Graduate Ladder
CCAT’s research strategy includes working with partners in developing and emergent economies (e.g. China, Turkey, Indonesia) to develop unique capabilities for pursuing research collaborations in cultural, creative and media technology projects. In order to achieve that goal, research training and knowledge/skills transfer play a crucial role.
Graduate Courseware Ladder
Internationalisation of graduate programs can work at various levels, each of which may be seen as the step of a ladder, using standardised but flexible components.
At the entry level, the emphasis is on cohort teaching, skills and knowledge exchange, and minor certification for credit points. Such courseware is articulated with higher- level offerings that result in Graduate Certificates and Diplomas, taught and research Masters, and the PhD. Given that many of our likely PhD candidates will be serving academics, the opportunity for research collaboration following the PhD is high.
So the ladder is this (from the top):
1. Research collaboration: international teams working on funded research (ARC, AusAid or other international agency) on CCAT research projects, using current or graduated Curtin PhDs. There may be longer-term scope for awarding higher doctorates (DLitt or DSc) based on publications (typically, spanning ten years);
2. PhD supervision (3.5 years), including attendance at CCAT for intensive courses (see below) and research training, project development, and regular supervisory contact; but also involving external supervision and independent study.
3. Masters by Research (1.5 years) The equivalent of honours for international students wishing to pursue a specific research objective and planning to trade up to a PhD. Two semesters of coursework and an open dissertation.
4. Masters by Coursework (1 to 1.5 years): two semesters of coursework and a directed (‘taught’) dissertation. There is great scope here for students to become involved in research projects or working with industry partners on specific problems.
5. Graduate Diploma (two semesters) and Graduate Certificate (one semester). This is the core courseware, comprising the number of units required for a ‘semester’ of credit, although the courseware may be delivered intensively, or tailored for delivery externally or in-country.
6. Continuous Professional Education: intensive courses, delivered in-country or on-campus, preferably through cohort teaching, typically of students funded by an authority or agency for specific skills training. Courses would attract credit points for the above schemes.
Course work elements, including specific process skills, domain knowledge, research methods, publication mentoring, and research collaboration, can be common to different ‘rungs,’ with the added advantage that students meet others with similar interests.
Course work should be managed from R&GS/CCAT, not schools, because it is a faculty-wide facility. The validation process is simplified by making all courseware part of a Graduate Certificate/Diploma qualification, and then enrolling Masters and Doctoral students in those units.