Multimedia design using problem based learning for Pasture Management

The problem facing the design team is that the content is highly complex, with many variables in practical applications. These include the effect of differences in climate from location to location, the purpose the pasture is required for, anticipated stocking rates, anticipated/optimal fertiliser use, local soil and ground water moisture conditions and user preferences. To deal with these complex issues students need access to large amounts of information such as climate and soil data across Victoria, pasture species and cultivars, effects of stocking rates on pasture growth, weed management, effects of different fertiliser applications, and budgeting processes. Students need access also to tools such as spreadsheets and simulators, so that they can reach an understanding of the most appropriate management regimes for different circumstances.

An approach to design using PBL was selected to provide the appropriate framework to deal with this level of complexity. PBL is a teaching/learning methodology developed to require active engagement with the learning process. Its value is that it requires the student to investigate, speculate, generate solutions, and use higher order cognitive processes while learning. PBL is an effective method in complex problem solving situations in which there is no single correct answer. The real world problems that students need to deal with after graduation are like this - having many aspects that must be considered in relation to scientific data, and then balanced to take account of all relevant influences.

The multimedia design provides the students with authentic problems. These are drawn from real situations, and are presented to the students using photographs, VR movies, and audio interviews with farmers to emphasise the authenticity of the situation. Students are presented with problems such as devising a pasture mix to renovate a degraded pasture on several properties. While problems are presented in this way, students can use the multimedia materials to access data, such as a pasture species database, a tutorial on the effect of climate on grazing or the principles of pasture development. For problems that require financial analysis, students use specially designed spreadsheets. A member of the project team has, as a separate research project, developed a pasture simulator that can model a wide range of pasture growth situations given appropriate data for the location. This simulator has been incorporated into the multimedia design. Students can use the simulator as a tool, to 'test' proposed solutions to problems over a period of time such as 1 - 2 years. In this way, students can observe the consequences of their proposed solutions, and modify them to take account of this experience.

The project is a work in progress. The paper will concentrate on the theoretical background of PBL, and the way that PBL has formed the basis for the instructional design of the multimedia materials. The presentation will include a demonstration of material from the modules that are complete at the time of the presentation (about half of the total project).

The paper relates to the 'Changing Learning Contexts' perspective. It will consider teaching and learning contexts and strategies, authentic activities and tasks, harnessing new technology to improve quality, and student/teacher roles and interactions as these are all aspects that have affected the overall design and proposed implementation of the multimedia materials.