IACT Undergraduate Certificate in Applied Creativity (Year 2 - 2019)

At the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) at ArtStreet, we seek to empower a creatively confident 21st-century student with the ability to discover, invent and innovate ambiguous ideas through a disruptive design process that will impact today’s ever-changing global world regardless of degree focus. IACT is home to the nation’s first undergraduate certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation. Open to undergraduate students of any major, the certificate is a first step in achieving the University of Dayton’s vision of innovation, applied creativity, entrepreneurship and community engagement for the common good

IACT Undergraduate Certificate in Applied Creativity (Year 1 - 2018)

At the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) at ArtStreet, we seek to empower a creatively confident 21st-century student with the ability to discover, invent and innovate ambiguous ideas through a disruptive design process that will impact today’s ever-changing global world regardless of degree focus. IACT is home to the nation’s first undergraduate certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation. Open to undergraduate students of any major, the certificate is a first step in achieving the University of Dayton’s vision of innovation, applied creativity, entrepreneurship and community engagement for the common good

Information Booklet, Exhibition Catalog and Supplements - \u27Ghetto\u27: A Retail Art Installation

A world-premiere installation retail experience that tackles the historically weighted word ghetto through a subverted commercial lens with the goal to take the commercialized aspects of use of the word and turn it into a socio/political/economic commentary. Included in this collection are the information booklet supporting the creating of the installation; the exhibition catalog inspired by the annual Neiman Marcus Fantasy Christmas catalogs; and a copy of the installation takeaway for visitors of the installation

Executive Summary Resiliency Pilot Program – Liberty High School with Community Partners: YouthBuild Dayton and University of Dayton

Research led by Boston University Professor V. Scott Solberg has shown that among matched groups of students, resiliency is the key factor in determining why one group succeeds academically while others do not. There are six interrelated resiliency skills that can be measured and taught: Valuing Education. Academic Confidence, Connectedness, Stress Management, Health and Well-Being, and Intrinsic Motivation. And when students’ resiliency increases, their academic performance improves, along with attendance, behavior, and graduation rates, as well as significant improvements in engagement, confidence, perseverance, and postsecondary readiness. Because of research on the powerful impact of improved resiliency, a commitment was made by Oakmont Education’s Liberty High School to improve resiliency by implementing a resiliency pilot program. Along with our community based partner, YouthBuild Dayton, the resiliency program was boosted by the University of Dayton’s Institute of Applied Creativity and Transformation (IACT). IACT staff provided instructor training, student facilitators, and covered the cost of a micro-credential curriculum which offered students the ability to earn badges in 3 micro-credential areas: Resiliency (includes the capacity to learn from experience and focus on solutions), Initiative (includes self-efficacy and the capacity to identify needs and respond proactively), and Collaboration (includes the capacity to work productively with different individuals and groups toward a common goal). The curriculum for these micro-credentials served as the curriculum for the entire resiliency program

#BadgedtoHire Final Report

Education Design Lab, through professional input and focus groups, developed eight badges that address the instruction of “soft skills” to postsecondary students. With the emergence of alternative credentialing and badging, Education Design Lab wanted to contribute to the evidence of student confidence differences as attributed to completing the badge content as expressed on their resume, interview, and through application or example. Postsecondary institutions were engaged in this evaluation across the nation and allowed for three differing viewpoints on badge importance and expression – student, instruction, and employer

