Innovation challenges (5 cr)

Objectives (course unit)

Innovation challenges -course presents you a set of working life and societal challenges and invites you to find solution proposals. The goal is to practice innovative thinking and promote sustainable development. This is done in multidisciplinary team working together with a coach/ coaches. You will work together with the assigning organization.

After the course, you:
- can use Designt Thinking –principles in an innovation project
- can validate the ideas and prototypes in different target groups
- understand the challenge from the customer's and end-users' perspectives
- can evaluate the solutions from the sustainable point of view
- can adapt to multidisciplinary teamwork environment
- know more about your own strengths and capabilities
- pitch the solution proposals in English

More info: https://hubs.fi/en/studies/study-calendar/

Content (course unit)

Preliminary tasks
Getting to know each other and teaming up
Explore the challenge and phenomena around it
Understand the problem
Ideating
Validation of ideas
Prototyping
Testing the prototype with real users
Presenting the final solution
Feedback discussions: team, coach and stakeholder

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

To pass the course, student has actively participated the lectures and teamwork, demonstrates to have understood the given challenge and has shown initiative to provide a solution. Student has proven to propose ideas to team members, he/ she can plan idea validation and reflect on how sustainable the solution is as well as develop the idea further. Student has offered solution together with the team.

A student will receive a failing grade if he or she does not participate the lectures, teamwork or any other activity that is part of the course and project plan. Further reluctance to interact with team members, propose ideas, validate leads to failing grade.

Location and time

22.10.2020-10.12.2020 every Thursday from 10.15 to 14.00 at ZOOM.

Assessment methods and criteria

Student activity: attending lectures and participation in teamwork. Given and received feedback from other team members. Business partner feedback. Self-reflection. Final presentation: written output and performance. TEAM-COACH meetings and discussions.

Assessment scale

Pass/Fail

Teaching methods

Joint weekly lectures at ZOOM. Tools and materials distributed in lectures. Teamwork to solve the customer's challenge. Individual coaching session or coaching session between the team and the coach. Lectures of other professionals.

Learning materials

Material and tools distributed in lectures. Articles and videos about design thinking. Material provided by the customer on the challenge to be solved.

Student workload

5 ECTS = 135 hours.
Joint lectures 32 h.
Contacts with stakeholders 7 h.
Teamwork 48 hours.
Independent work 48 hours.

Completion alternatives

none

Further information

Communication through TUNI.fi e-mail. A DRIVE-platform for sharing information between the coah and the teams.

Assessment criteria - pass/fail (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Approved: The student has actively participated in the course lectures as well as in group work between lectures. The student has understood the challenge and set out to solve it with the team. The student is able to suggest ideas in his / her team to solve the challenge, is able to plan the testing of ideas and develop them into workable solutions. Together with the team, the student offers the customer versatile solutions.

Rejected: The student does not participate in the course activities, does not participate in the activities of the team according to the project plan, does not interact constructively in the team; does not actively suggest, develop or test ideas in the field.