Skip to content

Tag: active methodology

Published on

Purpose/goal

To activate teachers' creativity to solve challenges

Duration

1,5- 2 hours

Material

bookcovers
volunteers

Description

It is an open book about life.
There are no paper books in the Human Library. You meet people of flesh and blood. People with an inspiring story or a poignant testimony. Their stories are about loss, success, illness, hope, recovery… Talking with a Human Book is not only a good remedy against prejudices and taboos, but also ideal to inspire and develop creative thinking.
How does it work?
At the beginning of each Human Library you get an overview of the Human Books present. You choose the story that appeals most to you and get to know the man or woman behind the story. Each conversation lasts 20 to 30 minutes. During this time you will have the opportunity to get to know the Human Book in a personal conversation, from person to person.
In The Human Library it is like a real library:

  • The Book is the person who wants to share his experiences.
  • The Borrower is the person who wants to borrow a 'book'.
  • The Catalogue is the collection of titles and short descriptions of each book, with keywords.
  • The Librarian is the administrator of The Human Library.
    Vlaamse Vereniging voor Geestelijke Gezondheid (VVGG) (Flemish Mental Health Association). (s.d.). The Human Library. Consulted from https://www.geestelijkgezondvlaanderen.be/de-levende-bibliotheek

How did we use it at the AP college?
Good education is one of the most important escape routes from deprivation. It is therefore important that our students gain insight into the complexity of this subject and are able to provide good education. In order to be able to set up a good education, it is important that students can come up with solutions for the obstacles they encounter. Poverty is one such obstacle. They have to be able to work in their school and classroom with few resources. In the past, we noticed that students often got stuck on the complexity of the problem.

The Human library not only helps them to grasp the complexity, but we also focus on the further development of our students' creative thinking so that they are able to come up with solutions with few resources and within a unique context. The Human books bring all students a unique story that not only inspires, but is also a starting point to find creative solutions for the problems they are confronted with in education.

Moreover, this form of work also enables them to test their actions or flourishing ideas against various experts.

Available in Dutch and English

Published on

Purpose/goal

The YEDAC - Young Entrepreneurs Developing in Action-  project is an EU-project focusing on developing young people’s entrepreneurial competences.

This project has developed models to integrate the entrepreneurial mindset into the subject matters and the daily teaching in European schools. The tools and models developed in the project have been tested by teachers and their pupils in schools all over Europe and used worldwide.

The workshops and activities provided in this toolkit could be integrated in Higher Education.

Specific goals related to the entrepreneurial learning process model:

Explore:

  • To explore together with your classmates and teacher, what an entrepreneur is, and what entrepreneurs do.
  • To assess your own entrepreneurial competences with the self-assessment tool.
  • To explore the theme you are going to work with.

Develop

  • To collaborate with teachers and partners to get as many ideas as possible.
  • To help each other pick the best idea.
  • To plan the working process – how to realize your idea.
  • To set individual learning goals for what you will learn in the process.
  • To develop and produce your product or service or solution.
  • To make a prototype and test it on a relevant target group.

Deliver

  • To present your product, service or solution for your classmates, teachers and maybe also to other partners.
  • To get an overview over what you have learned in the subject matters and how you have improved your entrepreneurial competences.

Duration

It depends on the workshops and/or activities you decide to implement. There are activities for minutes or modules to be developed during weeks

Material

Description

The book or toolkit is about entrepreneurship and learning. It is a guide to help people through the process of getting a good idea and putting it into action. In other words, it is like acting like an entrepreneur and at the same time explore the subject matters.

Entrepreneurship is considered by YEDAC as an attitude or an approach to life and learning. It means that you have the will and the ability to influence on your own future and take responsibility for your own life and activities.

In this book the reader will find tools and a guideline on how to act an learn in a new way, where the person contribute with ideas and interests and make important decisions on how to bring these ideas to life.

The book is based on the entrepreneurial learning process model that illustrates how learning activities can be organised.

The process consists of three main phases: explore, develop and deliver. These steps are divided into workshops. A workshop is an intensive learning activities with a specific activities: entrepreneurship; real world themes; development of ideas; planning; production; presentation and evaluation.

Language

English

Published on

Purpose/goal

General: To motivate teachers to act and develop new ideas to contribute to the entrepreneurial education.

Specific: Related to the 5 phases of the Design Thinking methodology.

  1. To empathize with the suggested problem.
  2. To interpret in a proper way the problem to be solved.
  3. To select ideas to answer the problem.
  4. To transform ideas into prototypes. 

Duration

The awareness programme is programmed to be carried out in a total of 5 sessions. In each session a block of the programme will be worked. Each block corresponds to each phase of Design Thinking.

