Designing Interdisciplinary Research

Greetings from the Research School of Computer Science (RSCS) at the ANU in Canberra.I have taken time out from the Linux Conferecne to attend Stephen Jia Wan's seminar on "A Case Study for Interdisciplinary Innovative Design Research Approach: SeRe-IV". Stephen is from the Department of Design at Monash University and so has a very different background to the average computer science speaker, having worked on industrial  and architectural design. He talked today about how to carry out  Interdisciplinary Research. He argued for industrial design in projects, not only to produce products look good, but also work well. He works on "Interaction Design", giving the example of a computerized toy designed to aid the recovery of young patients. This appeared to be closely related to Human–computer interaction (HCI), but perhaps having more emphasis on the change the interface brings about for the user, rather than just their direct interaction with the computer.

Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice

As well as the usual "Graduate Certificate in Higher Education", Monash University also offers a "Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice". This emphasizes research supervision, staff supervision and the other roles undertaken by academics, as tell as teaching. The structure of the program and the units offered appear similar to those offered as options in the teaching certificate courses of other universities, but packaged under a different title:

1. HED5060 Principles of Effective Teaching
2. HED5062 Contemporary Learning Environments
3. HED5070 Higher Degree Research Supervison
4. HED5071 Strategy and Leadership in Research
5. HED5081 Discipline-based Studies I
6. HED5082 Discipline-based Studies II
7. HED5092 Developing Higher Education Innovations