Investigating the impact of innovation competence instruction in higher engineering education

ABSTRACT

The competence to innovate is critical for engineering students, as work environments and society are constantly changing. However, innovation competence is often not (explicitly) part of teaching, and teachers struggle to teach students this competence. To address this problem, a course to train undergraduate engineering students’ innovation competence was designed, based on six design principles. The instruction was nested in a final-year undergraduate Built Environment course. A mixed-method study (pre- and post-training student survey (n = 46); student focus group interviews (n = 18); teacher individual interview (n = 2); and analysis of student (n = 46) products, as assessed by 12 teachers) was undertaken to understand the effectiveness of the design principles in supporting students’ development of innovation competence.

Paired samples t-tests showed significant growth in students’ self-perceived innovation competence. Analysis of students’ innovative products showed that they met the course goals. Students, teachers, and other stakeholders also reported positive perceptions of the setup and design principles used in the innovation competence instruction. The results showed that the intervention as described is effective for improving students’ innovation competence in the domains of study. This study offers several starting points for fostering the development of students’ innovation competence in higher education organisations.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation competence teaching
• innovation process
• built environments
• higher education

Acknowledgements

The foundation of this paper rests upon the doctoral thesis titled ‘Learning to Innovate: How to foster innovation competence in students of Built Environment at universities of applied sciences’. I, Robert Ovbiagbonhia, hereby affirm that I served as the doctoral candidate, with Bas Kollöffel and Perry Den Brok acting as the supervisors for the aforementioned thesis. This research was financially supported by Hanze University of Applied Science Groningen and The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research of the Netherlands (grant no. 023.006.028).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [grant number 023006028].

Notes on contributors

A.R. Ovbiagbonhia

A.R. Ovbiagbonhia is a distinguished Dutch researcher, educator, and architect specializing in sustainable design and construction. With a PhD in Education from Wageningen University and Research, his doctoral research focused on promoting innovative competence among undergraduate students. As a tenured lecturer-researcher at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Robert's expertise extends to conducting intricate research, teaching architectural courses, and advancing energy-neutral and circular architecture. His profound commitment to environmentally conscious built environments and inspiring future professionals, coupled with his groundbreaking research in fostering innovative competence, establishes him as a prominent figure in the field of sustainable architecture and design education.

Bas Kollöffel

Bas Kollöffel is Assistant Professor of Professional Learning with Technology at the University of Twente and Teaching & Learning Fellow at the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education, an innovation center for educational innovation of the four universities of technology in the Netherlands. The focus of his research is on the use of technology-based, immersive environments for the training of complex skills (e.g. innovation, presentation, and negotiation skills) in the context of professional and vocational training and education.

Perry Den Brok

Perry den Brok is full professor of Education and Learning Sciences at Wageningen University and Research and also chairs a group with the same name. He also is director of the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education, an innovation center for educational innovation of the four universities of technology in the Netherlands. His research interests lie in the field of educational innovation, (innovative) learning environments, teacher learning and professional development. He published many articles and book chapters on these topics and was one of the main editors of the learning environments research journal.