The program is structured in 5 sessions of 2 hours of duration that will be carried out throughout 5 weeks every Wednesday afternoon after the end of the classes.

Material

Description

In order to carry out the activities in a dynamic way following the process of Design thinking, the programme will be carried out with a maximum of 30 people, who will work in small groups (6 people per group) with the exception of the activities of the last session which will be carried out all together.

Each teacher will be given a file where they will find the different readings for each block and the steps they must follow to carry out the different activities.

At the end of the programme, on the one hand, each participant will have to fill in a rubric in order to reflect on the learning they have acquired in each of the phases and, on the other hand, they will find a scale of assessment to evaluate whether they have personally developed the competences that characterise an entrepreneur or not.

Finally, teachers will be able to reflect and write suggestions about the entire process followed by them in order to make future improvements to the programme.

This programme has been produced by Ainhoa Ituño Martín (participant of EIPTE project) and Jon Hernández Fernández, both last year students of the Primary Education degree of the University of Deusto.

Language

Spanish.

Published on

Purpose/goal

  • To reflect on the design thinking methodology and about the use of that approach.
  • To analyze an example of how to redesign a course based on the design thinking approach.
  • To think upon the benefits of teaching and learning entrepreneurship through design thinking

Duration

Just reading the paper could take between 30 min and 1 hour.

This paper could be worked autonomously. The learner could read it and focused on different questions proposed by the lecturer to be answered by them before or after having worked in class the methodology known as design thinking.

There is not a fixed time as it depends on the number of questions proposed.

Material

See: https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13731-018-0098-z

Shortened URL: https://bit.ly/2DoRfcL

Description

Abstract

Background: Entrepreneurship has traditionally been taught from a business administration perspective, where predicting the future is central and where the world is seen as linear with known inputs and outputs. The world of entrepreneurs is a quite different, usually highly uncertain environment, and therefore requires a different type of skill set. In this paper, we conceptualize entrepreneurial learning through a method- and design-based approach and illustrate how a course can be developed and designed.

Findings: In this paper it is argued that by utilizing design thinking and a methods approach, learning from a “through” approach can be achieved. This learning is more focused on the entrepreneurial process, highlighting the role of skills and mindset. This learning approach enables student-centered learning and focus on skills more applicable to entrepreneurs. It is also argued that the entrepreneurship process is not linear; therefore, creativity is central and finding structure is an unstructured process. Design thinking emphasizes a practical approach where students step outside the classroom. This experimentation and interaction in the real world of users and customers with real feedback is important in combination with reflection exercises.

Conclusions: This paper highlights how a methods approach and entrepreneurship education with a “through” perspective can be achieved by utilizing design thinking. This is elaborated conceptually and illustrated with an example. We argue that a methods approach for teaching entrepreneurship is beneficial, where design thinking can be one valuable tool and approach for teaching entrepreneurship.

Language(s)

English

Published on

Purpose/goal

  • To develop new ideas or thoughts - regardless of the task/problem.
  • The same process that leads to radical innovation will also enhance self-esteem and thus the joy of participation by the individual human. Therefore, the Creative Platform can both be used for innovation, development of job satisfaction through higher self-esteem and in any situation where new thoughts or ideas are needed. 
  • The Creative Platform can be used for teaching creativity, creative teaching in all subjects from primary school to PhD level, developing self-esteem, generation and development of ideas for new products, services, organizational setups, marketing plans, what to do in the weekend, where to go for holiday or any other context where a new idea or thought is needed in a group.

Duration

It depends on the modules and/or activities you decide to implement. There are activities for minutes or modules to be developed during weeks.

Material

The Creative Platform (University of Aalborg)

Other related links:

CECI Youtube channel.

CECI issuu

Description

The Creative Platform is a paradigm for unlimited application of knowledge in processes. It is practiced by a creative process in groups. Through the creative process humans develops an ability to be themselves - thus freeing them from limitations of disciplinary (academic/professional), social or cultural character.

The basic element of a creative process is the idea. An idea is a unique situation-specific representation of knowledge - and the process consists of ideas - on ideas - on ideas until the solution in the form of a product, project, procedure, an appointment, idea concept, a professional understanding or course of action is a reality.

The Creative Platform is an approach for teaching creativity and/or running creative processes. It is the idea of an ideal mental workplace for interdisciplinary, inter-social and intercultural groups. On the platform it is possible for professionals from all kinds of disciplines and cultural backgrounds to unlimited apply their knowledge for solving a common task/problem. Therefore The Creative Platform is a learning environment, where people apply their knowledge unlimitedly to create new knowledge constructions in terms of ideas for products, services or new perspectives on their thinking.

