Using online and multimedia resources to enhance the student learning experience in a telecommunications laboratory within an Australian university

A laboratory component of an undergraduate telecommunications course consistently scored poorly for student learning experience on student surveys at an Australian university. Consultation with experienced academic staff revealed the need to modify the teaching resources available for the laboratory to include web-based multimedia and interactive resources. This new material was developed and made available to students and teaching staff in early 2011 via an Australian university e-learning package which was used to deliver the subject. The students and demonstrators were then encouraged to use this new resource to prepare for the three hour laboratory sessions. Surveys of students who took this laboratory in previous years were then compared to surveys of students using the latest version of the telecommunications laboratory in 2011 and 2012. The demonstrators themselves were also asked to provide feedback on their impressions of student learning. The comments from the laboratory demonstrators, feedback from the students, and assessment results indicate that the new online teaching material for both laboratory teaching staff and students has significantly improved the student learning experience. That this occurred two years in a row indicates that this improvement has ongoing benefits, irrespective of the teaching staff involved with the subject. The lessons learned can be applied to other similar learning environments.