Online immersive learning in Crime Scene Investigation

This presentation will discuss bridging the gap between detailed theoretical perspectives and practical applications, asking students to channel their learning outcomes through interpretation and reasoning; requiring them to link the chronological events of a scenario to key criminological theories and how this has been imbedded in the curriculum via the online learning environment. The work outlines the need for collaboration between industry practitioners, students, academics and online course developers to enable us to create an immersive learning environment, both in a digital and physical sense(Dror, Schmidt & O’Connor, 2011). The key audience for this presentation are people working within the Social Science disciplines but it transcends all aspects of higher education programmes due to the collaborative nature of the project and the benefits for students in relation to employability skills and their understanding of contemporary issues in professional practice. Participants will be able to use the ideas and concepts presented within their own discipline area and institution. Our approach to e-learning centres and reusable learning objects; resources including interactive timelines, videos detailing forensic techniques, character biopics and witness statements have allowed students and staff to engage widely with this concept. In this particular subject area footage and resources are released each week building a picture of events. Students must then consider the case information, and in light of their learning, plan an approach in investigating the crime scene. All findings and intelligence culminates in an interactive online court room experience during which students will be required to present their evidence with court room footage from the case being used to enhance this experience. The resources also compliment current teaching paradigms, including traditional face to face lectures for campus based students and virtual classrooms for distance learners; with the added benefit of facilitating more interactive, dynamic assessment models which are more accessible for students with additional requirements (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2007).