Using Innovation and Creativity to Improve Student Learning Dr. Cathy Littlefield, Dr. Meghan Radosh, Dr. Laura McLaughlin Taddei Harcum College – August 21, 2014

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

At the end of the session, we should have: Shared ideas and resources – you were invited to participate in a survey where you could share your ideas Plans for ways to integrate innovation and creativity to improve student learning Identified 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)

Introduction m_medium=copy&rc=ex0share m_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

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. framework-for-institutions-of-higher-education.html

Problem Solving

Encouraging Innovation Ryshke, R. (2012) What schools can do to encourage innovation: can-do-to-encourage-innovation/ can-do-to-encourage-innovation/ Taking risks and sometimes even looking at failure as “fuel for innovation” can help promote this process (Ryshke, 2012).

Hands-on Learning

Questions The following questions will 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).

Faculty Suggestions Provide interaction that includes a high percentage of class time with hands-on and problem solving opportunities Create opportunities for hands-on field work — get students out of their comfort zone and their own environments Have students facilitate a roundtable discussion

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) how-colleges-can-encourage-professors-innovate-teaching

Field Trips

Using Technology to Build Community I began using Padlet in my classroom – here is one example - Also I use Instagram and Twitter and post pictures of my students, my own kids, etc.

Faculty Suggestions Allow for spontaneous interactions. Create time for informal class opportunities; for example, provide time for students to talk and get to know each other. This can be through small group discussion, games, and hands-on activities during class time or outside of the classroom field trips. Learn everyone’s names and make sure everyone in the class knows each other’s names as well. If possible, arrange room to encourage conversation. Encourage students to be intrinsically motivated; for example, one professor noted the use of a Facebook page where students could have discussions based on the course topic. Even after the course ended, the students continued to post to the course Facebook page because they wanted to keep the discussion going.

Having Fun

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).

Risk Taking Provide a safe environment that allows risk-taking Be willing to try new ideas and then tweak to improve Allow do-overs – making mistakes is acceptable Get out of your own comfort zone Throw out everything at the end of the year and start over again Talk to other faculty and find out things they have tried and what worked and what did not work See more at: development/encouraging-creativity-and-innovation-in-yourself- and-your-students/#sthash.jkaDzwH0.dpuf

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?

If you would like to continue the conversation, please contact me at: Follow me on

Resources Enterprise School (2011) provided an article An Entrepreneurial Development Framework for Higher Education Institutions. Extracted from Reimers-Hild & King (2009). Six questions for entrepreneurial leadership and innovations in distance education. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Extracted from Ryshke, R. (2012) What schools can do to encourage innovation. Extracted from Simmons, E. (2012) Rewarding Teaching Innovations. Extracted from Taddei, L. (2013). Encouraging creativity and innovation in yourself and your students. Faculty Focus (August 2013): students/ Taddei, L. (2013). Faculty seek collaboration, and more collaboration. Leadership Abstracts. League of Innovations: students/