[three_fourth]Introduction
This capstone is one of a suite of four trans-disciplinary capstones delivered within the framework of Vice Chancellor’s elective courses. The Unravelling Complexity capstone is a problem-based course that provides students with the opportunity to explore dimensions of complexity and approaches to dealing with complex issues from multiple disciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives. Students must apply to enrol in the course. Applications require a 200 word statement about their interest and capacity to engage in the intellectual challenges of the course. The coordinator approves these applications primarily on the basis of this statement, but may also ask for course transcripts demonstrating past performance. Students work both in groups and individually throughout the capstone.

Delivery format
The capstone is delivered as a single course (1/4 load) in one semester. Delivery occurs in three primary formats: panels, tutorials and workshops. Panels are delivered 2 hours per week. The first 10 weeks involve guest speakers, with final weeks being given over to student project work and presentations. Guests are both ANU staff and external experts. The first of these panels is focused on introducing the course. Subsequent panels cover a range of related topics such as behaviour of complexity, interdisciplinary thinking, and establishing an evidence base, as well as disciplinary perspectives on particular complex issues. Students do pre-reading for the panels and then respond by developing a group project response. Tutorials are delivered for 2 hours per week to groups of approximately 18 students. Students bring their response to the topic to the tutorials, which are co-facilitated by short-lived student groups (each student co-facilitates one tutorial). Students cannot attend a tutorial without having completed and submitted the responses, which form their ‘ticket’ for tutorial entry. Students also attend a one-hour workshop and develop plans and instructions to students regarding required pre-tutorial work, prior to their turn at co-facilitating a tutorial.

Prior to starting the capstone, students are required to develop a short summary of a complex issue from their discipline perspective. This is then used as an introductory exercise and to define the groups (which are intended to be diverse). In the first week, they are also asked to select one panel topic as the tutorial that they would like to facilitate. Every student compiles responses to panels and tutorials in relation to a chosen complex problem as part of a portfolio of work.

Feedback and assessment
Feedback is intrinsic to the course activities, as students develop critical skills and carry out continuous peer and self-review. Formal (summative) assessment is based on the tutorial facilitation; a group research project; an individual research paper on the group project topic; and an individual learning portfolio. The individual portfolio includes an oral defence, and the group research project includes a presentation. Milestones for the development of each of the major outcomes are set (and in most cases, graded) so that students commence development early in the course. The course is co-badged for post-graduate and law students to allow slight variations in the assessment outcomes – law students must include issues relating to, or impacted under, the law in their assessment outcomes and post graduate students are expected to deliver a larger individual research paper as well as a more intensively researched learning portfolio.

Resourcing
The pattern of course delivery is not significantly more resource intensive than many other courses at ANU. Guest speakers are not paid, although in some cases travel may be funded. Tutors are allocated approximately 200 hours to support the tutorial facilitation process. The coordination does not require large amounts of content preparation, offsetting the management of guests and workshops.

Outcomes
Building on and extending their discipline capabilities, students work actively and deeply with issues of complexity and problem-solving in interdisciplinary contexts. They broaden their capacity to engage with ambiguous, multi-faceted, issues as well as understanding the limits and potential of a range of disciplinary perspectives in decision-making. They discover frameworks they can apply to give structure to unstructured problems. As a transition experience, students develop high-level skills in intellectual inquiry, independence, interdisciplinary engagement and personal reflection. They also gain confidence in their capacity to lead inquiry, facilitate learning and challenge thinking. Students are highly engaged in this experience, and bring enormous energy to the process. They perceive this as a challenging inquiry experience in which they take charge of their own thinking and develop strong intellectual leadership skills.

For more information about the aims, delivery and learning outcomes (including examples of student work), see: http://vc-courses.anu.edu.au/uc/home/
Image attribution: Bcastel3 at en.wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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Key characteristics
Final year undergraduate. Interdisciplinary, single semester, elective, problem-based.
Student numbers: average 50, scalable up to 200

Author/contact
Chris Browne, ANU [email_link email=”chris.browne@anu.edu.au”]Email Chris[/email_link]

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