How can students learn to be innovative?

In any sphere you care to name, the necessary practice of being innovative is inherently unpredictable.

To be innovative, one needs to abandon judgement, be open to all possibilities, have the confidence and courage to adopt a trial-and-error approach, and embrace failure on the path to success.

This mindset sits in direct conflict with conventional constructs of education where we tutor students to think and act according to a set of guides, to research and reproduce model answers, and to be assessed against quantifiable evaluation metrics.

There is a myth that innovation cannot be taught. We would say: not so. Taking on an innovation mindset is at heart about learning by experimenting and can be taught through experiential learning. The skill set cannot be acquired using a step-by-step manual but through exploration.

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Teaching for innovation means depending less on pre-prepared materials, which is a big hurdle for teachers in a higher education environment that requires many quantifiable metrics on standard answers to assess students.

Teaching innovation means creating a safe space for risk-taking, rewarding curiosity and encouraging divergent thinking. The goal is to develop a mindset of constructive critique to help students let go of their fear and find confidence without formal structures and materials.

Teaching innovation through case studies

As teachers and researchers in property studies, we have developed an effective pedagogy for innovation using business case studies. This method enables students to learn from analysing bona fide business cases and applying knowledge from the complex set of disciplines that comprise property studies, from planning, construction and engineering to law, accounting and finance.

With case studies, students discover new knowledge and practices by working through authentic, real-world problems and solutions. This culminates in students developing their own business proposals for the final course project.

Property is one of many sectors facing rapid transformation in innovation-driven economies. A notable example is the emergence of financial technologies (fintech) in the real estate business. Fintech is suitable for teaching innovation because it is disrupting traditional financial practices and theories in the property market. Case studies on fintech reveal creative thinking and innovation, helping to enrich the case-study method. Below are the key elements of using case studies to teach innovation.

Co-creating knowledge

Finding solutions to case-study-based problems is a collaborative effort. Students are encouraged to work together, sharing analyses and insights with peers. The structure of this collaboration is flexible, allowing for group and individual efforts. Students share individual work for feedback during class discussions, fostering mutual learning and knowledge-sharing.

Class discussions can be in person and online via a discussion board and are not solely student led. Lecturers play a crucial role in guiding conversations by posting open-ended questions related to the case studies, stimulating thoughtful discourse and exploration of topics.

A typical question might be: “Is fintech the future of real estate investing and financing?” Students then need to evaluate and provide responses to the statement using real-world “proptech” companies to support their arguments. Lecturers can follow up on interesting discussion points during their lectures.

Encouraging engagement

To foster participation, students are required to contribute to the online discussion board at least once per week. It serves as a platform for students to review peers’ posts, share their own insights and deepen their understanding of the subject matter.

This engagement is a preparatory step for the subsequent week’s peer-review process, which involves assessing and feeding back on their classmates’ contributions to the final course project, either online or in person. The goal of these activities is to stimulate reflection on each week’s learnings.

The course structure also promotes participation by linking assessments to the online discussions and the final course project, which we will describe in more detail later.

Offering students learning exemplars

The principle of “learning by doing” is central to teaching innovation. In this context, assessment exemplars serve as practical guides, helping students understand what assessors are looking for in specific tasks and demonstrating what constitutes quality. These exemplars are often in the form of analyses of case studies and subsequent discussions, exploring how innovations address market problems.

Following this, students are given the task of preparing their own business proposals for the final project, allowing them to apply the knowledge and insights gained from the exemplars in a practical hands-on setting.

Each student’s work, specifically their analyses and discussions of case studies, are shared on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Medium. This allows them to showcase their insights on a rapidly evolving sector but also provides exemplars for future students.

Designing an authentic assessment

Case-method-based classes can be supported by role-play exercises in which students are engaged with reconstructions of real business problems. But we go one step further.

Our hallmark final course project offers students the chance to develop a business proposal of a high enough standard to be submitted to an incubator programme: the $100K Challenge offered by the Centre of Innovative and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School. The start-up can win an initial endowment of up to $100,000 (£48,000) to develop an innovative business idea. Previous winners have gone on to gain further start-up funding.

In this project, three to four students will form a group to develop innovative business ideas for the property industry, which can draw from topics covered in the course, including but not limited to fintech and the sharing economy. To support the development of these ideas, meetings with lecturers are scheduled to discuss the progress of the coursework. Ongoing peer feedback also helps students refine their ideas.

Students produce a group presentation video and a written proposal detailing their business idea. This ensures a thorough evaluation of students’ ideas and their understanding of the course material. Ultimately, the students can face a real-world assessment via their entry to gain $100,000 of incubator funding.

The approach resulted in a 100 per cent satisfaction rate in an undergraduate class of about 100 students. The same approach in a master’s level course received an equally positive result.

It requires a change in expectations from knowledge acquisition to problem-solving. Students comfortable in the innovation space are increasingly attractive to employers. Teaching for innovation is possible and adds significant value for today’s university students.

This article draws from ideas in Edward Yiu and William Cheung’s paper, “How to teach innovativeness using the case study method in property education”.

William Cheung is senior lecturer and Edward Yiu is associate professor, both in the department of property at the University of Auckland.

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