The Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) explores how new knowledge processes and economic models influence how universities teach, how individuals learn, and how employability skills are assessed and validated. To effectively address this vision, personal wellbeing, societal impact, economic prosperity, technological advancements, and related factors need to be explored. Higher education plays an increasingly critical role in society by developing the capability for individuals to be productive and engaged participants with the skills and mindsets needed to actively contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the service of humanity. However, the achievement of these objectives is confounded in an era of significant technological progress, dramatic shifts in mainstay economies, complex social restructuring due to global networks, and increasing societal concerns regarding what constitutes the future of work. Not only are these problems new in human history, but the methods for exploring them scientifically are incomplete.
C3L takes a holistic view of the education system and lifelong learning. The C3L investigates how present education models can transition to more effectively focus on attributes and processes beyond the cognitive aspect of their curriculum. The C3L will seek to research and apply novel approaches that facilitate curriculum models that actively incorporate the skills needed for creative knowledge work, self-regulation, collaboration, and mindsets that enable acceptance of ambiguity and uncertainty. The complex problems that define contemporary education cannot be understood and managed through traditional, often reductionist, research approaches, instead an integrated, holistic, and networked approach is required. The mission and vision for Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) is embodied in a complexity science framework and methodology.
