Course guide

Course overview

Learn to investigate unfamiliar field situations, diagnose model systems and coordinate decisions when no one person has the whole picture. Guided experiments develop into independent challenges, then a team operation at fictional Meridian Station.

How can a team complete a fictional field operation when its information is incomplete, its equipment is unreliable, and its members have different responsibilities?

Observe

What is present, and what have we missed? Build a reliable record, distinguish a report from an observation, and choose memory aids that suit the task.

Investigate

Which explanation does the evidence support? Compare sources, test competing claims and state what remains unknown.

Diagnose

What does this system need, and what has failed? Use spatial and causal models to choose informative tests before changing equipment.

Coordinate

How can different responsibilities support one decision? Exchange information, negotiate feasible terms, revise dependencies and confirm the resulting action.

How support changes as you learn

A worked example explains the demonstrator’s decisions. Guided practice supplies prompts and feedback. In independent challenges, you choose the next useful observation or test; instructions still explain the controls, rules, objective and evidence to keep. Assessment asks you to justify those choices. Hints remain available and should be declared.

Mode of study: In person (preferred), with an online option for students unable to attend campus. Campus sessions centre on facilitated investigation, shared apparatus or paper models, discussion and teamwork. The online academy provides equivalent model-based practice for students who cannot attend, and supports preparation and revision between classes.

Is this course for you?

Students interested in intricate puzzles, how systems work, and collaborative problem-solving. The semester develops four connected capabilities through varied situations. Recovery at Meridian Station is the final application, rather than the story of every lab.

Prerequisites: Basic logical reasoning and a willingness to explain your decisions. No programming, electronics or security background is required.

What fourth-year means here: the individual models start with accessible rules. The advanced work is combining them, evaluating uncertain evidence, responding to changed conditions and defending decisions with other people.

Before your first lab

1. Open the week's briefing and read its learning objectives and preparation list.
2. Inspect the supplied rules and case files. They contain the information needed for the activity.
3. Watch the alternate worked example if you want to see the method and a finished record first.
4. Prepare for the in-person lab using its campus pack, or choose the equivalent online route if you cannot attend. Keep a place for your prediction, result and explanation.

Read the first briefing · Open Lab 1: Read the Room

What you will learn

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. LO1
   Observe and rememberObserve accurately, distinguish inference from recalled detail, and use deliberate retrieval strategies.
2. LO2
   Represent spaceConstruct spatial representations, predict changed views and navigate using explicit models.
3. LO3
   Diagnose systemsExplain and diagnose purpose-built mechanisms and low-voltage model circuits.
4. LO4
   Investigate digital systemsEvaluate supplied digital evidence and test permissions in self-contained fictional systems.
5. LO5
   Coordinate peopleCommunicate, negotiate and coordinate across unequal information and legitimate responsibilities.
6. LO6
   Transfer and adaptApply capabilities in unfamiliar situations, revise dependencies and defend consequential choices.

Each week's briefing identifies its outcomes. The lab produces evidence that you use in the workshop, relay or final recovery.

Study and class format

Plan for approximately 6 hours per teaching week. Allow more time around the larger assessment deadlines.

Monday · 1 hour

Briefing. Learn the idea, inspect a worked example and identify the prediction you will test in the lab.

Friday · 2 hours

Lab. Practise with feedback, complete the skill check, then try the transfer challenge with changed conditions.

Independent · about 3 hours

Prepare and explain. Read the supplied material, revisit difficult steps and organise the evidence and written work required by the assessment.

After each activity: explain the result and keep your station sheet or online learning record. Online participants can save the phase's attempt in their skills passport and export a backup. A worked example demonstrates a different scenario; watching or completing it does not complete your assigned lab.

Inside the online practical environment

Read the activity’s objective and completion conditions before using the controls. There is no universal delivery sequence: an investigation finishes with a defensible account, a diagnostic experiment with a verified result, and a negotiation with an agreement whose limits are clear.

1. Establish the question. State what you need to know or achieve, and which rule would make an answer acceptable.
2. Choose a useful observation or test. Ask what its possible results would distinguish. The instructor is your guide; only identified scenario records and equipment supply evidence.
3. Predict, act and compare. Keep your prediction separate from the observed result. A failed prediction can improve the next decision.
4. Complete the relevant practical outcome. Apparatus and communication tasks include their required intervention or handoff. Other labs can end with their tested learning record; their scene delivery is an optional extension.
5. Explain and save. Record what the result supports, an alternative and a remaining limit. The final mission adds approach-specific execution and receiving evidence.

Start by watching: an alternate worked example narrates the brief, demonstrates its investigation and intervention, then reviews the completed work. Choose Take control to try that example yourself. Return to your assigned activity for its different conditions.

Inside the scene: drag to look around and scroll over the scene to zoom. In fullscreen, X switches between a free cursor for the task panel and mouse-look. Mission controls move your character to the selected station before recording its action. If graphics are paused or unavailable, the same controls perform the action directly.

If a previously cleared objective reopens: a supporting answer or requirement changed. Re-test it and repeat the affected intervention and handover; the earlier action record remains visible.

In-person teaching and the online option

Find all supplied materials and campus packs · Read accessible participation arrangements

Readings, preparation and equipment

No purchased textbook is required. Each briefing includes a preparation list with time estimates. The supplied case files, rule sheets, worked examples and campus packs contain the required activity material.

For in-person study, check the week's campus equipment list and bring a way to record predictions and observations. Facilitators can use the supplied paper models where apparatus is unavailable. The proposed hardware setups require local preparation and have not been physically validated by this website.

For online study, use a browser on a computer, tablet or phone. A computer provides more scene space; keyboard/touch controls and printable alternatives remain available. No specialised equipment or software purchase is required.

Required materials and weekly campus packs →

The dated teaching schedule

Semester 1, 2027: 22 February 2027–28 May 2027. Each row links directly to its briefing and lab. The teaching pause appears between Weeks 6 and 7.

These are teaching dates, not booked appointment times. All published assessment deadlines use Canberra time.

Assessment and submission expectations

Keep individual weekly records, combine Weeks 1–4 in A1, work with a partner on Weeks 5–8 in A2, then form a team of four for the final recovery. The best ten of twelve Fieldwork records count.

Open each brief for its complete deliverables, rubric, checkpoint and downloadable template. Practical completion supplies evidence; you also need the explanation and contribution records named in the brief. A game ending does not determine your academic mark.

Feedback: lab controls provide immediate explanations; major-task feedback is scheduled within seven days in the taught course. Refer to a specific attempt or criterion when seeking clarification.

Open assessment briefs and templates · See complete alternate submissions · Check collaboration, AI attribution, missed labs and extensions

Where to get help

Start with the lab's named objective, supplied rules and worked example. If an instruction is still unclear, identify the step, what you tried and what happened. These are fictional staff responsibilities within the course prototype; the profiles do not provide live contact accounts. In the taught course, bring unresolved questions to Monday briefings or Friday labs.

If you cannot continue an activity

• The camera or graphics get in the way: use the labelled task controls. In fullscreen, press X to release a locked cursor; use the on-screen controls on touch devices.
• Saving is unavailable: export from the current page before leaving it. Local storage is not a shared team workspace.
• You need a different participation route or a teammate is unavailable: preserve completed work and follow the individual-arrangement and contribution guidance in the policies.

Read the complete support and course policies →

Keep your work between sessions

Use the same browser to resume, or export a JSON backup and restore it on the next device. Keep readable learning records and assessment exports with your written explanation. Exporting saves a file; it does not submit an assignment.