"Integrating work into the curriculum maximises opportunities for students and staff to engage in scholarships of integration, application and teaching.
...Students and staff from specialised streams come together in solving real-world problems, often generated through work-based projects."
RMIT Teaching and Learning Strategy 2000-2002"Dear Member of the Course Accreditation Committee,
Thank you for agreeing to join the Course Accreditation Committee for the new Bachelor of Multimedia Systems degree program, drawing on inputs from Computer Science, Computer Systems Engineering, Multimedia and Business."
That is how my adventure in course design began. At our first meeting, the members of the committee kicked around some ideas about the course. They were tentitive, but surprisingly positive. As the meeting developed, ideas bounced off one another and grew stronger. By the end of the meeting, I was excited and keen to help.
We agreed to develop the ideas seperately, and circulate them. This is my contribution. I am more than happy to concede that it is flawed, so please feel free to shoot it down in flames.
To make this course work, I think that there are a few aspects that are essential:
The core of this course will be the teaching staff. Without them, you won't have anything. However, this is an area where teachers (and practitioners) often feel threatened by the pace of change. So staff development, and a sense of trust between the teaching staff, will be essential.
If the course is to be studio-based, students will require a strong sense of ownership of the course. They will need a sense of belonging. The aim is to foster strong student-staff interaction.
I don't know how to explain why this is important, but I feel it very strongly.
Goes without saying, really. RMIT staff generally have a very good understanding of the industries that their students are going into.
However, because this course is coming from four different faculties, there is a good chance that the staff will have a very good understanding of four different industries. The challenge is to weave these points of view into a stronger course, rather than having it pull things apart.
RMIT has a strong strand of industry placements running through its courses. Industry placements and work based projects generally strengthen our courses and are attractive to students.
In this course, work based projects could be very valuable. But they could also cause problems. The course is posited on the idea that these students will be in very high demand, and they will be. If the students undertake a work placement in the third year, we won't get them back for the fourth. Particularly if there is no way to undertake the final year part time.
Also, it is an industry that is typified by small companies (often smaller than 20 employees), chasing contact work. Many companies are simply loose amalgums of friends who come together when a project comes up. It is not easy for these sorts of companies to take student placements.
That's why I think that it would be a good idea to bring the projects into RMIT, rather than sending the students out into industry. I think that the course could be run as a studio which takes on projects that would otherwise not be feasible: RMIT projects, non-profit and charity projects and art projects.
Project based work lends itself to studio-based learning. Ideally, studio-based learning:
We often hide the business aspects of a course from the students. However, many of these students will be going into, or starting up, their own small businesses. They need to know the pressures and possibilities of a small business environment.
In addition, knowing the cash flow and the cost commitments might give the students a more accurate picture of why the course can't afford new equipment or more staff. It will give them a better understanding of what can and can't be done in a small business.
I understand that successful small businesses are characterised by extremely committed staff who depend on one another.
Ideally, staff working on this course would not be working on other courses. They may be part-time, and maintain their own practices, but they would not have other teaching duties. That would just act as a distraction.
One of the hardest aspects of a course like this, particularly for staff, is keeping up to date. Cross-training and skill sharing become important in this sort of situation. It might be a good idea for staff to spend several days off-campus once or twice a year, sharing ideas and building skills. It might also be a good idea to start every new cohort of students in this way, too.
If you can't imagine this working, lets take a few days and go away. We will show you how this sort of course can really work.
The university wants:
That won't work. Most of the University's on-line projects don't have a budget for external experts. However, many projects can find a little bit of money, particularly to augment staff efforts.
A few years ago, the university had the same problems with print publications. However, as more projects were channeled through The Works, the university got what it wanted: top class design, at an affordable price, and a uniform look and feel to univeristy publications. The same approach could work here.
"'The Works' is the Honours (4th) year of the RMIT Graphic Design course. Students in the 'The Works' encounter the role of a Graphic Designer working in a professional design consultancy. They undertake this process with the guidance of an educational program. They learn through experience, business practice, client service and the production requirements to take their creative conceptual ideas through to the final form in print largely on digital media."
http://www.viscom.rmit.edu.au/design/works/course.htmThe Works: http://www.viscom.rmit.edu.au/design/works/index.htm
"The Media Arts course area offers interdisciplinary studio based programs dedicated to artists working with reproductive technologies in the disciplines of Fine Art Imaging, Video Art, Digital Imaging, Sound, Soundtrack, Mixed Media, Installation Art and Media Arts History. It privileges Studio Practice and the development of creative, practical and conceptual skills. The staff are practising artists as well as educators."
http://media-arts.rmit.edu.au/Les_Walkling/PPfront.htmlMedia Arts: http://media-arts.rmit.edu.au/
"To provide opportunities for talented individuals to explore and realise creative innovative ideas in animation and interactive media, in an inspiring, supportive teaching and research environment, to produce work that is acknowledged in the wider public arena for its quality and creativity, to facilitate excellence in research which adds to the body of knowledge of the medium through artistic, technical, critical and intellectual investigation, and to aid the ongoing development of an Australian industry and professional workforce that is globally competitive in respect to content, creative skills, production values, technology, publication and distribution."
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/CDmissio.htmlAnimation and Interactive Media: http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/
Our foundation's overall mission is to encourage the development of Web services that work better for users and society. The mission will be easier if a large group of people who agree with our philosophy are educated to the highest levels of skill in computer science.
http://arsdigita.org/university/ArsDigita University is a good example of a course that has:
These people are a good example of what you should be aiming for - a tight course that can attract students from all over the world, backed up by undeniable expertise and extensive Web resources.
You might even want to use their on-line community system to provide your on-line presence. Why not - its free!
ArsDigita University: http://arsdigita.org/university/
Tell me what I got wrong ... Read other people's ideas.