A New Course on Creativity in an Engineering Program: Foundations and Issues

The importance of innovation in the world's economy, now undeniable, draws great attention to the need to improve organizations' creative potential. In the last 60 years, hundreds of books have been written on the subject and hundreds of webpages display information on how to be more creative and achieve innovation. Several North American and European universities offer graduated programs in creativity. However, building an effective and validated creativity training program is not without challenges. Because of the nature of their work, engineers are often asked to be innovative. Without aiming for a degree in creativity, could future engineers benefit from training programs in creativity? This article presents the conceptual framework and pedagogical elements of a new course in creativity for engineering students.Comment: 10 pages, Intl Conf on Innovative Design and Manufacturing (pp. 270-275). Aug 13-15, Montreal. IEEE Conference Proceeding

Responsible research and innovation in science education: insights from evaluating the impact of using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values

The European Commission policy approach of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining momentum in European research planning and development as a strategy to align scientific and technological progress with socially desirable and acceptable ends. One of the RRI agendas is science education, aiming to foster future generations' acquisition of skills and values needed to engage in society responsibly. To this end, it is argued that RRI-based science education can benefit from more interdisciplinary methods such as those based on arts and digital technologies. However, the evidence existing on the impact of science education activities using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values remains underexplored. This article comparatively reviews previous evidence on the evaluation of these activities, from primary to higher education, to examine whether and how RRI-related learning outcomes are evaluated and how these activities impact on students' learning. Forty academic publications were selected and its content analysed according to five RRI values: creative and critical thinking, engagement, inclusiveness, gender equality and integration of ethical issues. When evaluating the impact of digital and arts-based methods in science education activities, creative and critical thinking, engagement and partly inclusiveness are the RRI values mainly addressed. In contrast, gender equality and ethics integration are neglected. Digital-based methods seem to be more focused on students' questioning and inquiry skills, whereas those using arts often examine imagination, curiosity and autonomy. Differences in the evaluation focus between studies on digital media and those on arts partly explain differences in their impact on RRI values, but also result in non-documented outcomes and undermine their potential. Further developments in interdisciplinary approaches to science education following the RRI policy agenda should reinforce the design of the activities as well as procedural aspects of the evaluation research

Aircraft systems architecting: a functional-logical domain perspective

Presented is a novel framework for early systems architecture design. The framework defines data structures and algorithms that enable the systems architect to operate interactively and simultaneously in both the functional and logical domains. A prototype software tool, called AirCADia Architect, was implemented, which allowed the framework to be evaluated by practicing aircraft systems architects. The evaluation confirmed that, on the whole, the approach enables the architects to effectively express their creative ideas when synthesizing new architectures while still retaining control over the process

Development of OCIPSE Learning Model to Increase Students' Scientific Creativity in Natural Science Learning

This Research & Development (R & D) has the main goal to develop and produce OCIPSE learning model. The main product of this research is the OCIPSE learning model with five phases, they are 1) Orient and organize the students for study; 2) Collaborative Investigation; 3) Presentation and discussion; 4) Strengthening of scientific creativity; and 5) Evaluate and provide recognition. The OCIPSE learning model' quality data is obtained through an expert validation process by using the OCIPSE learning model Qualification Assessment Instrument. The OCIPSE learning model quality analysis used an average validity score, single measures ICC, and Cronbach's coefficient alpha. The result of the research shows OCIPSE learning model with average content validity (3.69), construct validity (3.69), with the validity of each aspect statistically in (rα = .92) and reliability in (α = .87).  The results of this study indicate that the developed OCIPSE learning model was declared qualified by experts. The research implication is that a qualified OCIPSE learning model can be used to enhance the scientific creativity of junior high school students in natural science learning.&nbsp

Leadership as a determinant of innovative behaviour

In knowledge-intensive services innovative behaviour of co-workers is a critical success factor. In sectors like consultancy, research and architecture the nature of the work implies that projects are never alike. Innovative behaviour means that co-workers generate ideas for better and/or different products, services or working methods, and strive for implementing such changes. By carrying out certain leadership styles, entrepreneurs are able to boost innovative behaviour of their employees. This study presents an overview of innovation-enhancing leadership styles.

