Page 52 - Reimagining Higher Education : Case Studies On Designing For Inclusion, Equity, And Access In The Buka Project

P. V. Arumugam & J. S. Emmanuel · Course learning re-design, capacity building and

learner engagement - Wawasan Open University (WOU), Malaysia

To facilitate the transition, WOU needed to re-examine its methods of
developing and delivering online learning materials. During the pre-pandemic

years, learners had the option of physically meeting their instructors to get

feedback regarding their assessments. This could not be done during the pandemic
and when the institution shifted to full online delivery. Hence, there was a need to

relook at the assessment feedback model.

Methodology

Here, the approach taken to move to a purely online learning ecosystem in WOU

will be described with regard to: sta capacity building, module design/learning
material development, and the pilot of a multimodal approach to providing

assessment feedback to students.

Capacity Building

WOU implements the ADDIE framework in all its online learning material
development and related sta capacity-building activities. ADDIE stands for

analyse, design, develop, implement and evaluate. As such, we conducted a needs
analysis on what the academics knew and what they wanted to learn. At the

beginning of WOU’s BUKA project, we had 61 full-time academic sta and

approximately 450 part-time tutors. This has since dwindled to 54 and 270
respectively. The results of the needs analysis and the capacity-building activities

put in place thereafter are described in the findings section below.

Module design/learning material development

WOU’s learning materials have always been very wordy since this model of content

development first began in 2006. We began with printed learning materials before

moving to a softcopy PDF version of the same materials. Figure 5 below shows the
evolution of the learning material development process in WOU since 2006.

Starting with the traditional, text-based, printed, self-instructional material (SIM)
first implemented in 2007. This earliest SIM had content that stretched over 400

pages making it a daunting task for students to read. In 2009, the University

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