Measuring the impact of strategic design learning experience long after the classroom delivery

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the transformational impact of a final year strategic design module on learners some years after its completion. A subset of learners, who completed the module between two and ten years, were surveyed using a semi-structured questionnaire around Fink's (2003) taxonomy of learning. We researched how much learners still make the connections between what they have learned in the module and their current circumstances. While potentially humbling to find out how little of the detailed content is retained, particularly five to ten years after the event, we argue that the impact of the module on learners developing their creative skill-set and effectiveness in navigating team dynamics has indeed been transformative. We suggest that educators could do more to embed this longer term transformational focus by explicitly raising the future in the classroom and enabling learners to build linkages to the development of their own future selves.

Learning by doing? The relationship between effort, learning effect and product quality during hackathons of novice teams

“…Further investigation is needed to explore the factors contributing to learning success. However, research by Sadowska & Laffy (2019) shows that the impact of learning in hackathons may manifest in the long term, with benefits becoming apparent years later (Sadowska & Laffy 2019). This may be due to the focus on developing transferable skills and internalizing these approaches in hackathons rather than specific subject knowledge.…”