BAS5500 The challenge of change
Faculty of Science
BAS5500 The challenge of change is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Science. It isn't offered in 2025. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Not offered
- Assessment
- No exam
- 3 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Overview
Creating change is hard; creating transformational change is even harder. Why? This unit explores fundamental questions around how change happens, why purposeful change can be so difficult, and how change can be understood and influenced at multiple levels.
The unit draws on rich, illustrative examples from political, social and natural sciences, and interdisciplinary sustainability theories, to help you make sense of change within complex systems. You will learn how to identify hidden patterns and dynamics, how to diagnose the nature of real-world problems, and become familiar with factors which enable or prevent behavioural, organisational and systemic change in real-life contexts. In addition, you will gain an appreciation for the ethics of change, and for the need to engage in a collaborative approach to creating change, at the individual level, and up to the level of public policy.
Offerings in 2025
The 2025 handbook lists no offerings for BAS5500.
Assessment
- Critical reflection tasksWritten30%
- Written assignmentWritten40%
- Group presentationPresentation30%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Develop foundational knowledge of change processes, including the dynamics and nature of transformative change for complex societal challenges;
- 2
Critically interrogate behavioural and systemic approaches to change and demonstrate an understanding of the complementarities, tensions, applicability and specificities between various approaches'
- 3
Utilise diverse stakeholder perspectives and interdisciplinary knowledge to explore the challenges and opportunities of enabling change;
- 4
Ethically apply knowledge of change processes to real-world problems while building self confidence and agency to take action;
- 5
Demonstrate capability for values thinking, coping with uncertainty, self-awareness and reflexive practice.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops36.5 hours
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
- Teaching approachOnline learning
- Teaching approachPeer assisted learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachCase-based teaching
In total, you can expect to commit a total of ~144 hours of independent and collaborative work over the teaching period as follows:
- In weeks 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 you will be expected to complete a 2.5-hour online workshop;
- 12 hours of asynchronous online learning, and
- 9.5 hours of independent study towards assignments.
- In week 2 you will be expected to attend a three-day experiential on-campus masterclass at the Clayton campus.
Throughout the unit, you will apply your learning to a variety of problems, contexts, and challenges.
This unit will be enriched with a comprehensive set of reading materials, videos, and case scenarios prepared for independent online learning. These materials will complement and support the activities to be completed in the weekly workshops, and will offer accessible access to key content to be used for assessment.
You will bring a diverse range of experiences and perspectives to your learning, to share with others during workshops and the three-day masterclass, and from which to learn vicariously. There will also be many opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and decision-making during this unit, which will involve peer assisted learning
Throughout the unit, you will complete a variety of synchronous and asynchronous activities, and participate in interactive forums that will facilitate engagement with the learning material, and enable collaboration with other learners.
Theories, frameworks, methods and tools taught will be illustrated through real-life case scenarios. The intention of these scenarios is to bring the theory to life, to demonstrate its practical application, and to empower you in the use of these theories and tools.
Learning resources
Required resources
You will be required to attend a three-day experiential Masterclass in week 2 of the unit, at Clayton campus. This masterclass will involve team-based and collaborative learning. You will be divided into small groups to facilitate effective discussion and collaboration.
Technology resources
You will be required to engage in learning material delivered in Moodle, to support your learning between workshops. Hence, you will require technology assistance from the university, to facilitate your access to the material (e.g. Esolutions). You will also attend weekly online workshops via Zoom to take part in practical activities
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Dr Filia Garivaldis
- Unit Coordinators
- Ms Gitanjali Bedi
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for BAS5500?
BAS5500 has no prerequisites.
When is BAS5500 offered?
BAS5500 has no offerings listed in the 2025 handbook.
How much work is BAS5500?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does BAS5500 have an exam?
No. BAS5500 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.