As a didactic approach the creative platform forms a shift in paradigm compared to most didactic approaches. While the core in traditional didactic approaches is about reflecting experiences
 or literature, the core in The Creative Platform is about engaging in the experience of creatively creating something together with other people. This notion builds on the premise that only through total engagement it is possible to let go of the dominating patterns of thinking that are bound by disciplines, social structures and cultural traditions.

Examples of application ranges from organizational development, product/service development, teaching creativity at all levels of education, creative teaching at all levels of education, cross disciplinary work, self-esteem development and much more. In the video below you can see an introduction to The Creative Platform.

6-PHASE MODEL

The process on The Creative Platform and the work done on it always follow the same phases - no matter what the purpose might be:

1. Preparation for facilitating the process, composition of participants, physical frames and writing down a minute-by-minute program of the process
2. The Red Carpet is a ritual in which participants get onto The Creative Platform and have the motivation, concentration and confidence to engage in the process
3. The problem/task is presented briefly and without professional/academic input of any kind
4. Idea development is where knowledge is applied unlimited in a creative generation and development of solutions for the problem/task

5. Professional/academic input is brought into the process when we have found a direction/an idea that we want to develop further
6. The Blue Carpet is a ritual in which participants are taken down from The Creative Platform and will be prepared for the ordinary world again

3D CASES

The process includes a number of 3D cases from the 3D Didactic. These exercises provide a change in behavior and thinking of the participants needed on The Creative Platform. The 3D cases are context independent. A process consists of alternating 3D case - working on task/problem - 3D case - working on task/problem, and so on. Therefore, the 3D cases are only used to create a specific behavior and thinking that is needed for the following work on task/problem – a bit like a training before doing. You can read more about 3D didactic in by following the link "3D Didactic" in the menu on the right.

PRINCIPLES

The entire process of The Creative Platform including 3D cases, the work on task/problem, the 6-phase model and everything else - are uncompromisingly following four fundamental principles:

All have the same kind of thinking and behavior at all times (parallel thinking)
One should only focus on the task (task focus)
There should be no experience of judgement (no experienced judgement)
Stimulating the use of all kinds of knowledge (horizontal thinking)

BEFORE USING THE PLATFORM

It would be a good idea to familiarize yourself thoroughly with it before you start. A good idea is to experiment with using it in situations where you have only little at stake. The more confident you become about using it, the more your participants will understand, feel it and eventually get onto The Creative Platform. In the menu "The Creative Platform" under "What is it" (https://www.uka.aau.dk/The+Creative+Platform/What+is+The+Creative+Platform/) you will find videos and literature to read before you start using it. The Creative Platform uses the 3D Didactic as an important part of the processes. It would be interesting to study this concept further. You can find more information on the 3D Didactic in the menu "3D Didactic" (https://www.uka.aau.dk/3D+Didactic/) .

There are process modules and tools for processes that are available in the menus "The Creative Platform" under:

* "Process modules": All processes (courses) on The Creative Platform are made by mixing standard modules in different ways. This means that one can make a course on creativity by mixing the modules in one way, an innovation process by mixing in a different way and a completely third mix can create a process for self-esteem development, and
* "Tools for processes": In the following you can find the tools needed for using The Creative Platform yourself. All materials are open source and you are allowed to print/copy as many as you would like for private/organizational use, however, you are not allowed to print/copy for sales.

See https://www.uka.aau.dk/The+Creative+Platform/

Language(s)

  • English
  • Danish

Published on

Purpose/goal

To generate innovative and creative ideas that focus its effectiveness on understanding and solving the real needs of users.

Duration

Depending on the way in which the process is structured, the challenge that has to be faced, the information that the participants have, the number of people that participate in the process and the time that is available, the design thinking methodology could be worked out in a practical way in a minimum of two days. In any case, it depends on different variables.

This toolkit for educators will act as a reference to deal with this methodology and guide the educator and students.

Material

Description

This tool is based on the idea that "Design Thinking is the confidence that everyone can be part of creating a more desirable future, and a process to take action when faced with a difficult challenge. It is believed that that kind of optimism is well needed in education".
This tool is also based on the fact that Design thinking is a creative process that helps you to design meaningful solutions in the classroom, at your school, and in your community. The toolkit for educators provides you with instructions to explore Design Thinking and its 5 phases:

1. Discovery (empathize)
2. Interpretation (define)
3. Ideation (ideate)
4. Experimentation (prototype)
5. Evolution (test)

It is necessary to download the toolkit that contains: a workbook and the toolkit for educators. Click on the following link to download both resources.

You can download it in different languages.

Language(s)

English
Spanish
Portuguese
Czech
French
Korean