Digital Micro-Credential Efficacy and Impact on Learner Confidence

This white paper details the findings of a research study conducted in 2022 over a six month period, in collaboration with a group of international cross-sector partners, as part of a Global Victoria EdTech Innovation Alliance initiative. Edalex’s Innovation Sprint aimed to increase learners’ confidence in the expression of their workplace skills by issuing a Personal Evidence Record of the skills they had developed in their studies. This evidence could then be shared with employers, sending a signal to hire by demonstrating workplace readiness or signal of recognition in the workplace of upskilling. This research validated the proof of concept of the expected efficacy of our Credentialate platform. But what we didn’t expect was the extent of the effectiveness of our solution on increasing learner confidence. The research results show that learners readily embraced the more detailed information included in the credential - such as a detailed description of the credential components, how learners were assessed and the links out to Rich Skill Descriptors (RSDs) that provided job market context. Credentialate’s Personal Evidence Record gave learners next-level understanding of what they had learnt and how they could apply it in their careers. They felt informed and empowered, which for the University of Dayton cohort had a positive impact on 76% of learner confidence levels. Employers, too, were very open to the deeper story the evidence records told. They told us that it gave them insight into the learner’s level of human capability. This is particularly valuable in graduate hiring, as it provides independent validation that they’re ready for the workplace, setting them apart from other candidates. The research project provided the opportunity to share knowledge and practice across providers and EdTech organizations and generate new ways of working in the emerging areas of micro-credential and skills ecosystems. The insights from the research should inform future policy and practice around skill transparency and personal evidence of learning, and their benefits to participants in the digital credentialing and skills ecosystems as well as the learner/earner ecosystem

A Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Innovation Education Model and Experience

As the interconnectedness of the world grows, the need to prepare college students capable of addressing complexity likewise grows. In this context, the University of Dayton has developed and tested a transdisciplinary model for education. This model links multiple classes from different disciplines via a common theme and within a common space. It also employs an educational model premised on the following trajectory: disciplinary content development / transdisciplinary observation (empathy); transdisciplinary disruption leading to “A-Ha” observations which transform the disciplinary directions; and lastly transdisciplinary informed design and research. Central to this model is a 3,500 square foot common space used only by the classes participating in the experience. In this space classes share their reflections and content with other classes via both personal linkages and analog communications. The other classes respond to these from their disciplinary and personal perspectives. Thirteen classes, fourteen faculty, and over three-hundred students participated in a themed experience centered on the addiction crisis in Dayton, Ohio. Participants included faculty in applied creativity, engineering, health and sport science, education, theater, and religious studies. Also serving as co-teacher were community stakeholders. Assessment of the experience revealed variable student takeaways. Most prominent among these was student recognition that the experience had expanded their perspectives of the other disciplines. Most suggested that it had improved their ability to collaborate in a transdisciplinary environment and that it had significantly impacted their career aspirations. Fewer acknowledged the experience had improved their ability to create

The Year One Book: GEMnasium (A Transdisciplinary Test Lab for Social Change)

Through an experimental process that is mutually beneficial to community partners, more opportunities for undergraduate research and experiential learning are cultivated. The GEMnasium accomplished this through active efforts of teaching, researching and partnering with the core ethos of the University in mind: Learn: Teaching - Prepare servant-leaders through comprehensive academic and residential curricula and extraordinary experiential learning opportunities. Lead: Researching - Perform research that leads to deeper understanding, addresses critical issues, and supports economic growth. Serve: Partnering - Engage in mutually beneficial partnerships to strengthen our communities in Dayton and around the world. In doing so, faculty and staff prototyped a social innovation approach and curriculum through a radical new integrated student experience while developing shared scholarship of research “stacks” across the University of Dayton and inter-institutional partners for greater humanity impact. This integrated learning community was driven by cross-university “transdisciplinary faculties” that encouraged a fail fast, fail forward mindset surrounding humanity-centered growth. The participating educators and students focused on a unified grand challenge, contributing their own knowledge and expertise toward a collective effort

IACT Undergraduate Certificate in Applied Creativity (Year 2 - 2020)

At the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) at ArtStreet, we seek to empower a creatively confident 21st-century student with the ability to discover, invent and innovate ambiguous ideas through a disruptive design process that will impact today’s ever-changing global world regardless of degree focus. IACT is home to the nation’s first undergraduate certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation. Open to undergraduate students of any major, the certificate is a first step in achieving the University of Dayton’s vision of innovation, applied creativity, entrepreneurship and community engagement for the common good