TECHCOMM 7027 - Foresight & Social Change

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2014

This course aims to broaden student awareness of futures, how they are created, how they relate to individuals and societies and how innovation impacts upon them. The course particularly, but not exclusively, references emerging technologies and develops student capabilities with a range of foresight techniques. It encourages exploration of different social perspectives grounded in contrasting world views and engages with the question of change within our societies. The course is designed to increase the mindfulness of those involved in creating new ventures with respect to how science, technology and innovation generally influence and create social change.

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Course Details

Course Code	TECHCOMM 7027
Course	Foresight & Social Change
Coordinating Unit	Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation & Innov Centre
Term	Semester 2
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	intensive
Assessment	Assignments

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Allan O'Connor

Name: Dr Kristin Alford

Short Bio:
Kristin established Bridge8 in 2004 following careers in engineering, human resources and product development across sectors including mining, R&D, aviation, agriculture and nanotechnology. She holds a PhD in process engineering and a Masters in strategic foresight, which combine to deliver insights into the development of emerging industry sectors including advanced manufacturing and
clean technologies. Her work explores the links between innovation, economic development, social change and sustainability. Kristin is particularly interested in how we use ideas to create effective stories of the future and is the organiser of TEDxAdelaide.

She lectures in ‘Foresight and Social Change and Business and Carbon Management at the University of Adelaide and has published chapters in Negotiating our future: Living scenarios for Australia towards 2050 and Opportunities Beyond Carbon and, with her team, Big Ideas in Science – Vol 2 & 3. She is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a fellow of the Governor’s Leadership Foundation program and was a member of the Australian Government’s Expert Forum on Enabling Technologies.

Email: kristin.alford@adelaide.edu.au or kristin@bridge8.com.au

Phone: +61 410 442 629

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Opening intensive:
Monday 18th & Tuesday 19th August 2014
9am-5pm
Masonic Hall B03 Seminar Room West

Closing intensive:
Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th September 2014
9am-5pm
Masonic Hall B03 Seminar Room West

Course Learning Outcomes

1	Foresight methods including AQAL, CLA and Generic Foresight Process;
2	Understanding different drivers of change including technological and social change and how these relate to entrepreneurship;
3	Foresight concepts including breadth of perspectives, depth, and images of the future;
4	The role of self and mindfulness in emerging futures; and
5	The importance of translating foresight into action for social change

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1-3
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	3
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	3,5
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	4
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	1,2
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	4,5
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	5
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	2,3

Learning Resources

Required Resources

The University’s preferred textbook supplier is Unibooks: http://www.unibooks.com.au/

Text book:

No set textbook.

Readings are in the links listed in section 4.3 below, or are supplied via MyUni. It is recommended that students read the first set of readings listed for Day 1 (Slaughter, Hayward, Bussey) prior to the first intensive and come prepared for a discussion on “what is foresight?”. Please note that pre-reading of other sources are not required prior to the first or second intensives. The remaining readings supplied are intended to add to the content covered, not be the basis of it.

Recommended Resources

There is a wide range of material on the course topic available. The following provides some additional reading guidance if you are interested in reading further on the topic.
• Relevant journals include Futures, Foresight, the Journal of Futures Studies and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
• Popular magazines with related articles include The Futurist, Wired and Fast Company.

Library Resources
The University of Adelaide’s Barr Smith Library provides a range of learning resources including texts, journals, periodicals, magazines, and access to online databases and information services. It also offers a virtual library which is accessible via the University’s website. The University Library web page is: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
From this link, you are able to access the Library's electronic resources.

Online Learning

MyUni is the University of Adelaide's online learning environment. It is used to support traditional face-to-face lectures, tutorials and workshops at the University. MyUni provides access to various features including announcements, course materials, discussion boards and assessments for each online course of study (see: https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au)

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course is offered in blended learning mode with the face-to-face component offered as intensives.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

As a guide, a 3 unit course comprises a total of 156 hours work (this includes face-to-face contact, any online components, and self directed study).