Transformational leadership and innovation at the Lebanese banking industry

Purpose: Transformational leadership (TL) has been recognized as one of the most important factor influencing innovation. It is argued that this style plays an essential role in developing the process, structure and climate for organizations to become innovative. This research aims to examine the impact of TL on two aspects of innovation namely product and process innovation. Design/Methodology/Approach: The quantitative and explanatory analysis was taken by using the Structural equations modeling (SEM) with AMOS 20 to examine the relationship between TL and innovation. Research data were collected through a survey method. The sample result was determined by the probability stratified sampling technique of about 310 employees at 27 banks in Lebanon. Findings: The findings confirmed the importance of TL in enhancing innovation in banking sector. The main implication of the research highlights that individualized consideration is the most important predictor of product and process innovation followed by, inspirational motivation and idealized influence, respectively, whereas, intellectual stimulation has insignificant influence on product and process innovation. Practical Implications: Findings point to how transformational style of leadership produce better outcomes for the banks by mobilizing employees to engage in innovative products and processes. Originality/Value: These findings extends the understanding of the processes through which transformational styles of leadership stimulate innovation, and also highlight the benefits gained by cultivating more transformational styles of leadership to generate more innovative outcomes.peer-reviewe

Using the Inquiry-based Learning Approach to Enhance Student Innovativeness: A Conceptual Model

Individual innovativeness has become one of the most important employability skills for university graduates. In this paper, we focus on how students could be better prepared to be innovative in the workplace, and we argue that inquiry-based learning (IBL) – a pedagogical approach in which students follow the inquiry-based processes used by scientists to construct knowledge – can be effective for this purpose. Drawing on research which examines the social and cognitive micro-foundations of innovative behaviour, we develop a conceptual model that links IBL and student innovativeness, and introduce three teacher-controlled design elements that can influence the strength of this relationship, namely whether an inquiry is open or closed, discovery-focused or information focused and individual or teambased. We argue that an open, discovery-focused and team-based inquiry offers the greatest potential for enhancing students’ skills in innovation. This paper has several implications for higher education research and practice

The effect of transformational leadership on innovation : evidence from Lebanese banks

Purpose: Transformational leadership (TL) has been recognized as one of the most important factor influencing innovation. It is argued that this style plays an essential role in developing the process, structure and climate for organizations to become innovative. This research aims to examine the impact of TL on two aspects of innovation namely product and process innovation. Design/Methodology/Approach: The quantitative and explanatory analysis was taken by using the Structural equations modeling (SEM) with AMOS 20 to examine the relationship between TL and innovation. Research data were collected through a survey method. The sample result was determined by the probability stratified sampling technique of about 310 employees at 27 banks in Lebanon. Findings: The findings confirmed the importance of TL in enhancing innovation in banking sector. The main implication of the research highlights that individualized consideration is the most important predictor of product and process innovation followed by, inspirational motivation and idealized influence, respectively, whereas, intellectual stimulation has insignificant influence on product and process innovation. Practical Implications Findings point to how transformational style of leadership produce better outcomes for the banks by mobilizing employees to engage in innovative products and processes. Originality/Value: These findings extends the understanding of the processes through which transformational styles of leadership stimulate innovation, and also highlight the benefits gained by cultivating more transformational styles of leadership to generate more innovative outcomes.peer-reviewe

Excellence in teaching and learning: A review of the literature for the Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy commissioned a review of the literature on excellence in learning and teaching in higher education to enhance the higher education sector’s understanding of the varied conceptualisations and usages of the term ‘excellence’ and consider the implications for future policy and practice in relation to promoting and developing excellence. The literature searched included published research in the form of journal articles; books; reports from UK policy bodies and other agencies; as well as ‘grey’ literature. It covered conceptual studies, academic critiques and research studies on learning and teaching, as well as policy documents. Within a diverse and expanding system of higher education, such as in the UK, discourse on teaching and student learning highlights the tensions between different notions of excellence – for example, excellence as a positional good for students, as an aspirational target for continuous quality enhancement, as a form of reputational advantage for higher education institutions or as a means for achieving governmental economic and social goals. The review addressed questions of conceptualisations and usage at different (but interlinked) levels: system-wide; institutional; departmental; individual, and from two different perspectives, teaching and student learning