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D. VAN DEN BOGAARD Delft University of Technology Delft, Netherlands  \nABSTRACT  \nThe Charles Sturt University (CSU) Engineering programme is a new course (degree programmme) established in 2016 by a university that had not previously taught engineering. This start from scratch occasion was taken as an opportunity to build an all-new programme structure and philosophy. Students at CSU Engineering complete a sequence of three semester-long Project-Based Learning (PBL) style challenges across their time face-to-face at the university; after this point, they commence four yearlong paid industry-based work placements and continue studies in an online mode during evenings, weekends, and scheduled study days.  \nThe underlying technical curriculum for the engineering programme at Charles Sturt University is delivered mostly on-line via the RealizeIT platform and is based on a philosophy of just-in-time, self-directed learning. Students have freedom in deciding when, how and, to a large extent, which elements of the curriculum they engage within the online environment. This freedom, along with the PBL-style challenges, is enabled by the structure of the technical curriculum which is broken down into fine-grained learning activities called ‘topics’.  \nIn this paper, we summarise our experiences during the first four years, and the insights gained into student behaviours when offered an opportunity to engage in self-directed learning.  \nKey words: on-line learning; just-in-time delivery; self-directed learning  \nADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION  \nThe CSU Engineering Topic Tree: The First Four Years  \nINTRODUCTION  \nThe Charles Sturt University (CSU) Engineering programme is a new course established in 2016 by a university that had not previously taught engineering. This start from scratch occasion was taken as an opportunity to build an all-new programme structure and philosophy [1] . Students at CSU Engineering complete a sequence of three semester-long Project-Based Learning (PBL) style challenges across their time face-to-face at the university; after this point, they commence four yearlong paid industry-based work placements and continue studies in an online mode during evenings, weekends, and scheduled study days. Thus the PBL challenges are replaced by real, paid work, and the academic subjects associated with the work are replaced with portfolio subjects focused on helping students to document their accumulated competencies with evidence for the work place.  \nThe underlying technical curriculum for the engineering programme at Charles Sturt University is delivered mostly on-line via the RealizeIT platform [2] and is based on a philosophy of just-intime, self-directed learning. Students have freedom in deciding when (as inspired by current events, as required for a project, etc. ), how and, to a large extent, which elements of the curriculum they engage within the online environment. This freedom, along with the PBL-style challenges, is enabled by the structure of the technical curriculum which is broken down into fine-grained learning activities called ‘topics’.  \nIn addition to the PBL half and the Topic tree half of the curriculum, there is a performance planning and review thread that continues for the duration of the curriculum. Whilst this strand comprises only 5-10% of the credit points in the degree, it serves to help prepare the students to be productive in an engineering work environment in the early semesters, and to help them become reflective practitioners as they progress through progressively more challenging work placements.  \nWHAT IS THE TOPIC TREE?  \nTopics on the Civil E","cbCaiv0fUDFMpTe9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv0fUDFMpTe9","pdf",2042908,11,"English","# Introduction\n## What is the Topic Tree?\n## How do they progress through the Topic Tree?","[{\"question\":\"What is the CSU Engineering Topic Tree model designed to support?\",\"answer\":\"It supports technical content delivery through fine-grained “topics” arranged in a tree structure, with recommended learning order made explicit. It enables self-directed progression with learning outcomes, resources, and assessments for each topic.\"},{\"question\":\"How does CSU Engineering structure students’ learning across the programme?\",\"answer\":\"Students complete three semester-long PBL-style challenges face-to-face, then begin four yearlong paid industry-based work placements. During evenings, weekends, and scheduled study days, students continue studies in an online mode.\"},{\"question\":\"How do students progress through the Topic Tree and complete requirements?\",\"answer\":\"Students must successfully complete at least 240 topics from the Topic Tree, including 80 required before starting their first work placement. They are presented with a recommended order but have few fixed prerequisites, allowing skipping while still accumulating the required topics in the first 15 months.\"}]","The CSU Engineering Topic Tree - The First Four Years | PDF",1792066460,28]