Learning Activities Summary

This is a draft schedule and session dates are a guide only. The timetable may be changed during the course delivery if necessary.

Intensive	Topic	Readings/Activities
1	Introduction to Foresight	Slaughter, R 2005 ‘Futures Concepts’ in Slaughter, R, Inayatullah, S & Ramos, J (eds), The knowledge base of futures studies, CD-ROM, Professional edn, Foresight International, Brisbane. Poli, R 2011. “Steps Toward an Explicit Ontology of the Future”, Journal of Futures Studies, September 2011, 16(1): p. 67-78 http://www.jfs.tku.edu.tw/16-1/A04.pdf Hayward, P., Voros, J. and Morrow, R. 2012. “Foresight education in Australia: time for a hybrid model?”, Futures, Vol. 44, no. 2 (Mar 2012), pp. 181-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2011.09.011
	Perspectives on Emerging Technologies	Ganapati, P. 2010. “Reverse-Engineering of Human Brain Likely by 2030, Expert Predicts” August 16, wired.com. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/reverse-engineering-brain-kurzweil/ Carbone, C and Nauth, K 2012. “From Smart House to Networked Home”, The Futurist, July-August, Vol 46., No. 4. http://www.wfs.org/futurist/july-august-2012-vol-46-no-4/smart-house-networked-home Khan, R. 2012. “Bio-Info-Tech: The Cyborg Baby of Cheap Genomes and Cloud Data” The Crux – Discover Magazine, March 8th. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2012/03/08/bio-info-tech-the-cyborg-baby-of-cheap-genomes-and-cloud-data/ Storrs Hall, J. 2001, Utility fog: The stuff that dreams are made of, KurzweilAI.net, 5 July 2001, viewed 7 February 2006, http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0220.html. Wilber, K 2005 ‘Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice: IOS Basic and the AQAL Map’ in Slaughter, R, Inayatullah, S & Ramos, J (eds), The knowledge base of futures studies, CD-ROM, Professional edn, Foresight International, Brisbane. Collins, T & Hines, A. 2010. “The Evolution of Integral Futures: A status update”, World Future Review, June-July, pp. 5-16. Accessible at http://www.wfs.org/Upload/PDFWFR/WFR_JunJul2010_Collins.pdf
2	Social change, entrepreneurship and leadership	Ramos, JM & O’Connor, A., 2004 ‘From social foresight to social entrepreneurship: pathways to sustainability’ presented at AGSE-Babson Research Exchange, Melbourne, Australia. van Pragg, CM 1999 ‘Some classic views on entrepreneurship, De Economist, vol. 147, no. 3, pp. 311-355. Rooke, D and Torbert, W. 2005. “Seven transformations of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, April. http://hbr.org/2005/04/seven-transformations-of-leadership/ar/1
	Depth in Foresight Methods	Voros, J 2003, ‘A generic foresight process framework’ Foresight, vol. 5, iss 3, pp. 10-21 Inayatuallah, S 2005 ‘Causal Layered Analysis: Post structuralism as method’, in Slaughter, R, Inayatullah, S & Ramos, J (eds), The knowledge base of futures studies, CD-ROM, Professional edn, Foresight International, Brisbane. Hoffman, J, 2012. “Unpacking Images of China Using Causal Layered Analysis”, Journal of Futures Studies, March 2012, 16(3): pp1-24 http://www.jfs.tku.edu.tw/16-3/A01.pdf
3	Images of the Future	Judge, AJN 2005 ‘Developing a metaphorical language for the future’, in Slaughter, R, Inayatullah, S & Ramos, J (eds), The knowledge base of futures studies, CD-ROM, Professional edn, Foresight International, Brisbane. P.J. Beersa, PJ., Veldkampc, A., Hermansd, F., van Apeldoornd, D., Vervoortd, JM. And Kokd, K. 2010 “Future sustainability and images“, Futures Volume 42, Issue 7, September, Pages 723–732, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2010.04.017
	Applying foresight to social entrepreneurship	Bornstein, David 2007. ‘The light in my head went on’, Ch 3 in How to change the world: Social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas, Oxford University Press, New York, pp 21-40.
4	Purpose & Mindfulness	Scharmer, CO 2007, ‘The journey to ‘U’’, Ch 2 in Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges, in SoL, USA, pp. 27-47.
	Commitment to Action	-

