Rockhampton student Alice Leeson says a tight program of real-world scenarios has really helped fast-track her learning for the Bachelor of Accident Forensics degree at CQUniversity...

Alice was among students who recently converged at Bundaberg Campus for their first residential school based at a new Forensic Investigation Crash Lab.

Alice Leeson pictured during the residential school

"The benefit of being able to place all the theory we have learnt throughout the course into a real world situation has allowed all of us students to understand so clearly what our lectures have been teaching us," Alice says.

"During the res school it was also said many times among the students that we felt we had learnt as much in the few days as we have to this date by doing the theory. So it really provided a great clarity to what we had been learning."

Students, staff and volunteers involved in the residential school at CQUniversity Bundaberg

CQUniversity offers Accident Forensics via its Rockhampton and Bundaberg campuses, as well as through distance education. The University also offers a Master of Accident Investigation (Specialisation) by distance education with specialisations in aviation, road, rail and industrial accident investigation.

The 18 students attending the Bundaberg undergraduate residential school were able to apply their theoretical knowledge to realistic investigations of a series of accidents involving a car and a jeep, a crane, and some industrial machinery. They were supported by 10 first-year Accident Forensics students from Gladstone, Bundaberg and Brisbane who had volunteered to help by playing the role of crash 'witnesses' and 'media', and by keeping things running smoothly.

Engineering consultancy Clyde Babcock-Hitachi supported the residential school by providing a senior safety manager - David Skegg - to help facilitate the sessions, by sponsoring a dinner, and by donating a perpetual shield for the 'CBH Best Performing Investigation Team Award'. 

The Accident Forensics teaching team has also negotiated to secure a second-hand airliner and a railway locomotive which should both feature in future residential schools at the lab.

There are plans in future to transfer wreckage from real accidents into the crash lab so that students can experience the reality of accident scenes in a controlled environment.