Using Innovation and Creativity to Improve Student LearningMay 17, 2013 Faculty Development Day

Learning Outcomes

• Discuss current techniques used to improve student learning

• Identify sources and resources to promote innovation and creativity to improve student learning

• Plan ways to integrate new technology or innovative techniques to improve student learning

• This discussion will be used as a catalyst to plan future faculty development. We expect for this day to provide a forum for collaboration and idea sharing that will continue in innovative and flexible ways.

• Each discussion group will need• Facilitator• Note-taker – to provide summary at the end

At the end of the session, each group should provide:

• Summary of ideas and resources shared – there is a form you can complete online at end of PowerPoint to provide this information remotely.

• Plan for ways to integrate innovation and creativity to improve student learning

• Include support needed to accomplish plan

• A successful dialogue:• carefully constructed and monitored process • Bringing together people with a common interest and using

common language• Probing assumptions and ideas in a nonthreatening way• Building a common experience where we can learn together• Create an atmosphere where we can think, process and

identify assumptions

(Qualters, 2010)

Strategies such as "group work, problem solving, idea generation, innovations, designing and face-to-face communication" can foster innovation and creativity.

Enterprise School (2011). An Entrepreneurial development framework for higher education institutions.

http://www.jadeportugal.org/an-entrepreneurial-development-framework-for-institutions-of-higher-education.html

Encouraging Innovation

• Ryshke, R. (2012) What schools can do to encourage innovation:

• http://rryshke.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/what-schools-can-do-to-encourage-innovation/

Questions

These questions should be used as a guide to facilitate the discussion. However, please feel free to add/modify questions as needed.

Techniques

• What can we do or do we do to encourage innovation for faculty and students?

• What are you doing that works?• What innovative techniques do you use to improve

student learning?• How do you encourage innovation in your students?

• Innovation can include “fun, creativity, diversity, collaboration and the ability to trust intuition” (Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).

• “One of the most essential elements of innovation is risk taking” (Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).

• What kind of technology do you use and how has this impacted student learning?

• What are some ways to be innovative without the use of technology?

Create Communities of Learners

• How can we or how do we create collaborative communities of learners?

“When faculty talk with colleagues about teaching strategies and challenges, it helps to create an atmosphere in which it feels safe to try new methods and take risks as an educator” (Simmons, 2012)

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/18/essay-how-colleges-can-encourage-professors-innovate-teaching

Challenges

• What are some challenges you face?• How do you overcome these?• What are some barriers to student learning?• How do you overcome these barriers?

• “Research recognizes that some of the most effective leaders are truly passionate about what they do and have a genuine interest in helping their constituents or followers” (Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).

• “Innovation is about coming up with new ideas, products, collaborations, services and solutions that can be implemented and used” (Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).

Moving Forward

• What “new ideas, products, collaborations, services and solutions” can come out of this discussion?

• What support do you need to move forward? • How can we follow-up on this discussion?• Please add your group responses to the above questions

to this Google drive form - Click here to add responses

Resources

Enterprise School (2011) provided an article An Entrepreneurial Development Framework for Higher Education

Institutions. Extracted from

http://www.jadeportugal.org/an-entrepreneurial-development-framework-for-institutions-of-higher-education.html

Reimers-Hild & King (2009). Six questions for entrepreneurial leadership and innovations in distance education. Online

Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Extracted from http://www.westga.edu/~

distance/ojdla/winter124/reimers-hild124.html

Ryshke, R. (2012) What schools can do to encourage innovation. Extracted from

http://rryshke.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/what-schools-can-do-to-encourage-innovation/

Simmons, E. (2012) Rewarding Teaching Innovations. Extracted from

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/18/essay-how-colleges-can-encourage-professors-innovate-teaching

Please contact Laura Taddei at Ltaddei@mc3.edu if you have any questions or comments.