Good Practice Case Study

Café DSL (Decision Systems Lab) is several things rolled into one: a research group’s regular weekly meeting, the group’s regular seminar series, and an open-ended think tank. It is intended to provide a place for discussion for our research group, and to be an influence on students thinking of coming into research.

We want students to be interested in the bases of computer sciences, as that’s the only way to get them into research. Discussion is a magnet for potential research students.

The Café title reflects the informal atmosphere and the provision of coffee or pizza and coke, an essential part of the meeting.

The Decision Systems research group spans a number of Faculties and departments; there are members from the School of Information Systems and Technology, Computer Science & Software Engineering, Economics and the Graduate School of Business.

The School of Computer Science and Software Engineering has a research methodology subject for Honours and those considering Masters. Those students are obliged to attend a certain number of seminars and report. A lot of them will come to some of the Café DSL seminars.

• Turning up and participating in discussions is the primary reward. There is heavy, intensive discussion. People stay around afterwards talking.
• Sometimes not as many people come, but there’s always a core. Typically there are 15 to 35 attendees - staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students. On average the audience is 20% staff and 80% students. We also have people coming in from industry off and on. Some students are solid pillars and a few colleagues and myself are pillars. They have taken the cue from me, they know there are questions to be asked and discussions to be had and they make sure it happens.
• There is a strong sense of a research community.

• Café DSL takes place every Monday at 4pm. The meetings are called ‘Café’ because the idea is brainstorming over coffee in a relaxed atmosphere. Members of the DSL research group attend, other staff drift in and out. We meet for a long time - we recorded one meeting that went to 7:30 pm!
• The organisation is undertaken by a research student, who discusses with me as head of the group who might be approached to speak each week, and sends out emails. We also use seminar notices - all academics on the seminar email list are invited.
• There is a budget for the coffee side of things, although it’s shrinking from year to year.
• A range of speakers present, including senior researchers from UOW or elsewhere, postgraduates, and undergraduates interested in research. Speakers don’t always use traditional presentations, for example they may be discussion leaders. While presentations need not be of a traditional kind, they must have a research dimension. These seminars fill some of the gaps that fall outside the market imperatives of course design. They draw on long academic traditions of asking the hard questions, and on mathematical and philosophical understandings.
• We are discussing the hottest topics in our field, even in student presentations. We aim for a Socratic dialogue, a serious academic debate. We make it clear to whoever is speaking that it’s not a traditional presentation. Everyone is encouraged to interrupt as frequently as possible. This is a culture shock to some people. In the context of a presentation I may be less restrained than usual - I challenge ideas, assist challenges. People must take the challenge in the right spirit. The questioning is often intense - speakers sometimes do not get past their first few slides without being asked a question.
• It’s like a fragment of a good conference, every week. I feel there are certain attributes of a good conference. When I chair a conference I go to every session I can and if there is no discussion happening I make it happen. I give every speaker a good run for their money, I ask the best questions that I can and give the best feedback I can. In a similar way, we make it happen in Café DSL.

The meetings have been held continuously for nine years. Since 1998, we’ve met virtually every week of the year - and once, during the Xmas-New Year break. We have 49-50 meetings per year.

• Discussion and debate are valued, and speakers may be interrupted often. There are research groups that do wonderful scholarly work, but they are quiet and the word doesn’t go out.
• There has to be Faculty support. The pizza and coffee and coke are a key part of the story.
• I pick up my best students from undergraduate classes, and mentor them, encourage them to come.
• If students are presenting, I sometimes get them to run through slides a couple of days ahead, and I make suggestions. But sometimes students go off the rails, they present things already known, in textbooks. The trick is to have a good audience - they can sometimes force it back into an interesting space. Staff have this role.