XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 823
schedules. The increased proportion of operations which
are fly-in fly-out (FIFO) also affects the pattern of study,
with rosters of (for example) two weeks on, one week off
making weekly commitments to work on the course con-
tent challenging for some participants. Workforce mobility
in the mining industry, with people changing companies,
can affect the completion rate in longer running programs
provided by individual employers. Other practical issues
can affect learners—for example employees in some regions
do not have access to high-speed internet in their homes to
access online courses. As a result of these and other factors,
participation rates in professional development vary.
2013–2015
During this period the authors went through a period of
reflection and renewal of existing course materials. At this
time the primary audience for delivery of learning mate-
rial related to process mineralogy was through two under-
graduate courses. There are 5 compulsory courses as part
of the current program that provide foundational learning
for metallurgists, of which one incorporates process min-
eralogy (approximately half of a full semester course or
the equivalent of 60 hours of learning). From 2013–2016
there was also a full-semester advanced elective course with
the process mineralogy content taught by subject matter
experts who have deep discipline knowledge and industry
experience and could provide learners with experiences rel-
evant to their future careers.
A design framework was developed, based on that
of Parker, Maor and Herrington (2013), illustrated in
Figure 4. This framework was used to provide authentic
tasks that had real world relevance. For example, one of
the tasks in the advanced elective, was to plan and execute
a process mineralogy audit of a processing plant. This
Figure 3. Student engagement with recorded process mineralogy lectures
Figure 4. The extended authentic learning design framework
(from Parker, Maor and Herrington, 2013 adapted from
Herrington, Reeves and Oliver, 2010)
schedules. The increased proportion of operations which
are fly-in fly-out (FIFO) also affects the pattern of study,
with rosters of (for example) two weeks on, one week off
making weekly commitments to work on the course con-
tent challenging for some participants. Workforce mobility
in the mining industry, with people changing companies,
can affect the completion rate in longer running programs
provided by individual employers. Other practical issues
can affect learners—for example employees in some regions
do not have access to high-speed internet in their homes to
access online courses. As a result of these and other factors,
participation rates in professional development vary.
2013–2015
During this period the authors went through a period of
reflection and renewal of existing course materials. At this
time the primary audience for delivery of learning mate-
rial related to process mineralogy was through two under-
graduate courses. There are 5 compulsory courses as part
of the current program that provide foundational learning
for metallurgists, of which one incorporates process min-
eralogy (approximately half of a full semester course or
the equivalent of 60 hours of learning). From 2013–2016
there was also a full-semester advanced elective course with
the process mineralogy content taught by subject matter
experts who have deep discipline knowledge and industry
experience and could provide learners with experiences rel-
evant to their future careers.
A design framework was developed, based on that
of Parker, Maor and Herrington (2013), illustrated in
Figure 4. This framework was used to provide authentic
tasks that had real world relevance. For example, one of
the tasks in the advanced elective, was to plan and execute
a process mineralogy audit of a processing plant. This
Figure 3. Student engagement with recorded process mineralogy lectures
Figure 4. The extended authentic learning design framework
(from Parker, Maor and Herrington, 2013 adapted from
Herrington, Reeves and Oliver, 2010)