Online forums will take place between the two blocks sessions. Relevant references and videos for discussion are as follows:
• Anderson, WT 2003, ‘Augmentation, symbiosis, transcendence: technology and the future(s) of human identity’, Futures, vol. 35, iss. 5, pp. 535-546, doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(02)00097-6.
• Atala, A 2011, Printing a Human Kidney, Presentation at TED, Long Beach California, March, http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html
• Joy, B 2000, ‘Why the future doesn’t need us’, Wired, iss. 8.04, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html, accessed 17 August 2008.
• Schell, J 2010, Design Outside the Box, Presentation at DICE, Las Vegas Nevada, February, http://www.g4tv.com/videos/44277/dice-2010-design-outside-the-box-presentation/.
• Martin, BR & Johnston, R 1999, ‘Technology foresight for wiring up the national innovation system: experiences in Britain, Australia and New Zealand’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 60, iss. 1, pp. 37-54, doi:10.1016/S0040-1625(98)00022-5
• Department for Business, innovation and Skills, UK, http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight
• Slaughter, RA 1998b, ‘Futures beyond dystopia’, Futures, vol. 30, iss. 10, pp. 993-1002, doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(98)00101-3.
• Nuland, S 2003, On Hope, Presentation at TED, California, February, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sherwin_nuland_on_hope.html

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

An overview of the course assessment appears in the following Table. Details appear in the following section:

Assessment No.	Form of Assessment/ Collaborative Task	Length (in word count)	Weighting	Due Date	Learning outcomes covered (see 2.1 for detail)
1	Image and short written piece	2,000 words	30%	See MyUni	1, 3, 4
2	Participation in online forums	A minimum of two interactions per article	10%	See MyUni	2, 3
3	Group oral presentation on case study analysis	20 min presentation + 5 min Q&A	10%	FrSee MyUni	3, 5
4	Long applied assignment	3,500 words	50%	See MyUni	1, 2, 3, 5
	Total		100%

Assessment Related Requirements

Students must complete all course assessment requirements and must attend lectures to be eligible to pass the course.

Course results are subject to moderation by the ECIC Board of Examiners

Assessment Detail

See Course Profile Book.

Submission

All text based assignments must be submitted via MyUni.
Please refer to step by step instructions: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/tutorials/files/AssignmentStudentSubmission.pdf

There are a few points to note about the submission of assignments:

Assignment Submission: Assignments should not be emailed to the instructor but should be lodged via the MyUni Course site. Note that assignments may be processed via TURNITIN which is an online plagiarism prevention tool.
Cover Sheet: Please submit, separate to your assignment, the completed University of Adelaide Assessment Cover Sheet providing details of yourself and your team members (if applicable), your assignment, the course, date submitted, etc. as well as the declaration signed by you that this is your (your team’s) work. Note that the declaration on any electronically submitted assignment will be deemed to have the same authority as a signed declaration.
Backup Copy of Assignments: You are advised to keep a copy of your assignments in case the submitted copy goes missing. Please ensure that all assignment pages are numbered. If your assignment contains confidential information, you should discuss any concerns with the Course Lecturer prior to submission.
Extensions of Time: Any request for an extension of time for the submission of an assignment should be made well before the due date of the assignment to the Course Lecturer. Normally, extensions will only be granted for a maximum of two weeks from the original assignment submission date. Extensions will only be granted in cases of genuine extenuating circumstances and proof, such as a doctor’s certificate, may be required.
Failure to submit: Failure to submit an assignment on time or by the agreed extension deadline may result in penalties and may incur a fail grade. Note that a late penalty of 5% of the total available marks for that assessment item will be incurred each day an assignment is handed in late. Assignments handed in after 14 days from the due submission date will fail even if a 100% mark is granted for the work.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator