XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 825
case study in the final module of the online course. The case
study was structured as a content experiment where each
learner is assigned data for one aspect of the case study, they
are then encouraged to use the discussion board to com-
pare and share the outcomes of their analysis with the other
learners. Feedback from the learners reflected their engage-
ment with this, as shown by their responses to the questions
“what did you like best about the course?”:
“the analysis of real world plant data”
“the process diagnostic activity”
“the case study was helpful”
“the discussion forum was helpful”
The online course has been available since 2015 as a stand-
alone, short course, equivalent to a two-day workshop. The
course provides a foundation in process mineralogy and is
not limited to metallurgists as participants. Once again,
despite the positive feedback on the course, enrolment
numbers were relatively small and external factors (includ-
ing the prevailing economic conditions) played a role in
this (see Figure 5). Under these conditions, one of the bene-
fits of having developed a fully online, self-paced course was
that limited resources were required to deploy the course so
that it remained viable with small numbers of participants
and the timeframe for when the course could be delivered
was flexible.
2020–2023
During this period efforts were made to further expand the
reach of the learning materials. In 2021 the online course
was translated, and a Spanish language version offered to
provide access to a greater number of potential learners. An
updated version of the online course was also incorporated
as one of the core learning modules in a specialist graduate
program, Metcelerate. The course runs for approximately
six weeks in the 20-month Metcelerate program. The for-
mat of the course was extended to include live sessions
which connect the globally diverse cohort with the course
leaders and their peers around the world. To ensure that the
course is manageable for the participants who are typically
working full-time, the material has been “chunked” into
content that represents 2–3 hours of effort per week. As we
know, mining is an international business and so the course
is also available in alternative language versions. Since its
inclusion in the program, the learner audience in process
mineralogy has increased significantly as shown in Figure 5.
The learners have also reported positively on their experi-
ences with the content, not only on a personal level but also
in ways that demonstrate benefit to their employers from
their participation.
“Enjoyed the Process Mineralogy course, thought it
was very engaging—more interactive activities pro-
vided to explore topics”
“Especially the mineralogy course has been a wonder-
ful experience for us. After learning that in the course
we can make recommendations to the company. We
know the challenges we are facing. We know what
might be the answer to those problems. It is really
interesting for now and we expect to learn more…”
CONCLUSIONS
The process mineralogy course has adapted and evolved over
time to make the content accessible to the people who need
this skill set. When it was first designed the course provided
face-to-face lectures and laboratory experiences for under-
graduate metallurgical engineers at a single university. The
current form of the course delivered through an accredited
program, has been designed to be fully online on a profes-
sional educational platform, provide meaningful interactive
activities and give opportunities for learners to meet and
have technical discussions online with the expert course
leaders and their peers around the world—it has evolved
to meet the demands of today’s learners. The benefit of this
approach is that it provides a platform for learners around
the world to learn from experts in each technical field and
is actively increasing the number of practicing metallurgical
engineers who have achieved competency in key skills such
as process mineralogy.
REFERENCES
AusIMM. 2021. A critical moment—the supply and
demand of mining, metallurgical and geotechnical
engineers in the Australian Resources Industry.
Cilliers, J. Drinkwater, D and Heiskanen, K. (eds).
2013. Minerals Engineering Education and Training,
International Minerals Processing Council.
Crosling, G., Heagney, M. and Thomas, L. 2009. Improving
student retention in higher education, Australian
Universities’ Review, Vol 51 No 2, pp 9–18.
Drinkwater, D. and Napier-Munn, T.J. 2014, Why good
professional development is the key to profitability in
the mining industry, In Chapter 20 Proceedings XXVII
International Mineral Processing Congress, Santiago,
Chile, pp28–37.
case study in the final module of the online course. The case
study was structured as a content experiment where each
learner is assigned data for one aspect of the case study, they
are then encouraged to use the discussion board to com-
pare and share the outcomes of their analysis with the other
learners. Feedback from the learners reflected their engage-
ment with this, as shown by their responses to the questions
“what did you like best about the course?”:
“the analysis of real world plant data”
“the process diagnostic activity”
“the case study was helpful”
“the discussion forum was helpful”
The online course has been available since 2015 as a stand-
alone, short course, equivalent to a two-day workshop. The
course provides a foundation in process mineralogy and is
not limited to metallurgists as participants. Once again,
despite the positive feedback on the course, enrolment
numbers were relatively small and external factors (includ-
ing the prevailing economic conditions) played a role in
this (see Figure 5). Under these conditions, one of the bene-
fits of having developed a fully online, self-paced course was
that limited resources were required to deploy the course so
that it remained viable with small numbers of participants
and the timeframe for when the course could be delivered
was flexible.
2020–2023
During this period efforts were made to further expand the
reach of the learning materials. In 2021 the online course
was translated, and a Spanish language version offered to
provide access to a greater number of potential learners. An
updated version of the online course was also incorporated
as one of the core learning modules in a specialist graduate
program, Metcelerate. The course runs for approximately
six weeks in the 20-month Metcelerate program. The for-
mat of the course was extended to include live sessions
which connect the globally diverse cohort with the course
leaders and their peers around the world. To ensure that the
course is manageable for the participants who are typically
working full-time, the material has been “chunked” into
content that represents 2–3 hours of effort per week. As we
know, mining is an international business and so the course
is also available in alternative language versions. Since its
inclusion in the program, the learner audience in process
mineralogy has increased significantly as shown in Figure 5.
The learners have also reported positively on their experi-
ences with the content, not only on a personal level but also
in ways that demonstrate benefit to their employers from
their participation.
“Enjoyed the Process Mineralogy course, thought it
was very engaging—more interactive activities pro-
vided to explore topics”
“Especially the mineralogy course has been a wonder-
ful experience for us. After learning that in the course
we can make recommendations to the company. We
know the challenges we are facing. We know what
might be the answer to those problems. It is really
interesting for now and we expect to learn more…”
CONCLUSIONS
The process mineralogy course has adapted and evolved over
time to make the content accessible to the people who need
this skill set. When it was first designed the course provided
face-to-face lectures and laboratory experiences for under-
graduate metallurgical engineers at a single university. The
current form of the course delivered through an accredited
program, has been designed to be fully online on a profes-
sional educational platform, provide meaningful interactive
activities and give opportunities for learners to meet and
have technical discussions online with the expert course
leaders and their peers around the world—it has evolved
to meet the demands of today’s learners. The benefit of this
approach is that it provides a platform for learners around
the world to learn from experts in each technical field and
is actively increasing the number of practicing metallurgical
engineers who have achieved competency in key skills such
as process mineralogy.
REFERENCES
AusIMM. 2021. A critical moment—the supply and
demand of mining, metallurgical and geotechnical
engineers in the Australian Resources Industry.
Cilliers, J. Drinkwater, D and Heiskanen, K. (eds).
2013. Minerals Engineering Education and Training,
International Minerals Processing Council.
Crosling, G., Heagney, M. and Thomas, L. 2009. Improving
student retention in higher education, Australian
Universities’ Review, Vol 51 No 2, pp 9–18.
Drinkwater, D. and Napier-Munn, T.J. 2014, Why good
professional development is the key to profitability in
the mining industry, In Chapter 20 Proceedings XXVII
International Mineral Processing Congress, Santiago,
Chile, pp28–37.