession whose objective is to improve the
conditions of human life by changing the physical environment and the
systems of human life, he/she has a great responsibility to society. In
order to discharge that responsibility, engineering programmes should not
only develop technical competence, but also a broad range of communication
skills together with an understanding of, and better preparation for the
environmental, cultural, economic, legal, social and ethical impacts of
engineering on society. Furthermore, the engineer should be able to grasp
the complexity of social problems and the implications of their solutions,
therefore it is imperative that future engineers be exposed to the social
sciences and the humanities.

Abstract: The discussion on teaching and learning practices in Malaysia
will have to make important links with the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and
multi-lingual dimensions in this society. Given this context of
diversities, the debate on reading and readership behavior in Malaysia is
closely inter-related to variations in ethnic groups, the language(s) used,
impact of an individual's personal factors, home and school factors. This
paper reports the findings of a recent study conducted by the author on
readership behavior among university and secondary school students. The
discussion examines the ways reading practices are currently situated in
the Malaysian learning landscape and outlines the profile of habitual readers.
"To argue that, in the era of information technology, learning to read is
preparing children for the nineteenth, rather than the twenty-first
century, is to misunderstand the nature of human thought and its
development." Pumfrey and Owen, 1995