Course Title: Behavioural Science and Social Change Project
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Behavioural Science and Social Change Project
Credit Points: 12.00
Course Coordinator: Dr Jason Downs
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5113
Course Coordinator Email: jason.downs@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: Building 80, City Campus
Course Coordinator Availability: via email
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
None.
Course Description
In a world where disruption is becoming commonplace, shifts of thinking such as changes to community perception, re-negotiation of shared value sets and rejection of past assumptions, occurs more frequently and quickly than ever before. Understanding behavioural change and the mindset required to encourage it, can provide significant opportunities for large-scale adoption of change.
In this course you will explore behavioural science and business psychology and apply these concepts to propose a project for social change. This will include: identifying an opportunity to encourage change; dissecting it in terms of behavioural science and business psychology frameworks; developing a proposal for a meaningful and practical social change project, pitching the idea to peers and stakeholders, and reflecting on feedback received.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
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On successful completion of this course you should be able to:
- Critique the cognitive and social processes that underlie decision making by individuals and businesses.
- Examine how entities develop and configure their activities based on stakeholder needs, motivations, perceptions and attitudes.
- Apply psychological constructs to decision making in the context of a social change project.
- Create a project proposal based on driving social change through application of behavioural approaches.
- Demonstrate collaborative project skills and deliver a persuasive presentation to articulate project findings.
Overview of Learning Activities
This course is delivered as a blend of face-to-face activities (such as: workshops, lectures and group or industry-based tasks) and online learning. Learning will be focused around the completion of a 12-week project, which will be supported through in-class and online activities. This may include: project development activities; guest speakers/expert commentators; prescribed readings; researching and analysing specific information; solving problems; producing artefacts; proposing solutions; seeking and providing peer feedback; and reflective praxis.
Overview of Learning Resources
Various learning resources are available online through MyRMIT Studies/Canvas. Class activities, recordings, notes and outcomes are posted on Canvas.
Resources are also available online through RMIT Library databases and other facilities. Visit the RMIT library website for further details. Assistance is available online via our chat and email services, face to face at our campus libraries or via the telephone on (03) 9925 2020.
Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning will be identified by your course coordinator and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.
Overview of Assessment
The assessment tasks, their weighting and the course learning outcomes to which they are aligned are as follows.
Assessment Task 1: 15%
Linked CLOs: 1, 2
Assessment Task 2: 35%
Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3
Assessment Task 3: 50%
Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Feedback will be provided throughout the semester in class and/or in online forums through individual and group feedback on progress, milestones and approaches, and by individual consultation.