skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Enhancing student learning in innovation competitions and programs
Universities have developed various informal learning experiences, such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, and accelerator programs that engage students in real-world challenges and enable environments for creative problem-solving. However, limited studies explain the extent and nature of the impact of student innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) on participating students' innovation mindset. Current literature was analysed using network analytics techniques to discover relations among ICPs and innovation skills. Using an online instrument, 194 students from two universities categorised and ranked skills/abilities they gained as the most or least improved due to participating in ICPs and their challenges during ICPs. The collected data was analysed to gain insight into the student's experiences and perceptions. The findings of this study showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills. However, the findings also suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs. The findings contribute to how ICPs can be better designed to foster an innovation mindset, mitigate challenges that students come across, and increase the participation of all students.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2120936
PAR ID:
10546267
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Taylor & Francis
Date Published:
Journal Name:
European Journal of Engineering Education
ISSN:
0304-3797
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 21
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, ASEE Zone 1 Conference)
    Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a multi-institutional study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs. 
    more » « less
  3. (, Scholar Space)
    Student Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), including design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, and boot camps, play a critical role in entrepreneurship and innovation education. These programs foster students' technical skills, networking opportunities, and innovation mindsets. However, the literature lacks an exploration of ICPs' transformative impact on students' entrepreneurial mindsets, which involves profound changes in students' values and abilities. This study addresses this gap by applying the Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) to examine how ICPs can be transformative experiences for students. Using a qualitative inductive approach, semi-structured interviews with 36 students who participated in ICPs were conducted. Thematic analysis was performed using both human coders and ChatGPT 4.0 to identify the strengths and weaknesses realized by students during ICPs. The results showed a high level of agreement between human and AI-generated codes, highlighting ICPs' role in enhancing self-awareness and personal growth. Key strengths discovered included communication skills, leadership, problem-solving, organizational skills, tenacity, and interpersonal skills, while common weaknesses were noted as time management, communication challenges, lack of self-advocacy, trust issues, inflexibility, conflict management, and stress and anxiety. These findings suggest that ICPs are instrumental in fostering an entrepreneurial and innovation mindset, but organizers should address time management and stress issues to maximize benefits to students. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    Innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) are acknowledged in existing literature as effective mechanisms for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship within universities, corporations, and beyond. These ICPs (including hackathons, design challenges, pitch competitions, and others) allow student participants to expand on the knowledge gained in their classes, grow their creativity, build an innovative mindset, learn from trial and error, and improve their collaborative skills in team settings. However, with these programs also come various obstacles that have the potential to negatively impact the overall student experience. These challenges can relate to funding, organization, team dynamics, outreach, accommodation, and more, impacting how these students perceive the impacts or benefits of ICPs. This paper considers the challenges and negative experiences students have faced while participating in ICPs based on past experiences collected from student interviews. Analyzing both reported challenges and negative experiences of students provides a guide to address concerns when developing future ICPs. Understanding the type of obstacles students face in these events may be the first step in making the necessary interventions for further improving the experiences of future participants and ensuring that ICPs add value to students across majors. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, IEEE)
    Engineering and computing education have always embraced student Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, and boot camps. These programs are typically organized to increase interest in STEM fields, achieve the broader objective of forming well-rounded engineers and encourage students to bring their innovative ideas into real life. In addition, all ICPs also aim to advance students' innovative thinking skills. With the increased focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in STEM programs, many higher education institutions now organize some form of ICPs. This increased popularity of ICPs bears the questions of (i) whether ICPs achieve their intended objectives, (ii) what program components are most effective, and (iii) how to design ICPs for recruiting diverse student groups. Although these questions are highly relevant to advancing the educational benefits of ICPs, the literature lacks holistic studies focusing on the best practices of ICPs. In this paper, we present the findings of a qualitative research study to investigate ICP types and attributes that make the most impact on fostering an innovation mindset. We interviewed the organizers of ICPs to understand their objectives for organizing their events and rationales for specific program elements. Besides, we asked questions about how they promote their events, the best ways to reach out to students, team selection and forming, their assessment and judging procedures, during and after competition support, and the best practices and challenges. These interview scripts were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis software. An analysis of extracted thematic concepts was performed to identify the best practices and strategies that ICP organizers utilize to increase the Impact of their programs. The paper presents the preliminary results of this thematic analysis of the codes. Overall, findings suggest that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements, innovation training in ICPs, and effective mentoring may improve the learning outcomes related to innovative thinking skills. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email