Creating partnerships for learning

In Semester I 2000 a group of students from the New England region enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts Fine Arts Course at the University of Newcastle. The exciting prospect from an educational perspective is that this group of students are participating in a flexible learning course, courtesy of an educational partnership between the University of Newcastle and New England Institute TAFE.

This Fine Arts BA program aims to address the call from regional students to educational institutions to develop learning strategies to suit their lifestyle demands and enhance career opportunities. This educational partnership is between the University of Newcastle and New England Institute TAFE. The role of the University of Newcastle is that of the course provider while New England Institute TAFE, Tamworth Campus is that of educational facilitator.

Our presentation addresses the forming of the educational partnership between the University and the TAFE institutions. The practicalities involved in establishing the Fine Arts teaching program and the delivery modes of the course curriculum.

The integrity of the Fine Arts BA course is of particular concerns to both educational institutions. This partnership is closely monitoring the progress of the students throughout the year. Staff coordinating the course delivery is prepared for the need to develop ongoing strategies to ensure that the standard of the production of artworks by the students enrolled in the flexible delivery mode is on par with students producing work through the mainstream Fine Arts BA course delivery mode.

While some course components of the Fine Arts BA course delivery, such as theory subjects are accessed via the Internet and dialogue between staff and students utilises email and teleconferencing the Fine Arts BA is predominantly a studio based course. Therefore the modes of flexible delivery differ from many online courses being currently offered. The need to maintain a vital studio dialogue is imperative to the successful learning outcomes of the Fine Arts BA course. Educational interaction between students and teaching staff is challenging and places new communication responsibilities upon both the teaching staff and the students embarking on this exciting and challenging course.