Cross faculty student experience and learning

Integrating and expanding skills between FBL and FAST (cross faculty) students by embedding changemaker skills and social innovation into student learning. Building on a tentative collaboration in 2020/21, this project aims to develop third year students' future skills by collaborating on transitioning final major projects into start-up venture and commercialisation. Students will gain insights from different faculties and each other’s subject expertise using a variety of scheduled activities throughout the academic year to challenge and support them. The project will enhance the delivery of the current Changemaker Certificate. The learning for students includes 4 workshops with the possibility of new venture creation based on the new product development (NPD) methodology, student networking and applying their soft skills in a new context.

Through a structured workshop series, this project demonstrates how changemaker skills and social innovation can be embedded into student learning. It proposes an iterative model and a roadmap to enhance the delivery of the current Changemaker Certificate, which is an employability initiative developed by the university.
In our research, the suitability of workshops, student researchers as facilitators, and visual guidelines for University use have been created. The student engagement and entrepreneurial activity has been evaluated and shared through blog, dedicated web site and dissemination at internal and external conferences.

The immediate impact on our students and staff has been to initiate changes to how students learn and staff teach. This project reviews practice at business and design studies at our university, MKT3031 and 3DD4003 modules in particular by evolving the skills that students need. This is supported by student feedback we received which informs the setup and delivery of future workshops and assignments. Longer term impacts include the students’ trajectory and their ability to develop their themselves and network(s), and staff to develop and test their area of expertise and embrace cross faculty ideas and engage on students learning journey.