1. Interdisciplinary Pedagogy for Social innovation
Alison Honour
Associate Dean Student Experience
Oxford Brookes University

2. Social Innovation: Global challenge
Wednesday 26th October 5.30 – 7.30pm
Workshop 1
Research: Apprentice with a Problem
Introduction to Social Innovation and interdisciplinary working
Students will form interdisciplinary teams
Passion to Action - Identifying a Social Issue (local, national or global) based on ‘Hackathon’ intense research activity

3. Social Innovation: Global challenge
Wednesday 16th November 5.30 – 7.30pm
Workshop 2
Idea Generation – Collaborative interdisciplinary thinking
Teams to present initial research from workshop 1in a 10 min visual presentation
Teams to develop initial ideas in teams for designs solutions in response to initial research of social issue using interdisciplinary perspectives

4. Social Innovation: Global challenge
Wednesday 23rd November 5.30 – 7.30pm
Workshop 3
Idea Refinement – Challenging and Testing ideas
Teams present initial ideas for social innovation drawing on research, idea development and interdisciplinary perspectives
Teams to receive feedback and advice on areas to develop from a panel of staff and students and invited experts
Global Challenge team selected to be registered by 20th December

5. Global Challenge
Identify a social problem which you are passionate about
Demonstrate a deep understanding of a pressing social or environmental issue by mapping out existing solutions AND identify gaps and opportunities for positive change
Apply for funding to ‘apprentice with the problem’
Be coached by an interdisciplinary team of staff in preparation to submit an application to the Global Challenge (max 2,000 words) and to prepare a pitch for a pre selection event at Brookes
Put forward 3 members of the successful selected team (to register by 20th December) to present your findings to a wider audience and Global Challenge/Skoll Centre panel competing against University teams worldwide.
Important: all participants who want to be considered for the Global Challenge must confirm their availability to attend the Global Challenge Final Event scheduled for the weekend of 30th April – 1st May (Bank Holiday weekend!)

6. What is Social Innovation?
"A social innovation is a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than present solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals".
Stanford Business Centre for Social Innovation

7. How is Social entrepreneurship different from social innovation?
While a social entrepreneur is focused on solving a problem through business, a social innovator could be looking to solve the problem through a number of different approaches.
Social innovators tend to use the structure of interdisciplinary and ‘open innovation’ which conceptually is a more distributed, more participatory, more decentralized approach to innovation based on the understanding that we innovate less effectively on our own.
Hackathon, employee, collaborative thinking groups, researcher,

8. Previous OBSEA Social Innovation activity
BACKGROUND: Hackathon
Designing a Robot for the Social Good
38 students from over 10 disciplines including Engineering, Art, Architecture, CCT, Law, Rehabilitation, Biomedical sciences across FD, UG, PGT/PGR
Co-curricular (2 x 4 hours)
Faculty/Discipline Champions
3 interdisciplinary teams
Attracted funding – Santander

9. Key Motivations for participation
What students said…..
Opportunity for interdisciplinary working
Projects for ‘Social Good’
Being creative
Employability, career development
Meet students from different disciplines/programmes
Increase confidence, develop skills and attributes

10. Why Interdisciplinary Approach for Social Innovation?
Key benefits of Interdisciplinary learning and teaching…what we have seen and heard….
Creative and effective Problem solving – gained insight from more than one disciplinary framework in order to help resolve complex issues.
Significant Learning – Process as important as outcomes students felt they were better positioned to research the problem and to frame viable solutions.
Engagement and skills development - developed their self-confidence, self-efficacy and passion for learning
Learner as Active Participant - deeper engagement

11. Learning together - creating knowledge building communities for rich collaboration - the need to build knowledge not just reproduce it
Inclusive – Opportunity to develop awareness of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Presents alternate model to the lonely or ‘heroic’ entrepreneur and develops new modes of leadership built on collaboration, influence and democracy
Fits the needs of changing world and work place…which is interdisciplinary
Promotes enquiry led learning

12. “it is about engaging students with questions they can explore, rather than only answers we want them to absorb.” (Beairsto, 2011)

13. AIMS of Social Innovation Workshops
Promote Inquiry led learning - Identify authentic ‘real’ topic for inquiry Defined with boundaries but still open-ended enough to accept different discipline approaches .
Create opportunity for ‘Student Led Learning’ - Create time and space for this to happen – teaching intervention will be minimal.
Introduce the use of ‘Integrated Digital Technologies’ – use as designers, creators and builders of knowledge. (workshop 2)
Authentic exploration – using a variety of media, methods, tasks/activities and sources to Understand the ‘problem’ and identify innovative solutions
Collaborative working - opportunities to support, challenge, and respond to each other’s ideas as you come to understand relevant concepts. 
Coach and mentor teams for submission to the ‘Global Challenge’
Technology & inclusivity – language, impaired speech, introverted, less confident learner. Captures thought

14. meeting emerging needs….
Emerging needs of the learner – ‘Elaborate Communicators’ immediate, responsive, multi tasker, digital participant, knowledge networked  
Emerging needs of the work place - Critical thinking, problem solving, communication and teamwork are essential competencies, no matter the career path
Emerging needs of the world - Knowing how to learn, being inspired to continue learning, and learning together with others are essential in today’s world to attempt to solve problems that may not have clear solutions.

15. Social Innovation: Global challenge
Wednesday 26th October 5.30 – 7.30pm
Workshop 1
Research: Apprentice with a Problem
Introduction to Social Innovation and interdisciplinary working
Students will form interdisciplinary teams
Passion to Action - Identifying a Social Issue (local, national or global) based on ‘Hackathon’ intense research activity

16. Workshop ACTivity Form working groups
Introductions – interests and expertise, skills to offer (10 mins)
Map initial thoughts about social issues and draw on group’s sources of information – previous experience/personal involvement, employment/volunteering, project work or research etc
Consider additional information needed to have a deep understanding of the problem – create a set of questions to investigate the problem further