Unravelling Complexity is open to students from all academic Colleges.
'Universities serve to make students think: to resolve problems by argument supported by evidence; not to be dismayed by complexity, but bold in unravelling it'.
(What are universities for?, Boulton and Lucas, 2008).
Unravelling Complexity takes up this challenge by encouraging later-year students from any part of the ANU the opportunity to explore the nature of complex issues, with a focus on drawing connections between disciplines and dimensions of complex problems. ANU researchers will provide insights into the behaviour of complexity by using a broad range of concepts from the social, natural and design sciences and teams from the interdisciplinary ANU Grand Challenges research initiative will provide insights on contemporary complex problems. The course encourages students to build on their existing disciplinary perspectives to develop a broad understanding of effective collaborative approaches to unravelling complex issues.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify and generalise behaviours of complex problems
- Analyse and construct arguments from multiple perspectives, supported by evidence and with intellectual independence
- Reflect critically on concepts from the course by connecting personal experiences and real-world situations
- Provide and situate disciplinary perspectives and methodologies in an interdisciplinary team
- Design, research and defend a major work unravelling a complex problem
Other Information
Interested students should register an expression of interest at http://vc-courses.anu.edu.au/apply.
Successful applicants will be provided with a permission code from Science.Enquiries@anu.edu.au .
Indicative Assessment
- Tutorial Co-Facilitation and Complexity Primer (30) [LO 1,2,4]
- Interdisciplinary Group Project (20) [LO 2,4]
- Individual Learning Portfolio (~3000 words) (50) [LO 1,2,3,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:
- Face-to face component which will consist of 1 x 2-hour seminar and 1 x 2-hour tutorial each week
- A 2-hour workshop held the week before your tutorial co-facilitation
- Independent study, which will include preparation for class, project collaboration and assessment tasks.
Inherent Requirements
To be determined
Requisite and Incompatibility
You will need to contact the ANU College of Science to request a permission code to enrol in this course.
Prescribed Texts
Resources will be made available on Wattle. A recommended reading list is available on the VC's Courses public website.
Preliminary Reading
During the semester, students will contribute to the Complexity Primer project. Exemplary work from former students can be found on the VC's Courses public website.
Assumed Knowledge
As this is a later-year, interdisciplinary course, students are required to have completed a minimum of 72 units with at least a Credit average.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $3180 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $4890 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7252 | 26 Jul 2021 | 02 Aug 2021 | 14 Sep 2021 | 29 Oct 2021 | In Person | View |
