A fictional crime drama that prompts students to explore the effectiveness of the law and justice system from a psychological perspective has won an international award.
University of Queensland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Joanne Wright said the massive open online course (MOOC) CRIME101x: The Psychology of Criminal Justice collected a bronze award at the 2018 Wharton-QS Stars Reimagine Education Awards in the social sciences category.
“The course, developed and taught by UQ School of Psychology Associate Professors Blake McKimmie, Barbara Masser and Mark Horswill, uses an innovative mix of drama and interactive learning to identify ways the criminal justice system can be improved,” Professor Wright said.
The Reimagine Education global awards recognise novel higher education initiatives aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes and employability.
Professor Wright said the course was an example of exemplary teaching and learning, not just for on-campus students but for thousands of learners worldwide through the edX platform.
“This award is a testament to the dedication of UQ staff who are continually seeking to enhance student learning,” she said.
“UQ is focused on developing similar flipped courses – where lectures and other key course material are delivered online – as part of our Student Strategy.
“We are reimagining higher education.”
This is the second award for the CRIME101x team, who won a MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching) Classics Award in 2016.
CRIME101x: The Psychology of Criminal Justice follows a fictional murder, investigation and trial, played out as a drama purpose-built for the course.
Weekly episodes are accompanied by video lectures and other resources designed to challenge common misconceptions about what results in a fair criminal justice system.
Professor Wright said UQx developed courses for the edX platform under Creative Commons licences, meaning educators worldwide were use the courses as teaching resources.
