A case study of a radical constructivist approach to teaching innovation

Abstract

Business schools could be more effective in teaching students how to create new business models. Skills for de novo business model generation and exploration are now commonly taught in undergraduate business programs. Innovation, however, is often presented as a theoretical topic leaving the fuzzy front-end of this process to the imagination of the students. The emergent management discipline of business design and the practice of design thinking that lies at its core provide additional tools and methodologies that may enrich the curriculum; however, students may not have the opportunity to apply these tools and learn innovation by doing. This study documents an approach that holds promise for addressing this issue.

Keywords:

• Design thinking
• entrepreneurship
• innovation
• instructional design
• radical constructivism