Introduction

In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of student numbers in higher education in many parts of the world and we have seen rapid developments in communication and information technologies. These events have been accompanied by changes in our approaches to learning and teaching from the more conventional and traditional and have led to a change in the nature of educational resources and resource provision. As a consequence there is now a much greater emphasis placed on resource based learning (RBL) and all that this entails.

RBL requires that the design, delivery and management of courses exploit a variety of learning resources, including print- and electronic-based materials (the web, etc.), so that they support student learning more effectively than in more conventionally designed courses. It involves changes in the way in which libraries are designed and used and the development of new relationships between staff and students, between teaching and support staff and between the students themselves.

Resource Materials

• Extracts from OCSLD Publications on RBL
  This link takes you to extracts from publications by the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD) at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Many of the extracts are from the Resource Based Learning series of booklets, which covers both subject disciplines as well as more generic material.
• Sally Brown: Reasons for employing RBL
  An article which looks at the following:
  • Changes and problems facing higher education
  • Educational benefits
  • Questionable assumptions about RBL
• IMPEL Survey on Resource Based Learning 
  Results of a postal survey (1997) conducted as part of the research of the IMPEL2 project, looking at the impact of Resource Based Learning on library staff, such as:
  • What do Heads of Service understand by the term Resource Based Learning?
  • How is resource based learning developed and implemented?
  • What is the impact of resource based learning provision on Libraries and Learning Resources Centres?
• Developing Internet Courseware to Create Freedom and Flexibility for Learners in University English Studies
  This paper (1996) examines the design and implementation of new Internet learning materials in the teaching of English Literature to first-level undergraduates and discusses the reactions of learners using these materials and the changes experienced by the designers of the courseware.
• A Pragmatic Look at Some of the Issues Faced by Those Who Seek to Produce and Deliver Resource Based Learning (RBL) in Higher Education
  A paper which discusses how RBL allows students to benefit from the additional skills it engenders over and above those inherent in more traditional methods of delivery.
• Issues Raised by Implementing RBL Within Higher Education Institutions
  Discusses the role which teachers, librarians and students play in implementing RBL rather policies, management, learning resource centres, open learning 'units or teaching committees.
  

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