The Engineering ‘Hubs and Spokes’ project

Institutional cooperation in educational design and delivery

Abstract

The emergence of blended course techniques that embrace a combination of face-to-face and online learning environments offers a raft of opportunity for flexibility in education. While much writing has focused on the opportunities for flexibility for the students and teachers, this paper focuses on the opportunities for effective sharing of expertise and effort between institutions.

The Engineering 'Hubs and Spokes' project is a collaboration between The Australian National University and the University of South Australia. It draws on the strengths of each to improve the range and quality of educational opportunities for students. Two components of the project are underpinned by blended courses: sharing of courses at the advanced undergraduate level; and development of an integrated graduate development program.

We describe choices made, benefits identified, and the challenges encountered in the early stages of the project. We discuss recommendations for the future of cooperation in educational design and delivery, and comment on the opportunities that arise for structural reform of the higher education sector.