This study represents an attempt by a distance educator at CB Alexander Agricultural College to find ways of improving the quality of its farm management distance education program. It describes an action research project in which the Principal Investigator and his co-researchers - a group of students enrolled in the Farm Management Certificate Course - simulate a distance education process as a springboard into collaborative and critical reflection. The study describes the present operations of the NSW Agriculture Farm Management Certificate Course and gives a critical overview of the current approach to course development. It draws on relevant professional literature to provide a theoretical basis for its critique of the curriculum. It asks whether inclusion of an epistemological development variable in course design could help the College more closely meet the needs of its clients. Rising out of this critique of existing practice, the thesis charts a quest by co-researchers for growth in understanding, by critical self-reflection, through dialogue. It proposes a theory of open system inquiry as a tool to help curriculum developers, distance educators and all aspiring open system learners to develop a personal praxis of open system inquiry in their vocations and in their lives. / Master of Science (Hons)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/235667 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | McKenzie, A. D. (Anthony D.), University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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