Association of Researchers in Construction Management
Abstract
Students studying at postgraduate level should engage in learning on higher cognitive levels such as evaluation and creation. The notion of effective learning at this level is
characterised by the student’s ability to use acquired knowledge and principles to solve complex problems. Learning theories advocate maximising student engagement
with the learning resources in order to facilitate such effective learning. This can be achieved by addressing the following factors in curriculum design: accessibility,
variety, formative assessment and the development of learning communities. This paper presents work done on a postgraduate level Project Management course to
maximise the factors mentioned above, for example, with the introduction of automatically marked quizzes and the re-structuring of the course content. The
content and delivery of the course was changed from weekly lectures and tutorial sessions (old system) to a web-based blended learning system (new system).
Evaluation of the old and new systems was undertaken using questionnaires. The student evaluation suggests that the new system led to more effective learning. It is
suggested that effective learning can be facilitated by a blended learning system