Empowering Independent Learning:
Transforming Student’s Research Cafeteria
ROLE - LEARNing designer
function - school of Media and communications
rmit university
Context
RMIT University, renowned for its quality teaching and innovative delivery, aimed to enhance the School of Media and Communication’s Research Cafeteria repository. This repository provides supplementary learning resources that support mandatory modules for research students.
Problem
Student feedback revealed that existing materials in the Research Cafeteria were difficult to navigate, limiting engagement and increasing supervisors’ workloads. Supervisors often had to provide extra support for tasks students could not complete independently.
Challenge
The central question guiding the project was:
“How can we design supplementary learning materials that are engaging, user-friendly, and empower students to learn independently, thereby reducing supervisors’ workload?”
Solution
Working with supervisors and students, the team identified learning needs and developed materials for diverse learners, including mature students, ESL learners, and both online and on-campus students. Resources were adaptable—printed workbooks, digital PDFs, and interactive boards—allowing students to engage independently in ways that suited their learning preferences.
Due to confidentiality considerations, samples of this project are available upon request only.
Please feel free to contact me on natalia.alessi@gmail.com