Nieuw artikel over innovatiepedagogiek in “university-business cooperation” verschenen in Journal of University Pedagogy
Applying a self-assessment tool to enhance personalized development of students’ innovation competences in the context of university-company cooperation
Abstract
Meiju Keinänen & René Butter
The aim of this article is to test a novel innovation competences assessment tool (including dimensions of creativity, critical thinking, initiative, teamwork, and networking) in a specific pedagogical context in university-company cooperation and demonstrate how it functions in authentic learning environments from the perspectives of students. The article also studies whether innovative learning environments in university-company cooperation support students’ innovation competences development. In this practical case-study, students of a one Finnish university of applied sciences were selected from three required undergraduate courses (15 ECTS). The students were from different engineering degree programmes and study years. In all courses, students worked in teams with authentic problem-based assignments coming from companies and the learning was based on active learning methods under the concept of innovation pedagogy. The study showed that a novel innovation competences assessment tool functions in a natural manner in the authentic learning environments and it has a clear added value in educational settings. Moreover, according to the results of the self-assessments and group interviews, the learning environments of university-company cooperation contributed significantly to students’ innovation competences development. This article not only demonstrates examples of university-company cooperation but also shows how the development of students’ innovation competences can be boosted by using a valid developmental assessment tool. Consequently, this article is useful for those who want to train innovators and to develop higher educational practices to embody requirements of working life.