Innovation tournament as a multidisciplinary activity system to promote the development of innovation competence
Keywords:
Innovation tournament, activity theory, innovation competence, activity system analysis ASA, multi-grade learning, multidisciplinary team, vocational education, university of applied sciencesAbstract
Strengthening the contribution of education to innovation requires action across all higher education institutions. This article reports the findings of a study that examined innovation tournament as a multidisciplinary pedagogical activity system for the development of innovation competence in an institutional context that combined vocational secondary (vocational college) and tertiary (university of applied sciences) students. The focus was on the design of the activity system and the solutions found in the design phase concerning the following system components: subject, community, object, rules, tools and division of labour. The research question was: What kind of multidisciplinary pedagogical activity system facilitates the development of innovation competence? The method used was a theory-based qualitative activity system analysis, and the research material consisted of annotated teacher–producer planning meeting videos. The study found tensions and solutions for the learning subject and community formation, as well as for the tournament object formation concerning tasks, ways of working, assessment methods and the challenges from companies. The study also found solutions for tournament rules, division of labour and tools, such as processes, methods of choosing the winners, prizes, assessment criteria and the technical tools. To support the development of innovation competence, the activity system was organised in seven weeks rounds with weekly tasks: the orientation (future orientation, innovation theory), idea, concept, prototype and testing, implementation, entrepreneurship and assessment rounds. The study concludes with a model of a pedagogical innovation tournament activity system for teachers’ pedagogical use in higher and vocational education contexts. Future research in this area should focus on assessment methods for innovation competence.
