Applying empathy-driven participatory research methods to higher education new degree development

Abstract

 Purpose: Innovation and entrepreneurship are economic drivers promoting competition and growth among organizations throughout the world, many of which would not exist without well-established new product development processes coupled with intentional and strategic focus on research and development. New product development processes, such as the lean start-up methodology and design thinking, are well-known and thriving as a result of empirically-grounded research efforts. Unfortunately, educational institutions and educational researchers, alike, are lagging when it comes to new program/degree development processes. Although the quantity of new degree offerings has increased substantially over the past several decades (in particular for multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary programs), limited research has been conducted to document key procedures associated with the creation of new degree programs. The purpose of this study is to show one approach to how students can be used within the new program development process.  Methodology: This approach uses participatory research, wherein students act as researchers and actively participate in the data collection and analysis process. Under the umbrella of participatory research, the study uses photo-voice, photo-elicitation, and focus groups for collecting qualitative data.  Findings: Results suggest that students in one transdisciplinary studies in technology program value the following key attributes: (1) learning style (agency and choice, active hands-on learning, and real-world applications) and (2) learning context (technology and design focused assignments, integration of humanities, and self-selected disciplines of interest).  Research Implications: Recommendations are provided for various higher education benefactors of the user-generated data including administration, faculty, marketing, recruitment, advisors, and the students, themselves.

Learning preference: development in smart learning environments

“…The study found that learning preference was one of the main predictors of coding achievement and computational thinking skills. Bosman et al (2019) have shown one approach to how students can be used within the new program development process. The study used participatory research, wherein students act as researchers and actively participate in the data collection and analysis process.…”

Cross Cultural Variations in Corporate Social Responsibility

“…The motive of education institutions is to equip the future generation for upcoming challenges (e.g., social, economic, legal). Unfortunately, even in this era, most of academia are lacking the resources and skills to chase and tackle the modern challenges (Cao and Zhou., 2018;Bosman et al, 2019). Due to these obstacles, academia in developing countries is not obliged in full capacity to help their citizens.…”

The perception of entrepreneurship culture by internal university stakeholders

“…However, at present, educational institutions in other countries seem lagging when it comes to resource-based new program/degree development processes (Bosman et al, 2019;Giacomarra et al, 2019) and there are several weaknesses and limitations in the expansion of innovation and entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities characterized by too much theoretical teaching than practical activities (Cao and Zhou, 2018). Lombardi and other scholars carry out a two-way comparison between Italy and Singapore to investigate how these countries conceive and implement an entrepreneurial culture just highlighting Singaporean is one of the leading national investor in entrepreneurial education (Lombardi et al, 2017).…”

“…Results show Jordan entrepreneurship education is still at an early stage of development with very few courses dealing with small business and entrepreneurship topics. Bosman et al (2019) implement participatory research by means of photovoice, photo-elicitation and focus groups that involve students for collecting qualitative data. Students worth the following key-attributes: learning style (agency and choice, active hands-on learning and real-world applications) and learning context (technology and design- Internal university stakeholders focused assignments, integration of humanities and self-selected disciplines of interest) (Bosman et al, 2019).…”

“…Bosman et al (2019) implement participatory research by means of photovoice, photo-elicitation and focus groups that involve students for collecting qualitative data. Students worth the following key-attributes: learning style (agency and choice, active hands-on learning and real-world applications) and learning context (technology and design- Internal university stakeholders focused assignments, integration of humanities and self-selected disciplines of interest) (Bosman et al, 2019). Another trend addressed by research is lining up strategy with sustainable development goals in HE for sustainability-driven entrepreneurship action where key competencies, as well as deeper levels of knowledge, are crucial for enabling work performance (Biberhofer et al, 2019;Fleac a et al, 2018).…”