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Thinking Tools for Wicked Problems (UNIB10019)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Responding critically and ethically to contemporary issues, whether they be of local, national or global significance, requires one to go beyond the mere discovering of ‘facts’ and determining of ‘truths’. What one does with these ‘facts’ and ‘truths’ is equally important. What we claim to know may be helpfully understood in its emergence from and application to highly complex and seemingly intractable problems. Addressing such ‘wicked problems’ thoughtfully and collaboratively can reveal the nature of knowledge: how it is generated, how it is applied and contested, and what purposes it serves. Research areas in the Humanities, The Arts and the Social Sciences (HASS) as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will be introduced and problematised.
Building on the ideas or C. S. Peirce, John Dewey and Matthew Lipman, this interdisciplinary subject will therefore focus on developing effective communities of inquiry, where the use of critical but cumulative talk is favored and where good questioning, in‐depth knowledge, sound reasoning and self‐reflection is applied to addressing and critically appraising wicked problems.
To this end, the subject will examine wicked problems arising from a wide range of disciplinary areas and cultural perspectives, including: climate change skepticism, Indigenous knowledges, fake news, and major societal issues and innovations arising from recent advances in Science, Technology, and the Arts.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Explain the properties and structure of argumentation (including validity and soundness), identify fallacies committed in one's own and others' reasoning and apply argument mapping techniques;
- Develop reasoned viewpoints on contemporary issues of national and global importance utilising information from multiple disciplinary and cultural perspectives;
- Differentiate between exploratory, disputational and cumulative talk by identifying their key features;
- Enact the requisite skills and dispositions that allow for critical, collaborative and caring thinking characteristic of communities of inquiry; and
- Compare and contrast the ways in which belief, truth and knowledge are generated, used and contested in HASS and STEM to serve different purposes
Generic skills
- Critical engagement with contemporary, local, national and global issues using interdisciplinary perspectives;
- Application of knowledge, information and research skills to unfamiliar problems;
- Participation in communities of inquiry;
- Being attuned to, and working collaboratively, with people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds;
- Developing understanding of, and respect for, indigenous knowledge, culture and values;
- Application of logical argument in support of a particular position; and
- Respect for the principles, protocols, discipline and ethics of interdisciplinary scholarship and practice.
- Application of high level written and oral communication skills.
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Written Report (on Community of Enquiry)
| Week 6 | 40% |
Annotated Mind Map
| End of semester | 60% |
Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 80% attendance at all scheduled tutorials, seminars and workshops. [ 10/12 one‐hour lectures and 10/12 two‐hour tutorials] | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Maurizio Toscano Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hours: Lectures (1hr) 1 x weekly; Tutorials (2hr) 1 x weekly Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 26 July 2021 to 24 October 2021 Last self-enrol date 6 August 2021 Census date 31 August 2021 Last date to withdraw without fail 24 September 2021 Assessment period ends 19 November 2021 Semester 2 contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Selected readings will be made available to students via Readings Online.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
Study Breadth in Education: https://education.unimelb.edu.au/study/breadth#about-breadth-in-education
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 April 2024