Applying the Living Curriculum Approach to Undergraduate Sustainable Design and Construction Education in NZ

Most Construction related University programmes recognise the need for the inclusion of some form of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) element to their courses. The forthcoming implementation of nationally applicable OHS legislation in Australia is likely to increase this recognition on Australian construction programmes. The delivery of OHS as a subject that reflects the realities of OHS construction industry issues in a classroom environment is difficult to achieve. More so when the course is delivered to both on campus and distance learning students as part of a “mixed mode” programme. Commercially produced OHS materials in an E-learning format are widely available and are often seen as a means of recreating the realism of real life OHS scenarios. One option for the application and use of such technology is the use of online videos and related online quizzes targeting the video content. This research consists of a case study examining the perceived effectiveness of the implementation and use of one such commercially produced OH&S package consisting of videos and related quizzes, delivered in an E-learning format, as an aid to the delivery and teaching of a “mixed mode” University OH&S course on a construction related programme. The research reports the opinions and feedback of the students of the course as to the suitability and effectiveness of the use and application of the materials. Results indicate that students considered the use of online videos and online assessed quizzes as an E-learning tutorial and assessment method as being overall beneficial to their learning experience.